Anyone use the hoyer lift alone?

Lills

Hi all,  My DH has been bedbound since late Oct.  He's still doing well, all things considered. 

The VA has granted DH 21 hours of respite per week, 3 hours per day.  The CNA and I both use the hoyer lift to put DH in his lift chair.  Before the CNA leaves for the day, we put DH back in his hospital bed, which is in the LR.  I am looking into having a door threshold ramp installed so that I can wheel DH out to our front porch, no farther than that.  I'd love for him to get some fresh summer air!

I would really like to be able to use the hoyer lift myself so that I can wheel DH out whenever the CNA isn't here.  

Question:  Does anyone use the hoyer lift alone?  I realize in MCs and nursing homes, they are required to have two people using the lift..but is my thought totally off the wall?  

Ed1937

Although I could be wrong, I think there are videos on youtube showing just how to do that. Good luck to you.

Beachfan

Lills,

Sorry, I don’t know the answer, but I just wanted to take the time to tell you I think you’re Wonder Woman.  You take such loving and compassionate care of your DH; it’s reflected in all of your posts. And you retain  your sense of humor through it all. (I remember the description of your DH waiting to go outside for a walk wearing his pajama pants, robe, hat, boots and gloves. Priceless!). I hope your second Moderna shot went well.  Carry on!

JJAz

Yes, I used a hoyer lift alone.  But I wouldn't use it going down a ramp.  I'm assuming that you would use the hoyer to put your hubby into a wheelchair in order to move him to the porch?  That should be great.  The VA should provide a wheelchair too.

Blessings,

Jamie

JJAz

When you have the ramp put in, also consider having the threshold removed and have an "automatic door bottom" installed on the door.  It's an easy install and it makes a world of difference pushing a wheelchair (or walker) over the threshold.  Of course, you can only really do this if your porch is covered.  Having dealt with this problem for both my Dad and DH, I'm now building a house for myself using this solution in anticipation of someday needing a walker myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjWzw8OlWOw

Jo C.

Jamie, I would be interested in hearing how you are having your home built.  We are in a two story house with all bedrooms and showers upstairs.   We are considering having a master suite with bathroom added on downstairs; not a small undertaking as we will have to do some major changes to other rooms.  Anyway, I would be interested to hear about what you are doing for aging in place. That is what we wish to do.  We also have a door from garage into the laundry room that we need to have the high threshold modifed and we also have one on our sliding French paned door to the back patio that also needs modification. Our front door has a threshold, but it goes out onto a brick porch with several steps and then a long narrow sidewalk down the side of the front patio and then through a tall wrought iron gate and more wide steps with brick trim - so we have decided as we age to use the other doors as there would be far too much modifcation in the front.

All of our doors are also too narrow for a wheelchair, so we shall have to find out the cost of widening the downstairs doors should we need that width in the future.  If we were smarter, we would have moved to a one story house long ago; but we somehow were not that smart.  Sigh.

Thank you for any input - it will be appreciated as we are now in the talking stages of doing this.

J.

HusbandHasEO

Hello - my husband has been bed bound since early February and we are also using a Hoyer lift supplied by Hospice.  

You are right, they say they require two people.  BUT - If I didn't have a second person around and wanted to get my husband up...I would feel comfortable doing it by myself. 

Hospice also issued a reclining wheelchair that we put him in and take him outside. It reclines because he is leaning a bit to one side and the slight recline keeps him from falling over to the side.

The daily wheel chair ride outside is his favorite part of the day.  

Ed1937

Jo, about widening the door(s) - that is typically not a big job. If you can find a handyman with good reputation, they should be able to do it for quite a bit less $$ than a contractor. Just a thought.

Lorita

Hi Lills,

 When I was 17 or 18 my grandmother fell and broke her hip.  She never walked after that.  While she was recovering from the hip surgery we had a hoyer lift.  At that time mother was working out of the home and I was in business college so we worked/went to college staggered times so someone would be with her at all times.  Both mother and I used the hoyer lift by ourselves.  Grandma was a small woman and didn't weigh too much so I'm sure it might have been easier with her than with a large man.  Just be careful doing it.  Good luck with whatever you decide.

JJAz

Hi Jo,

Yes, it's a much easier proposition to make a home handicapped accessible when you're starting from scratch.  We're building a multi-generation home for my daughter's family and me.  6 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, 2 living rooms and 2 separate patio areas.  All on one level.  All 36" doorways, zero threshold showers and zero house-to-garage threshold, along with a ramp instead a step into the garage.  If I become dependent on a walker, I hope to stay at home.  If I'm wheelchair bound, all bets are off.  Then I would be a big burden on the kids.

Jamie