Mary Helen Barr
Active member
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2006
- Messages
- 61
Of my family, I do the most caretaking of my father. I do a pivot transfer to move him from place to place. The only time he really has to stand and stay standing is when I clean him up after using the toilet. Even though he is putting weight on his legs, he has to lean on a towel bar and walker, and I have to use my body to help hold him up, only giving me one hand to do what I need to do to clean him up. (really should be a 2 person job, but it's just me). I often have to sit him back down on the toilet to rest, and stand him up again several times, especially when he has diarrhea (like now). Anyway, is it trunk weakness that makes him bend so far forward? Does trunk weakness lead to bulbar symptoms? He doesn't seem to have bulbar symptoms, even though his head hangs. Any breathing difficulty is due to his airway being closed by his hanging head. When I tie his head back on his wheelchair (a little invention of ours), he doesn't have trouble breathing. I guess I'm just wondering about his "trunk"--he seems to curl forward while standing. His progression is pretty slow, but I was just wondering about other patients and that area of their bodies. MH