(A special thanks to Ed & Darlene for sharing their story so that others may learn of the wonderful difference a ceiling lift makes for caregivers and their dependents!)
Darlene:
“We like the Hoist method over the Hoyer method because, first of all, it’s much, much safer. With the Hoyer there’s always that chance of tipping him side-to-side, and with this it’s just so easy; and it’s safe because he’s right over the bed or right over the wheelchair when letting him up and down. And it’s also faster: it’s right there at your convenience, you don’t have to go pull over this big machine and put it under his bed and that. We had to use a Hoyer – the first, I think it was – came home on a Friday, I think, so Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday – we had to use it that many days – and it required two people and this easily can be manipulated it with one person.
I like it in the bathroom and that. Well, with the Hoyer, I could never, never get it into our small bathroom, but this I can manipulate in there very, very easily. And it goes over to the bathtub and then I can let him down into the chair and yet I let the sling fasten to this just for safety so he doesn’t slide away on me. And then I can wash him, give him a bath very easily with it, and then – it’s just so neat – I can just press the button and he goes up in the air.
I can rinse him and then take him over to the chair – and very, very easy to do after I get him out here, I just move the motor our here and then move him over into the bed from the chair to finish drying him from the bath. So it’s no problem to ever give him a bath. He couldn’t have a bath if we had to depend on the Hoyer because there’s no way that the Hoyer could ever go into the bathroom.
I just was amazed how it wasn’t hard at all and I thought, ‘I can do this!’ And I can do it very safely and no problems whatsoever, and I can very well wash him up and the lift just holds him in place there and yet the sling doesn’t cause any problems on his skin at all and that works really, really nice.
And do you like your baths, dear?”
Ed:
“Very much so. I’m very happy with having my wife happy. You know, a happy wife is a happy life. I’m very safe-feeling in it and it’s been very helpful here. We remark every so often how great an equipment that is and how much it does help us.”
Darlene:
“So when we have aides coming in they, oh, they say, ‘We wish we had this at the other homes when we have to transfer someone,’ but very, very few homes have it, I guess. Our aides said only one time at one person’s house where someone had had a lift like this, but the nurse said she’s never seen it and the physical therapist that we had never had seen the lift at all in anybody’s home. In fact, the physical therapist took the name of your company and said she was going to recommend it to some of the people that she worked with.
And I just can’t help but think that people don’t know about it and don’t know what they’re missing. If they did, I think they would want to get it into their home.”