Mobility issues and Hoyer lifts

ImMaggieMae

I’m taking care of my DH at home and plan to continue doing so. My DH is late stage 6, maybe early 7. 
Some things that have helped is renting a hospital bed for which Medicare has finally taken over the payments. My husband can no longer climb the stairs to our upstairs bedroom. The hospital bed is necessary because of acid reflux and coughing, some of which is probably due to swallowing saliva. I purchased a couple of walkers and a transport device to get him to medical appointments when there is a longer distance than he can manage with the walker. He has become very wobbly on his feet in the past week or so. 

We use a slip sheet on the bed to help position him. But with increasing difficulty walking, I think we will soon need some type of lift. Kibbee, I’m not familiar with hover lift. Is it easy to use? Can one person manage it? My sister lives here with us and helps with watching him but has a bad knee and can’t really handle any lifting. Is the lift easy to use?

Kibbee

@ImMaggieMae. Per your request, here are the posts I made earlier regarding Hoyer lifts.

The Hoyer Lift is the #1 tool that makes it possible to take care of DH and keep him at home. I find it easy to use and move around, although some caregivers have reported finding it a bit challenging. Basically it is a hoist on a movable base. The base supports a hydraulic lift boom that can be raised and lowered. The boom has hooks on it. To lift DH I use a lifting sling, made of a slippery mesh and with loops at the corners. I help DH roll onto his side and then place the sling under him. The loops on the sling then attach to the hooks on the boom. I crank up the boom to raise DH off the bed, then roll the lift to his recliner or wheelchair, and lower him into it. The sling stays under him in the recliner/wheelchair and when I need to move him back to the bed I just re-hook him up, crank the boom to lift him and take him back to bed.

The other great thing about the lift is that the boom can be lowered enough that I can lift DH off the floor. He’s only fallen to the floor a couple times since we got the Hoyer, but oh my…such an easy process compared to what I went through helping him up off the floor before. That was really physically hard and also very upsetting and stressful.

With an order placed by a physician, Medicare will cover the cost of the lift although there may be a small co-pay for a certain number of months.

For more info just Google Hoyer Lift, and watch videos of one in use. Please note - videos may show the lift being operated by a two person team, because in a facility setting using a Hoyer Lift may be designated as a “two person assist”. But in reality it’s not that difficult to operate. I routinely operate it on my own, as does our caregiver when he is here with DH.

ImMaggieMae

Kibbee, thank you so much for all the detail on these lifts. I hadn’t read much of anything about them before other than people saying they were too big and cumbersome or too hard to use. Your explanations definitely make them sound doable. We’re getting close to the point of needing one I think. I’m wondering if I should talk to his doctor now about getting one. Medicare can be very slow with equipment rentals. A hospital bed took months. I rented one myself for several months. It would be nice to be able to practice a few times before we have to use it.

I see a lot of different brands online. How difficult is the crank type? We’re mid 70’s and I have some knee problems, not serious yet. Does it take a lot of strength to turn it? What brand do you have? Are the slings pretty much universal with all of the lifts? I like the idea of the slippery fabric. We use a slip sheet to get him positioned in bed at night when he’s sleepy and won’t help much other than sitting on the edge of the bed. It’s amazing how much easier it is to slide him to the middle of the bed using it.