Mother (78) and crippled with fibromyalgia, can't walk the stairs to get to her room. Any help?

It became a real problem when my mom could not get up the stairs anymore to shower. I converted a room downstairs with a half bath into a bedroom for her and hired a lady to come one or twice a week to help her get upstairs (at first) and then to bath her downstairs when she could not do the stairs anymore. She was keeping herself clean up in between, but then the dementia set in and it became a real problem because of Intertrigo. Long story short, I had to put her in assisted living where they do baths three times a week. Certainly, I would prefer she get a bath daily, but it's not realistic. Try to see if the doctor will order her some home health care physical and occupations therapy. It sound like you need a home health care assessment to start off and go from there.

Regarding moving loved one to a downstairs room.....What do you do for showers if there's only a half bath downstairs? Afraid I'll have to accommodate my husband with a downstairs bedroom but can't redo half bath to install a shower. No room. Moving is the only option and I'd hate to take him out of his familiar.

FloMae

I think it is her bedroom up there.

M88...........:?)

What's up there that she must get to?

Great idea, freqflier. That would also give mom a part in the decision, too. Mimi, you know your mom's personality better than anyone. Be careful of the allure of something shiny and new. My mom was sweet, loving, and totally devoted to me. She was also selfish and liked to show off. (She had no concept of money. It took my dad's navy and civil service pensions and his social security, plus some of what I was blessed to earn at a part time job after retirement, to pay for a modest ALF and associated expenses. My dad spoiled mom while he was alive, and I guess I am guilty of trying my best to do that, too.) If we saw something that would feed her ego, she would absolutely love it. As soon as the new wore off, though, I would find it hidden somewhere, barely used. If I bought two pairs of earrings and offer her a choice, she would figure out which ones I had bought for myself, debate for awhile, look at me with her pretty blue eyes, and ask if she could have the ones I bought for myself. Her best friend and I used to enjoy our little game. The same principle would have applied to a motorized scooter that would not fit in her room, too! So, as freqflier said, allowing your mom to try the chair would tell you a lot. Is she comfortable using it? Do you think it is something she will use? My mom would want the second floor to herself by way of the chair and a fancy, girly downstairs room, too. I would give anything if she were here today, so enjoy the time you have with your mom. Do your best for her and the rest of your family, and take it one day at a time. One of the best pieces of advice someone gave to me when mom was ill was, "Don't forget to live." God bless you and your family.

ramiller brought up an excellent point. One could spend $10k on a chair lift and the elder would refuse to use it. Then there would be the cost of having the chair lift professionally removed.

Mimi, therefore have your Mom try out a chair lift if there is one available to use. That would be your answer to know if to stay with Plan A [looking for a chair lift] or go to Plan B [have Mom live only on the main level].

No way to stay on it all the time especially if you are younger it will eat away at your bones and you will be worse off. As to stair lifts medicaid will not coves these even if doctor recommends. The cost start at about 10,000 for a staircase with no turns or twists, unless there are only a few stairs. Moving her downstairs is an option if you have the room to do it. Another option is to call a couple companies and get firm quotes then try a gofundme page to cover the cost. Cant hurt to try, but one thing you must determine first is will she be able to use it and willing to. Some older folks are scared of these things so make sure she is up for it first. Hope u find the right answer for your family. Many of us are now wishing we had bought a ranch home, me included.

Prednisone has that effect on me too. I feel GREAT and have NO pain in my body when I'm taking it. My doctor said he would like to see me on it full time except for the AWFUL side effects like deterioration of the bones etc. I don't think it's safe to stay on it all the time.

I was on prednisone for a few days....like ten days, and I cleaned all the windows, screens, sills, glass panes removed, and cleaned inside out including the blinds.......all in one sunny day.

Now... when I get a little industrious, hubby asks: "Are you on prednisone or what???"

Hahaha, since now I'm so tired of being the care giver that I did the kitchen window only and needed a nap.

Wassup with that?

M88

strange that I was talking to a friend today and she was telling me that her mother's doctor put her on prednisone and that she was bed ridden when she started and was able to clean their entire house when she was put on prednisone. As with most steroids, they started her on a high doseage and reduced it down gradually over about 10 days to 2 weeks and she would maintain for a few weeks and need to go back on it again. I have not had any experience with this. It is simply analogous. I have success with occasional prednisone for injuries to arthritic joints. This is what started the conversation today with her. Good luck with your mom.
For general inflammation, I use Botswala (medicinal frankincense) and Circummmin (the ingredient in tumeric that makes it yellow) You can just make a tumeric shake, but it tastes awful..

