I am asking a question to anyone out there that is using a toileting sling for transfers onto a camode etc.
The question is.....was the sling provided by the OT's or did you have to buy one?
The reason for the question is, that I have asked for one from the OT's but they are refusing because they say that it would be unsafe for me to use on my own!
I can't think of any other way now, to get my husband onto the camode.
I have an insitu sling but that is much to cumbersome to try and use for this purpose.
I know that I have read about Georgepa using a toileting sling.
Anyway, any feedback would be grateful.
Love to all
Denise
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DenB
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Sounds to me like it's time for a hoist? Do you have carers? Because ideally they need to hoist, although I think Mrs miracle NannaB does it on her own! I couldn't for the fear of doing something wrong but my hat goes off to NannaB! X
It depends on what hoist you have, by the sound of it OT's have done a Health & Safety assessment and decided for your safety as well as his, double handed shifts are now required. They are not giving you a sling to cover themselves if you have an accident.
It sounds as though you have not realised how much deteriation in your husband's condition has happened as PSP creeps up you have adapted your care without knowing how much extra it is costing your body. It may be time to listen to their extra carer suggestions.
In answer to your question you can buy slings from mobility shops but often they will sell you a sling without help or checking it is correct for your situation.
I do already have ceiling hoists and I do do all the caring for my husband. He has CBD.
I really don't want carers in and out and I do manage. Obviously some days or weeks are harder than others, as we all know.
I have been able to use a Rotastand for transferring him from his wheelchair to the camode but that is increasingly stressful for both of us,as he is mostly unable to pull himself up onto the stand, now.
I use other slings for transfers but as I said, these are too cumbersome to use for transferring him onto the camode.....too much material in the way!
I will have to buy a sling if the OT's refuse but I wondered how others got on.
When we was given our hoist we had 2 slings an all purpose sling and a toileting sling. I can use both for putting Brian on the commode or shower chair. If he had normal trousers on it was a bit fiddly but with practice you get round it. With a ceiling hoist you are allowed to to do it on your own. We have a mobile hoist and i use it on my own....... in fact our carers have never hoisted Brian in all the time we've had them.
Even the ot has watched me hoist Brian single handed. Janexx
Thanks for your reply Jane. I know that the OT's have to think about safety but I know that I am quite capable and there is no other way of getting him onto a cammode.I have been hoisting him with other slings and taking care of his every need, for quite some time now, anyway they have rang today to say that they will be coming on Thursday to try out a toileting sling with me!
Up until now, I have been using a Rotastand which has been a life save for me.A brilliant piece of equipement for transfers,easterncedar. I would definitely recommend it but my husband can no longer pull himself up onto it and for a while now,I have to confess, that I have had to manhandle him a bit to get him onto it!
Oh boy - ask me about toiletings slings - no don't - oh go on I will tell you anyway .Are you using a stand aid or ceiling hoist ? Don't suppose it makes much difference either way - to get someones trousers and pants off requires the ingenuity of Houdini. The OT and handling people say it is quite possible - get them to demonstrate 'cos it isn't but its great fun watching them struggle . Our poor OT went puce with exertion finally gave up and said ' see what you mean' and then said 'some people seem to manage ' and went home . She did return with some instructions which looked as though they had been drawn by a three year old with written instructions from a Chinese flat pack designer with a very limited command of English .
We have a ceiling hoist and the only way is to transfer to bed using the in situ sling , remove said underclothes change slings and transfer back to commode and then reverse order then retire to the kitchen and eye the wine bottle at 9.30am - think I am becoming an alcoholic ? Probably not but ponder on the idea of never giving V any fluids ever again as I have by now lost the will to live - other than it is a piece of cake . Oh and yes your OT should provide you with one of course she/he should .You will manage and it is perfectly alright for one person to use one according to the chief handling officer for Devon ( mind you she couldn't work it either ! )
Love " Jack of all slings master of none " Georgepa
Well, as I said to easterncedar, I had a phone call today to tell me that two OT's will be coming here to demonstrate a toileting hoist and to see whether one would be suitable and safe for me to use on my husband!
To me, health and safety, is just using commonsence.Of course I am not going to let him fall through the open bit of the sling where his bottom will be and I wil only have to move him from the bed , straight on to the commode, what could possibly go wrong!!!
Thanks for the instruction Georgepa, I will be sure to show it to the OT's , if they have any trouble!
No hero EC just an ordinary bloke bumbling along making mistakes, getting cross ,weeping silently to himself at night,wishing it could all be different . If one can find a bit of humour somewhere it seems to help one get by when one is faced with the inevitability of this illness .
