Dear all…
As you know my wife has recently had a few strokes, and is currently doing well in rehab, speech and general mental health is very good.
The problem we are are having is they are struggling to give her the nessesary physio therapy, especially on her affected right leg as it is very painful when she moves it. It’s a kinda vicious circle. To remove the pain they need to work on it, but when they do move it, it hurts, so we’re kinda stuck. They use the dreaded hoist for a lot of the transition from bed to chair, which she doesn’t like obviously… I’m wondering what is the best way forward, she is doing so well with her other areas of recovery, it would be great if we can get this part sorted too… any ideas or shared experiences would be very welcome, cheers Mike.
Transfers from bed to chair can be done in a number of ways.
It very much depends upon the ability of the patient.
Physyotherapy will be working on a number of factors.
Balance and stability are very necessary as it is important to be able to remain upright.
Strength is also a factor because a lot of muscles come into play and they must do their job well.
A certain amount of stamina is also needed to hold a position.
Training all these can take a while, the patient can get tired very quickly so sessions can be short meaning more work still to do.
Once a patient can stand supported for a while transfer from bed to chair becomes much less of a task.
Of course ultimately getting to a solid standing position and then being able to walk a few steps is a long distant aim. Some people make short work of it, but I have to admit to being the dunce in the class.
I am 6 months into rehab from stroke and have only just been able to walk a few steps unaided. I call myself Master of the Wobbly Walk.
I am working on it though I must admit to low moments when I thought I couldn’t make progress.
I will stick by my motto, which I recommend to all,
Keep on keepin’ on 
Hi Bobbi,
Yeah interesting, thank you… that’s amazing, after 6 months you can walk a few steps, which doesn’t sound a lot but it must give you so much more independence than no mobility at all? If we can get my Wife to be able to transition from bed to chair without the need of the hoist, that would be fantastic. I can see she doesn’t have a lot in the way of physical strength or balance, and she is trying her best no question, we’ve got to just stick at it… take each day as it comes etc, the mind is willing for sure 
She should get support, they do prefer patients to become independent. Encourage her, any small step is the right direction, with persistence she will surprise both you and herself. It defnitely is worth the effort, but remember, it isn’t a race, some will get results faster than others. If you read these Forums you will find some have to wait longer than others, don’t lose hope.
Yeah great, thank you, patience and perseverance is the name of the game… 
Hi
My affected leg was the same - extremely painful to touch. It went eventually, it is the nerves waking up. Still try to exercise it, even if it is you ankle and knee bends.
@mikeyoung I don’t know much about it but I wonder whether they could use a transfer turntable (not sure of exact name) to move your wife from bed to chair. It’s much better than a hoist and will also get your wife standing without her having to put too much weight on her legs.
It is a viscious circle with needing physio but it causing pain so physio doesn’t happen. Some of it is about working through the pain but that does depend on the level of pain.
Sometimes hospitals / rehab places take the path of least resistance so may be worth asking them a few more questions. The longer she doesn’t use her limbs the harder it will be to get back the strength.
Not sure that’s much help sorry.
Best wishes
Ann
Hi,
Many thanks for your reply, yeah we have talked about a ‘banana board’, a curved board that alows the patient to slide from bed to chair which sounds preferable, I’ll see how that goes. Yeah interesting about physio, I will see if I can push them to keep trying to get the limbs moving and if they can show me how I can help, I visit her for a couple of hours a day and if I can perhaps manipulate the joints wih some gentle movement exercises that would be helpful I’m sure…
I’ve just one more thing to add, a lot of repair takes place as we rest. Inactivity might look like doing nothing but valuable reprogramming could well be taking place during these times.
Hi Bobbi, yeah gotcha, certainly from a speech and cognative recovery point of view things are improving, no question… would be great if the limbs are recovering too despite the lack of physical activity…
I was told that limbs recover from the shoulder and the hip downwards. I do believe it can be a slow process, which means that even if nothing shows there is progress.
Frame of mind, if you can adopt a positve attitude then the experience will be better.
Ah right, yeah sounds good… I do try and stay postive, everyday when I see her, the improvements in her speech therapy sessions are quite inspiring, sometimes we laugh so much with the answers she comes out with
Hiya
I’m sorry I don’t really have an answer but I can tell the love you have for her and that your desperately trying to find a way to help her.
With you by her side and her own drive and determination and the expertise of the doctors and physios I’m sure you both will find a way.
Sending you both love and well wishes 
good luck