Walkers

[Lynne K]

Hi all. I requested a light weight 4 wheeled walker that was narrower than my Topro. I had measured all the places around the flat that I couldn't get through with the Topro. 23" ought do it I found. I then searched online for a suitable example and sent links to my physio. The Topro is great for stability and very good design. But it proved too wide for around the flat and I couldn't lift it into the car. I've been using a 3 wheeled indoors but had enough of it after my last fall.

The new walker came this week. I've had a couple of days to test it. It's much more stable than the 3 wheeled as I'd suspected it'd be. It's narrow enough to get around our flat. I also took it down the slope to my car last evening and lifted it in. This was tricky and slow but doable.

There's a couple of things though that are not so good. The brakes are very stiff. It's much harder for me to squeeze the brakes on to stop the walker. When going down the slope I keep my feet still and move the walker, squeeze the brakes on and then move my feet to catch up. This is a slow process but the safest way. I hope that the brakea ease up with use.

It's similarly stiff to fold up the new walker. That proved precarious when I was preparing it for lifting into the car. I had to ballance close to the car while using 2 hands to fold the walker. That ought to loosen up with use. I got it in the car eventually which I was very pleased about. Lynne

[Terry]

Hi Lynne;

Pleased to hear that you've got the walker and it works. Sounds a bit risky going down slopes and especially getting it into the car. Maybe keep the brakes locked on going down slopes and slid it. Get hubby to open and close it loads of times to loosen the folding.

STAY SAFE, don't rush.

Love Terry

[miranda]

I keep the brakes “half on” when I use my walker. It’s too uncontrollable otherwise.

[Lynne K]

Terry, good ideas. Miranda. I can't manage to keep the brakes half on with the new walker. It takes me a big effort to squeeze them at all because they are so stiff. With the other walker I often do as you say.

Miranda and Terry it's not as safe outside and going down the slope with the new one. I don't feel as secure. The wheels are solid plastic and because it's a 4 wheeled with no give on uneven ground, including down the slope there's frequently only 3 wheels on the ground. I've just been to Asda with Steve and used the new one to and from the car by home. But he pushed me around the shop in my manual wheelchair. So in future when my husband is with me I'll use the Topro. It's bigger and got lovely big rubber wheels that deal with uneven ground much better. But if I want to venture out on my own in my car for the short time that I'll be able to it'll have to be the light weight walker. Lynne

[Kayleigh]

Hi Lynne,

Its great to hear you have got your new walker and it's working well for you indoors.

If your new walker is the trolley style (usually with 2 trays), I have read that they are designed mainly to use indoors. Therefore, it might not be very suitable or easy to use outdoors on bumpy pavements or on uneven surfaces etc.

If yours is the trolley style with trays, please be very careful if you are going to use it outside, as it might only be safe and suitable to use on surfaces that are flat and fairly smooth.

I hope you and your husband are having a lovely weekend.

Love Kayleigh x

[Lynne K]

Hi Kayleigh. The new light weight walker is supposed to be suitable indoors and outdoors. It doesn't have trays. It has a small bag with a hard plastic seat over it. The seat has to fold up either to access the bag and also to fold the walker up towards me. The wheels stay apart when it's folded as it doesn't fold handles together like the 3 wheeled or the Topro. I'm interested in getting a walker with trays instead of this one because if it's going to just be used indoors then it may as well serve two purposes then I can get rid of my hostess trolley that I haven't been using because it doesn't have brakes so runs away.

I'd still have the problem of not being able to lift the Topro into my car. So I wouldn't have the independence of being able to go out driving alone. When my hubby is with me he almost always drives. So I'd be saying goodbye to my driving before I'm ready. I don't know what to do now Lynne

[Kayleigh]

Hi Lynne,

I remember you mentioning on another thread that you were hoping to get a replacement trolley with trays - but now I realise that your new walker isn't that one.

I can see why your OT provided you with the more compact and lightweight walker but it's a shame it doesn't work as well outdoors for you as it does indoors.

I can see the merits of having a trolley with the trays and brakes, as it will be a very practical piece of equipment to use indoors. However, I don't drive and so I don't have any experience of the dilemma you face. Also, I don't know if a trolley would be as easy to use and manoeuvre indoors as your new walker is. Even if you decide to swap your new walker for a trolley, hopefully your OT would let you try the trolley out for a while, before you had to decide which one to keep.

