Follow
Share

One thing that my mother has always done was to not give up. Now it seems that she is. She is in a wheelchair and cannot walk at all right now. When she does exercise she complains that it hurts. I tell her that if she exercised her muscles would get used to doing them and it would not hurt so much. She cannot get into my car because it is a SUV and the seat is too high. this means that she cannot take a drive or go anywhere. She needs to get out of the house. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
How old is your mom? How long has she been in the chair?

My MIL has had PT after surgeries and stays in the hospital - but she complains that it hurts and never moves unless they are here. She is 89. She walks with the aid of a walker. She has some back issues and arthritis and I do not doubt she has pain.

I no longer 'pester her' or 'remind' her to exercise. There really is no point. She knows that she gains strength while having PT but lacks the initiative to keep doing it on her own. Shoot - I don't exercise either!!

We have suggested going to the local ALF and doing the sittersize classes and she calls them 'suicide' classes and refuses. At 89 we have decided to allow her to decide what she wants to do as far as exercise. She does not have dementia - she has decent cognitive functioning. She KNOWS she should exercise - just as I know I should.

One suggestion: Purchase a ramp for her to walk up or that you can push the chair up and then she can get into the seat of your vehicle from there. IF she is able to pull herself out of the chair herself (which my MIL can no longer do) she could still go for rides, etc. We paid about $175 for the aluminum ramp we got on Amazon. It was fairly light and had handles for easy carrying and fit into the back end of our SUV easily. It served her well for a couple of years.

She does not have the strength in her legs necessary to stand up without assistance. She uses a lift chair and must have arms on any chair she sits in - so that she can lean on the arms to push herself to a standing position.

As my grandma used to say "It's a gay life if you don't weaken . . . . but I weakened.'' :0(
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

thank you Pstiegman - We have had Pt's and OT's here but she has managed to chase them off. I need first to get her to see a geriatric psychiatrist and then we will see about getting other professionals in to help. She is very hard-headed. I just wanted some ideas on me getting her to exercise. Thanks
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Ask her MD to assign PT and OT to get her moving again. Sometimes it takes the encouragement of an outsider to get them on their feet.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter