For those who care for someone with Parkinson's disease
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What do you all do when you walk into the room and your husband is laying on the floor? Sometimes he falls, but lately my husband has been sliding out of the chair and ends up on the floor (he's not using his new lift chair like I thought and hoped he would). I will tell him he's sliding out of the chair and to put his hands on the chair arms to scooch back in, but he doesn't do that and slides all the way out and down to the floor. I don't know if the new drug is making him weaker or what. I haven't read that weakness is a side effect of Nuplazid. I can't lift him, and if I put something by him to hold onto while getting up, and hold onto it to weight it down, he tries to pull himself up with his arms instead of using his legs and pulls me and the chair over. Sometimes I can get him to go onto his hands and knees and then get up that way, but that doesn't always work. Any suggestions? Any suggestions? |
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I don't have any solutions really, but I can empathize with you, and tell you what I do. I too, have ended up being pulled over trying to get my DH up off the floor. I do try to get my DH to get on his hands & knees like you said. If he can't do that, he may need a little time to get his mind set and get the strength to do it. I use a gait belt around his chest and pull back as he tries to get his hands on a chair. Then I pull the gait belt back again, as he bends his knee and pushes up with his legs. If he can't do this then I have to call 911 and ask for a "lift assist". I tell them right away that this is not an emergency. If I didn't see him fall and I think he may have hit his head, then I don't say that. The perplexing question is, why is he sliding out of the chair? It may not be the Nuplazid, but if you don't come up with an answer, maybe you should call the Dr. This damned disease has so many facets. Maybe they can help you. |
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I don't know why he is sliding out of chairs, I think he starts to doze off and then as he relaxes he starts the slide. I can tell him "Don't fall asleep in that chair, you'll slide out of it! Let's get you into the softer lift chair" but he usually won't go for that, I don't know why. The new lift chair is so soft and cushy, who wouldn't want to sit in it? This morning I came in to find my husband laying in a pool of urine, even though I got him to wear the depends last night. That's fine, no big deal, but he cannot move! I got him his meds, and while we waited for them to (not) work, I got him cleaned up and into dry clean clothes as best as I could by rolling him from side to side (this is not as easy as it sounds!). He still was stiff and not moving, and being on the cold floor didn't help. I'm sure this was never intended to be used this way, but I ran to our closet and got a camping self-inflating mattresses from camping days to roll him onto and rest while his meds got into his system. They are very thin, only about an inch or so thick, but provide a cushion off the floor so it's more comfortable and warm. They are very lightweight, and hopefully washable in case there's an accident. Best of all, you don't have to huff and puff and blow them up yourself-you just twist the cap and they self-inflate, then you twist the cap to close. When done, twist the cap to let the air back out and roll it up, securing it with the velcro straps that come with most of these mattresses. Hope this helps others 
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How ingenious of you to think of the camping air mattress to roll your DH onto until things improved. When I called 911 last time, all I could think of was a rug to roll him onto. I may have to think of investing in one of those air mattresses because I know it will happen again. I thought of you this morning because of your past posts. My DH awakened me at 4:30 am and told me that he had had a BM in his depends. Misery likes company. But I have not had to deal with anything like you have described. Being my DH has a catheter we don't have the issues with him not getting to the bathroom in time or falling trying to get out of bed when he forgets his meds aren't working, but the catheter has it's own set of problems. But remembering back to when the urgency & frequency was a problem, I sympathize with you. My DH doesn't trust my judgement on anything I ask him to do either. Referring to when you ask your DH to move to the lift chair. I don't know if that's the disease or what. I don't remember my DH being like this in the past. Sometimes when I ask my DH to do something & he's in an off time, he will say "I don't know how to do that, or I can't do that ". Maybe someone else here knows how to keep your DH from sliding out of his chair. |
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I have noticed how my hubby does start to slip off the chair especially because he wants a pillow on the seat and one on the left arm side to keep him from leaning over too far. I've put that rubber shelf lining under the pillow so it can't slide and that does help. I also have cut a strip of it and I put it under his plate on the table to keep it from sliding. It comes in a roll at the dollar store. Thank goodness my hubby hasn't fallen but a couple of times but having a foot stool to help him get up worked once and the other couple of times I had to call for help. The fire department said that they are there to help anytime. You were smart to think of that inflatable mattress. I know they make special inflatable lifts just for this purpose but they are very expensive. |
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| I once visited a home/office of a woman who trained service/mobility dogs. She had ropes hanging from the ceiling roughly every 6 feet or so ending about 4 feet above the floor. She used them when needed to navigate through the home. They were spaced so one always was within reach. I'm not suggesting going quite that far but maybe if your hubby's chair remains in his favorite spot one could be hung within reach for rising. If they work for him some may be added later in other spots where he has problems. It might look odd but that way your back is saved and if he insists in using his arms it works. Just a suggestion. If you try it I'd suggest using stout rope and one of those large eyelets that screw into the ceiling. |
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Two things that I hope will help. I have told my husband that I will not/can't lift on him. I pulled my back doing that last year and was down for a complete month. Now we work together to get him up on his own and if I see he is too weak we call 911 and they get him up. I've also seen a lift cane that attaches to recliners to help people get up and down easier. My husband has two lift chairs, one cloth and the last one is leather and washable. Sometimes he can't remember how to operate the chairs. It is so sad, isn't it friends? |
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| What is a "lift cane"? |
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Ladies, Have you ever focused on our ingenuity in the time of crisis? Camping mattress; dollar store shelf liner; ropes from ceiling; gait belt make shift seat belt for recliner. It all works in a pinch. We have the chair cane....a platform under the weight of the recliner...and ours has a dinner tray that swivels 360 degrees. He plays solitare on it sometimes. My contribution: if you can find a fairly thick lap robe size blanket to put under him when you clean him up, it is strong enough to roll him from side to side, and after the job is done, throw in washer. I used to use a doubled beach towel, but it would gob up at times. Maybe stitch the old beach towels like a quilt. Half size is about perfect. We also have added a pole apparatus that goes from floor to ceiling and has handles at two heights that can be rotated and click into place. I put it next to the head by his pillow and he can grab onto it (when his pills work) and I can roll him more easily. I laughed yesterday when I saw him napping and using the rotate adjustment to hang is newsboy cap on. Another idea he came up with was to use that crappy little bottle holder that AARP sends free with your membership to hide the urinal bottle in the back of the wheelchair bag...for when he is on Dr exam table and cannot wait to go, or muster strength to get there. Modesty remains a priority at all costs. We even used it in the car when caught in traffic on the freeway. And SoCal has lots of those occasions. It seems every time Mike gets a low grade fever his pills do not work well, nor his legs and he falls a lot. 3 hospital stays since Thanksgiving...for 4 to 6 days each time. Somehow one of his puncture wounds ended up with MRSA, which stays in the body forever, rearing its ugly head with every wound. Home health is dressing the last wound every other day. I read all the news about changes in the health care laws and cringe. Pre- existing...hell yes. Costly drugs....that too. Let's hope the Doctors (AMA), nurses and the AARP have enough pull to get this mess squared away, while those of us in the trenchs go on changing pull ups, pulling our loved one up (alone) and pulling our hair out in frustration. |