Thursday, September 04, 2008

Old bones continued

Some of my readers have kindly been making suggestions as to how I could overcome my difficulties with getting in to my son's van. Herhimnbryn drew my attention to the double swivelling cushions that are on the market, that will do the twisting for you.
She sent me a link she had found and I have been having a good look through the website of betterlifehealthcare.com .



I soon realised that the swivel cushion will unfortunately not meet my case, as it is designed primarily for use in a car, where one can stand on the ground with one's back to the car seat and just lower one's bottom onto it, and then swivel. My problem is that I have to get myself off the ground and up to seat level first, which requires massive forward and upward movement, and THEN twist myself to get my bottom on the seat. It didn't take much thought to realise that what I really need is a HOIST!!! Or a seat that cranks up to the level I want.



I was about to close the website when I thought, "I'll just have a look through the whole page" ..... and then I began to laugh. Moving firmly in the direction of industrial equipment, the company was offering this little number, called the Caresia Twist patient turner, which comes in at a robust £702.00. [The cheapest swivel cushion is a modest £16.79!] "At this rate," I thought, "there might even be a device with a hoist as well, so I'll carry on down the page".






Alas, no, there was nothing with a hoist on offer, though there was equipment of increasing complexity, such as this Rota Move De Luxe, which allows for four separate handling transfers: 'sit to stand, pivot, seated and side transfer', and which would knock you back £1804.00.
The priciest item of all came in at £2329.00.

But it made me think about what may lie ahead, and I am determined to keep as flexible and agile as I can, even if it doesn't include climbing into my son's van without a hoist.

2 comments:

herhimnbryn said...

Oh my, Judith.....keep on moving! Just one more thought, is there a partition behind the driving seats or is the main body of the van open to the seats? If it is, you could always try getting in the back and walking through to the seat?
I'll shut up now.

Judith said...

Bless you! There's a partition I'm afraid - I thought of that too. But don't stop the ideas coming!!!