BethU
Extremely helpful member
- Joined
- May 11, 2008
- Messages
- 2,646
- Reason
- PALS
- Diagnosis
- 05/2008
- Country
- US
- State
- California
- City
- Los Angeles
Hi, all ...
I'm the PALS, but I need to get a wheelchair for my husband ASAP, and I have no idea what to look for. I assume it would be good to get something I can use down the line.
Background: You don't have to read all this, as it doesn't relate to ALS. But I think my husband has MS ... his neuro symptoms started 30 years (1978 ... and I was sqwacking about having to wait 2 years for a diagnosed!). His symptoms started with seizures, extreme memory loss, numbness, pain and pins & needles in his feet and legs. Doctors then said it was probably MS, but couldn't get any test to confirm it. He's had the pain for 30 years (OMG), and in compiling his medical records for upcoming tests, I realized he saw one neuro every three months for EIGHT YEARS with no relief. All that idiot did was keep switching his meds around. Anyway ... his past history is beside the point. He's now having what I am sure is an MS flare-up ... the symptoms are classic ... inability to walk or stand, loss of bladder control, double vision, plus a slew of other symptoms that indicate MS (or a few other things that are even worse).
I had to bang my PCP over the head to even get a referral to a neuro for him. She ordered home nursing for him. I told her he needs a doctor, not a nurse! He's going to a pain clinic this week, and I'm hoping the doctor there will take his situation seriously. And I hope I can get an appt with the neuro for him quickly.
(I am actually hoping it is MS, as that would explain everything he's been through in the past 30 years, and there are some treatments for MS that help alleviate symptoms. According to Google, MS can present and then go fallow for decades, so maybe ... MAYBE ... his present condition will abate and he might regain some strength. I keep telling him there could be really good news coming and that it's possible he may actually get relief from the pain, and even some treatments that will help him regain his strength. He's really depressed, of course, which makes it all that much worse, and pretty much a zombie at this point. He's totally exhausted and all he wants to do is sleep.).
BUT BACK TO THE WHEELCHAIR. I have to get one now! I can't lift and carry him much longer, or drag him on the office chair when his legs stop working. I'm starting to get really bad back pain, which I know is from the lifting and pulling. With his mental confusion, when his legs are working, he gets out of bed (very shaky) and starts wandering without his cane, then his legs give out and he collapses, and I find him and have to get him back to bed somehow.
So I am checking wheelchairs online, and some start at only $125. They all look the same to me. Our house has narrow hallways with lots of zig-zags. I figure if I get something now I will be able to use it when the time comes for me. But I can't afford a big ol' motorized job, and that wouldn't fit into our hallway anyway.
Does anybody know if cheap wheelchairs are OK, or if there are things to watch out for? These cheap ones online are collapsible, which I need, although they weigh about 30 pounds, which is probably going to be a lot for me to get into and out of a Honda Civic!
Any advice would really be welcome. I'm out of ideas.
Thanks!
BethU
P.S. This whole situation is way beyond my capacity to solve, so I have turned the whole thing over to my Higher Power. My HP hasn't failed me yet, so I know there will be a solution!
I'm the PALS, but I need to get a wheelchair for my husband ASAP, and I have no idea what to look for. I assume it would be good to get something I can use down the line.
Background: You don't have to read all this, as it doesn't relate to ALS. But I think my husband has MS ... his neuro symptoms started 30 years (1978 ... and I was sqwacking about having to wait 2 years for a diagnosed!). His symptoms started with seizures, extreme memory loss, numbness, pain and pins & needles in his feet and legs. Doctors then said it was probably MS, but couldn't get any test to confirm it. He's had the pain for 30 years (OMG), and in compiling his medical records for upcoming tests, I realized he saw one neuro every three months for EIGHT YEARS with no relief. All that idiot did was keep switching his meds around. Anyway ... his past history is beside the point. He's now having what I am sure is an MS flare-up ... the symptoms are classic ... inability to walk or stand, loss of bladder control, double vision, plus a slew of other symptoms that indicate MS (or a few other things that are even worse).
I had to bang my PCP over the head to even get a referral to a neuro for him. She ordered home nursing for him. I told her he needs a doctor, not a nurse! He's going to a pain clinic this week, and I'm hoping the doctor there will take his situation seriously. And I hope I can get an appt with the neuro for him quickly.
(I am actually hoping it is MS, as that would explain everything he's been through in the past 30 years, and there are some treatments for MS that help alleviate symptoms. According to Google, MS can present and then go fallow for decades, so maybe ... MAYBE ... his present condition will abate and he might regain some strength. I keep telling him there could be really good news coming and that it's possible he may actually get relief from the pain, and even some treatments that will help him regain his strength. He's really depressed, of course, which makes it all that much worse, and pretty much a zombie at this point. He's totally exhausted and all he wants to do is sleep.).
BUT BACK TO THE WHEELCHAIR. I have to get one now! I can't lift and carry him much longer, or drag him on the office chair when his legs stop working. I'm starting to get really bad back pain, which I know is from the lifting and pulling. With his mental confusion, when his legs are working, he gets out of bed (very shaky) and starts wandering without his cane, then his legs give out and he collapses, and I find him and have to get him back to bed somehow.
So I am checking wheelchairs online, and some start at only $125. They all look the same to me. Our house has narrow hallways with lots of zig-zags. I figure if I get something now I will be able to use it when the time comes for me. But I can't afford a big ol' motorized job, and that wouldn't fit into our hallway anyway.
Does anybody know if cheap wheelchairs are OK, or if there are things to watch out for? These cheap ones online are collapsible, which I need, although they weigh about 30 pounds, which is probably going to be a lot for me to get into and out of a Honda Civic!
Any advice would really be welcome. I'm out of ideas.
Thanks!
BethU
P.S. This whole situation is way beyond my capacity to solve, so I have turned the whole thing over to my Higher Power. My HP hasn't failed me yet, so I know there will be a solution!