I think everyone is a hero on here ,people are so brave .You see folk picking themselves up time and time again. Anyway I am rambling on - time for bed and two or if I am lucky maybe three pages of my book -best part of my day .G'night
I went through 3 months of this with a ceiling hoist.. Having to hoist R out of the easy recliner I to the wheelchair . Than out of the wheel chair onto the bed.take off his pants hoist him back into the wheelchair. Hoist him onto the toilet. Than back in the wheelchair and than on to the bed . Put pants back on and into the wheelchair. Than hoist into his easy chair. That is seven lifts for one trip to the toilet . It nearly killed me. Thank God he suddenly stood up one day and got into his easy chair taking a few steps. Now he is able to transfer wirh a little support. Hugs.
Just an update about the toileting sling. And to anyone else who might be wondering.
The two OT's came yesterday and we had a try out with the sling that they bought with them and after lots of precautionary tales about what could happen and what one had seen happen in the past, they agreed, that they would order me one but that I should be very aware of this that and the other.
Just another little hurdle but for now, I feel a little relieved in finding something that may make our lives a tiny bit more easy!
It's just the little things that make a difference.
Hi DenB, we don't have a ceiling hoist, apparently our ceilings are too low, plus we are renting at the moment, so that has its own problems. The OT refused to give us a toileting sling due the risk of people falling out of them! We were given a manual hoist and a normal sling to use, two problems here, 1. A manual hoist is pretty useless with my degenerating neck especially as I have been told I've slipped another disc. 2. How the hell do you get a person on commode in a sling? Was told it was possible to tug the sling from under G but again the neck stops me doing that.
We have an Arjo Hunter hoist in the living room to move G from chair to wheelchair and back again, so I put my foot down and said we needed another hoist for the bedroom (the hoists are heavy to push from room to room if you have carpet).
So another Arjo Hunter hoist was delivered, sooooooo much easier. Using a waist/chest sling, lift G to the Arjo hunter, put bed pads on floor in case of leakage, pull down trousers and incontinence pads, lower G onto commode, and then revers the procedure, can clean, wipe G when in standing position, pull pants and trousers up, change commode for wheelchair, lower G down and off we go. Simples 😃
Thanks for that, Gadgetgeek.Simple for you,indeed!! I have tried using an insitu sling to transfer onto commode but after all the tugging and pulling to get the thing off for toileting, I end up with a man, half on and half off and me hoping that he hasn't 'been' until I can get him straight and his bottom where it should be!!!
Quite stressful and I know that there is an easier way, I just hope I get a toileting sling for the job and also that I won't have to pay for it, although if I have to I will of course.
“Nobody mentions getting your pants down!” she complains on her site of sling makers’ otherwise glowing descriptions of their products. “No one tells you that in order to use a sling lift for toileting, you have to give up wearing slacks and underwear! Well, I refuse to sit around bare-assed under a drafty skirt or lap blanket waiting for a call of nature!”
Huberty and her caregiver tried making the sling work while she wore regular slacks, but getting the pants up and down proved a struggle. “That led me to try adaptive clothing,” she recounts.
She tried slacks with zippers on both sides, but they were difficult to zip back up after re-seating in her wheelchair. Ultimately, she settled on slacks with an open back, sold by Silvert’s Adaptive Clothing & Footwear (800-387-7088). “As weird as they sound, they look like ordinary slacks when you’re seated,” she writes on her Web site. “Of course, you can’t wear underwear with them. I just put a hand towel in the wheelchair seat instead.
“When you transfer to the toilet, you don’t have to do anything with them. No removing, pulling, unzipping, unsnapping needed. Just transfer to the toilet and go! There is plenty of open space underneath. I have never gotten my slacks wet or soiled. A pit stop with the help of a caregiver who’s familiar with the process takes less than 10 minutes, even with me on a ventilator.”
Buck and Buck (800-458-0600) also sells adaptive clothing, offering open-back and overlappin
Mum is a full hoist, she has no mobility and can only move her left elbow, both hands are fully contracted. The reason OT's don't like you using a toileting sling is because if the patient is unable to hold the straps they could (technically) fall through the sling. I pushed for a toileting sling as the alternative at the time would have meant incontinence being forced on her as she has constant UTI's and urgency. They came and assessed me and lo and behold said that as Mum is so rigid through the trunk and arms (the right arm is clamped to her body and takes all my strength to slide the straps under) she is quite safe in the toileting sling, thank the lord. I dread the day they take it away because then it will be adaptive clothing for us too and a straight jacket for me!!
Sorry to hear about your mum Dizz58 and thank you for taking the time to let me know how things are for you and how you cope.
I am taking what everyone has told me on board, it all helps and I appreciate everyone's answers to my question about toileting slings and how everyone copes individually.
I do need to get one for my husband, hopefully everything will go ok on Thursday when the OT's turn up to assess.I'm sure now that it will!
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