I know that in the future we will have to change our bedroom to the living room, we have a small house and our bedroom is on the ground floor. The previous owners added two small bedrooms in the attic and the stairs would never be able to adapt to a stair lift because of the placement/configuration of the stairs they built. Plus the rooms are even smaller. Our largest bedroom on the ground floor is only abt 10'x 10' and if needed we could never get a wheelchair to the bed. So we plan to switch the two rooms. It's not the best we could want yet it will allow us to be able to get around. When my grandmother got older she curtained off a part of her dining room and had a bed set there. She did not socialize much at that time and still had a living room for any guests, etc, Her older home had a second floor which she just could not manage anymore so it worked for her to be on the ground floor. I have known others who due to age or disability who have converted their living room into a bedroom area so I don't think it's uncommon. Of course it's easier to do this if your family isn't large and social, children especially take up more room. Depending on your family personal needs if you can do it may work and you can always switch back. So much depends on the access path through your house and making sure everyone has the privacy and space they need. I hope you can find a solution for the situation that works for everyone in your family.

Regarding Medicare and chair stair lifts. "Does Medicare cover the cost of stair lifts? It is logical to begin here as a very common question. The short, uncomplicated answer is, for all practical purposes, Medicare does not pay for stair lifts."

"The one possible exception to this rule is Medicare might pay for a small portion of the cost if the stair lift has an elevating seat which helps the rider to sit down and get up from the chair safely. However, such a feature would only be available in a high-end stair chair which would cost considerably more than the amount Medicare would reimburse the purchaser. In other words, the amount of financial assistance would be less than the additional cost for a stair lift which has that feature."

"Medicare supplemental insurance policies also do not cover stair lifts. These policies are intended to help with co-payments and deductibles for goods and services covered by Medicare. Since, Medicare does not help, neither would a Supplemental or Medigap policy." [source, Paying For Senior Care].

I forgot to mention that I don't know of any place that donates that type of machinery that you're looking for, so good luck on that one because people don't give that stuff away because it's so very expensive

There are several things you can do to remedy the problem.

1. Install a stair lift

2. Move her room downstairs, at least her bed

3. move her to a one floor house

I used to know someone many years ago who also couldn't take the stairs due to bad knees. Fortunately for her she had a sunroom porch on the main floor that she turned into a bedroom.

Another thing to consider is if the home happens to have steps leading into your entrance. Many homes have steps and are not handicap accessible. This is where building a ramp would come in handy

All good ideas. But do check and see that your stairs are wide enough to receive a stairlift and still be considered "safe" for others. Those lifts are heavy and take more room than you'd be led to believe.

In the meantime, how about making a special room for mom downstairs? I know my mother cannot make the stairs at my brother's place, and he has plenty of room to install them--he just wanted his family to have "mom-free space" and if she could get up the stairs, she'd be in their bedrooms, family room, basically, in their lives 24/7. Now she has the whole main floor to utilize along with her little apartment.

She's lived with brother for 17 years and it's wearing on him. He has all 5 og kids still at home, they need a place for friends to come over and not have Grandma sitting there, nosing around.

Don't promise her you can do this until you are certain that A: you can, and B: you really want to.

You need your private space, too.

My wife couldn't get up or down the stairs and I have a neighbor with fibromyalgia. They both now use a stairlift. Problem solved. I know Acorn advertises heavily.

Will medicare pay for a stair lift? They pay for those lift chairs and other medical assistance devices. Also have her magnesium levels checked. Fibromyalgea is often a symptom of low magnesium levels.

All good answers. Basically, if you can't get the stair lift, you have to make a decision if you are going to have her living area up stairs or down stairs. If upstairs, then whatever it takes for her not to have to go down the stairs and fix things homey for her there. The same if you decide for downstairs. Best Wishes.

I had something like that in mind, too. If she doesn't have to use a hospital bed yet, I would get a couch or love seat with a pull-out bed. A church or organization for the elderly might help. I used to live where I had a fireplace downstairs, so during the winter I used the couch/bed all of the time. I am a heavy woman, and the mattress was comfortable. I like the idea of having family time in the same room together in the evenings. Then, she could sleep or watch tv. At least she would feel more like a part of the family. Good idea, Salisbury!

All of the above....

Or, you could do what we generally never think of: move her to the living room and set her room up as the TV room. Then you can watch TV in t he evening when she is sleeping. It won't cost anything (except possibly for moving the cable....)

When we get that far, I will have to do this in our house which has LOTS of stairs. The TV is already down stairs in a small office. But the idea of having my husband in the living room is one that I accepted long ago. Desperate circumstances call for desperate measures, right?

It appears medicare will not pay for stair lifts, but google stair lift donation in your local area and see what comes up.

Check to see if her insurance will pay with a prescription from the doctor. Otherwise, get a price for what it would cost, and set up a "gofundme" page. The world is truly filled with very kind and generous people, despite all the ugliness we see on the news channels.

Does your mom live with your family ? Can she have a bed on the first floor somewhere? Sometimes a church or charity online can help her,with chair lift.

First place to start calling is your local Agency on Aging. www.agingcare.com/local/Area-Agency-on-Aging to see if there is a group that would help with some of the cost.