Although you still have the ability to drive, it must be frustrating for you not always being able to get out and about independently. Your safety is the priority though. I worry about you lifting the walker into the car, if it puts you at risk of losing your balance and possibly falling - and so please be careful..

Love
Kayleigh x

[Lynne K]

Thanks Kayleigh, very wise words from you as always. About a hostess trolley with brakes. I asked my OT weeks ago in an email and she's never replied. I see her Thursday next so I'll mention it and explain about the new walker. She ordered my existing hostess trolley and the physio orders walkers. There's job demarcation there, but I don't know the boundaries. Lynne x

[Terry]

Hi Lynne,

I think that they both come out of the same pot unless you get something second hand. I guess that they have a computer file on your equipment.

Love Terry

[Gillette]

Lynne, is Natalie your physio? I know she and Jennie are both in the unofficial MND community team (as part of the Community Palliative Care Team). So it may well be as Terry said that it comes from the same pot.

[Lynne K]

Yea Natalie is my physio and Jennie my OT. They are both in the same palliative care team with our speech therapist and others. They have team meetings regularly so we only need to speak to one of them and if it is the wrong person they pass it on.

How are you Dina?
Lynne

[Kayleigh]

Hi Lynne,

It's interesting you mentioned the demarcation of responsibilities and I thought I'd look on the Mnda website to try and find out how this usually works with OTs and physiotherapists etc. On page 8 of the Mnda's information sheet about Equipment and Wheelchairs, it says that one of an OT's responsibilities is to advise about equipment that will help us continue with our daily routines as independently as possible (and this probably explains why the hostess trolley was provided by your OT rather than your physiotherapist).

My thoughts are that you shouldn't have to give up your new walker, even if your OT swaps your hostess trolley for one with brakes. You have a genuine need for both - the hostess trolley will help you to keep your independence with transporting food and drinks etc from the kitchen and you need to keep your new walker to use indoors as well (eg it's probably not very appropriate for a hostess trolley to be taken into a bathroom).

As your OT provided you with your current hostess trolley, hopefully she will agree to swapping it for one with brakes. I think It would be better if OTs always provided hostess trolleys with brakes, because they are much safer to use and are likely to meet someone's needs for much longer than a trolley without them.

I hope you are enjoying the good weather. It makes a change from the usual rainy August bank holiday weekend!

Love
Kayleigh xx

P.S Link provided below to Information Sheet '11C Equipment and Wheelchairs':-

http://https://dbsy278t81889.cloudfront.net/app/uploads/2019/03/14095610/11C-Equipment-and-wheelchairs.pdf

[Lynne K]

Hi Kayleigh, I got a used hostess trolley 20 months ago approximately. It still had some grot on it. That was the first thing that I was given and I wasn't at all impressed.

Thanks for checking rules etc. I'll ask my OT when I see her Thursday about getting a hostess trolley with brakes. They're £56 - 75 online. Some places don't offer vat exemption which may be part of the price differences.

Currently I sit in our small kitchen on my Topro every morning for my porridge (with maple syrup on top) and cup of tea. I could take the porridge in to our living room in the bag of my walker, on top of my handbag. But a mug of tea is impossible for me to carry in. So a trolley with wheels would make my breakfasts more pleasant. Lynne

[Gillette]

Yea Natalie is my physio and Jennie my OT. They are both in the same palliative care team with our speech therapist and others. They have team meetings regularly so we only need to speak to one of them and if it is the wrong person they pass it on.

How are you Dina?
Lynne

Hi Lynne,

Thanks for asking. I'm not doing too badly, thank you. I'm likely to be in here until around 6 or 7 September as they are unlikely to be able to get a care package set up by next Thursday. I have a pre-op assessment here on Friday, then would have to be admitted on the Saturday or Sunday in readiness for my two procedures on Monday 02. Then I will be here while recovering from having two things done on the same day, plus they will be teaching me how to use the PEG.

I'm glad I'm in here as the whole care situation was getting me down. It's giving me time and space to calm down.

[Kayleigh]

Hi Lynne,

I hope everything went OK when your OT visited you recently.

Love
Kayleigh x