I was filing away last year's medical receipts and was a little shocked to realize how many little muscular pulls and aches have required x-rays and physical therapy. I engage in regular exercise consisting of both high interval training, strength resistance and pilates and yet in 2018 I suffered from tennis elbow, strained hip abductor, pulled back muscles and strained my rotator cuff. Why? The tennis elbow from constantly pulling my parents with my arm in an awkward position while either changing their diapers, or positioning them in bed or struggling to change their clothes single handedly. The back and shoulder issues from transferring them from the bed to a wheel chair or lifting them off the toilet or helping them out of the car.
The elderly become scared to fall or roll off their beds when being moved so they tense up instead of relaxing or helping. Try rolling a 160 pound, six foot tall man over on his side is like rolling over a killer whale. Practically impossible, dangerous and really not so smart. And yet that's what caregivers have to do dozens of times a day. Caregiving takes a huge physical toll on the body, but there are great mobility aids to help. Here are my top three.
Hospital Beds
For the first 8 months after moving my parents I resisted spendinging thousands of dollars on hospital beds until the pain in my back was so bad that I was in bed for 5 days. Will Medicare pay? No! Expensive, Yes! But without the mechanical beds I simply could not take care of my parents at home.
Easy Lift Chairs
In order to help someone out of a chair he has to lean forward but of course that's scary as the elderly feel they're going fall so instead they tense and pull against you. More back, neck and shoulder pain for us caregivers. As a designer I resisted having one of these grotesque behemoths in ugly fabrics for years, but finally capitulated after being home alone and not being able to pull my father out of his regular recliner when he needed to go to the restroom. No one came home for another hour by which time my dad had an embarrassing accident. Medicare pays? Hell No! Expensive? Take a guess.
Lightweight Wheelchair
Here was another aha moment. We had inherited an old wheelchair which helped transport my parents across a long backyard which was quite helpful; however, the chair was about 50 pounds and again, I'm alone in our driveway with my very impatient mother in the car and no way to lift that thing in the back of the suv. I found a lightweight aluminum wheelchair with a folding back by Karma that weighs about 20 pounds. A real lifesaver. Expensive? yep, but-- SURPRISE! Medicare did pay because the doctor's prescription stated my father needed to be able to wheel himself around thus necessitating the lightweight.
There are other lifesavers such as gait belts, transfer boards, shower chairs and toilet safety frames, but without the 3 items mentioned above I would have had to put my parents in a nursing home.
As I write this blog I am reminded of some very sobering statistics for 2018 from the Alzheimer's Association. 16.1 million people are unpaid caregivers providing 18.4 billion hours of care. Millions of caregivers have no means of purchasing mechanical beds, lift chairs, or top of the line wheelchairs. Without any outside assistance or financial aid they sacrifice their own health while caring for their loved with a disease that goes on for years. They are my heroes.
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