17 replies to this topic

[SaraK]

I'm not even sure I'm posting this in the right area, I'm sorry if I'm not.

My husband is in a wheelchair. He has full upper body mobility but can't move from the waist down. We recently got new medical insurance and I had to find a new doctor. He went for a physical this morning and it was a disaster. It all started when the nurse asked him if he could stand up to get on the scale...........Nothing makes him angrier than someone asking him that question. I checked out the office before we went. The doors were all wide enough and the rooms were big enough for him to fit in comfortably. He was extremely upset when we left which of course made me upset. It almost broke my heart when he said he just wanted a doctor where he could feel like a "real" person.

He's just sick and tired of going to doctor's where he can't get on the exam table and can't get weighed. I know the doctors and nurses don't mean to be insensitive but they are, they always are at every doctor we've ever been to. Is there such a thing as a family practice or internist whose office is truly accessible? I've tried a million different google searches and have come up with nothing. I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction. As I said, he just wants a doctor's office where the exam table can be lowered enough for him to get on and a scale where he can weigh himself. We live in Phoenix, AZ. Thank you!

Sara

[Tetracyclone]

I'm not even sure I'm posting this in the right area, I'm sorry if I'm not.

My husband is in a wheelchair. He has full upper body mobility but can't move from the waist down. We recently got new medical insurance and I had to find a new doctor. He went for a physical this morning and it was a disaster. It all started when the nurse asked him if he could stand up to get on the scale...........Nothing makes him angrier than someone asking him that question. I checked out the office before we went. The doors were all wide enough and the rooms were big enough for him to fit in comfortably. He was extremely upset when we left which of course made me upset. It almost broke my heart when he said he just wanted a doctor where he could feel like a "real" person.

He's just sick and tired of going to doctor's where he can't get on the exam table and can't get weighed. I know the doctors and nurses don't mean to be insensitive but they are, they always are at every doctor we've ever been to. Is there such a thing as a family practice or internist whose office is truly accessible? I've tried a million different google searches and have come up with nothing. I was hoping someone here could point me in the right direction. As I said, he just wants a doctor's office where the exam table can be lowered enough for him to get on and a scale where he can weigh himself. We live in Phoenix, AZ. Thank you!

Sara

Sara- Now you know to ask those specific questions before you visit. My doctor has no difficulty examining me while I sit in my chair. I just lean forward. If the side guards come off or rotate up, just suggest this. You need to understand that this is the norm and teach a doctor how to accomodate your husband. I have spoken with nurse about the examining tables and they lament there is simply nothing commercially available that lowers.

Weigh him at a hospital where they have the right sort of scale (yes, call around), and tell your doctor the outcome. In my trauma hospital they even had a sling rig with which they could weigh patients without getting them out of bed.

Feeling normal is something he learns to do in his own head and heart. In time you will learn to separate your own feelings from his, and this will be a help to both of you. These changes in our lives take a huge amount of psychological adjustment to our identities. Getting comfortable takes time- lots of it, but it will come.

Your city has an organization with a good reputation that can put you in touch with local resources.

http://azspinal.org/index.aspx

Phoenix is a great place to live in a chair! Look at this:

http://www.accessingarizona.com/wheelchair-holidays/phoenix-wheelchair/virginia-piper-sports-fitness-center-open/

One of only 2 in the country.

A warm welcome to the forum.

[wheeliebear75]

Well most Dr.s patients even those who use wheelchairs have some ability to stand for a few seconds alhtough generally those are the elderly folks or somone who hurt a leg really bad but can balance on the good one to take their weight.....not exactly "their fault" (the doctors that is), unless there is going to be multiple people using something it becomes more & more costly to purchase specialized equipment. SOME things like exam tables get purchased periodically as they get older & at the time of purchasing it's only a bit more to go with a table that can go up & down vs. a regular one.....but if they had to purchase an exam table that goes up & down out of the blue.....THAT would be the most expensive way to do it, but at least an exam table can be used by regular patients & just left at the standard hieght making it still workable for disabled & AB alike, something like a scale would be only used by him (not that you are not entitled to feel irrotatated) unless there are other non-ambulatory patients so I'd be used only a few times a year. If you can get a SCI specialist or neurologist THEY MIGHT have more stuff like that, I know my luck with neurologists having this kind of stuff & being more prepared for someone TRULY disabled.....but they don't do things like lungs & kidneys etc., so I can suggest to find out if he can see a specialist due to his SCI, & have the specialist and internist work TOGETHER (best of luck but I have had it happen). There are ways to get weighed though; (#1) if you have a friend who can lift him like piggy back style, get a scale that goes up to what their estimated combined total weight is, then have the AB get your hubby on his back & step on the scale, then the AB friend needs to see how much JUST HIMSELF is, & subtract to find out how much YOUR HUBBY IS (#2) hospitals usually have the meens to check patients' weights even without being able to assist in any way.....ask if they would weigh him (remember it's important to know how much someone is to know how much mg medications should be ;) . ), truck stops often have large scales for finging out how much motorcycles and trucks alike weigh (my mom who is an OT has done this with a patient who has CP in her electric wheelchair).

[airart1]

only place i been was the clinic in Nashville that the offices that u see the dr. actually had exam chairs/tables that were made to transfer onto......

[richo]

what make doctor offices,with doors that open wide enough and have beds that lower,now thats just too f*****g easy.

[tinamarie]

Welcome, SaraK!

I don't think my regular doctor's (family practice) office has either an exam table that lowers or a scale for wheelchair. BUT, my "physical medicine and rehabilitation" doctor's office does. If you do a search for that, you might be able to find a specialist who your husband could see periodically (if your insurance will permit it) at least to get weighed and have a skin check, etc. Or/and I wonder if your husband could call back the doctor or his office, tell them the concerns, and see if they have any suggestions. At the very least I'd ask them to make a BIG note in your husband's file that he can NOT stand, can NOT be weighed on a conventional scale and should NOT be asked if he can stand.

Sort of off topic -- I once got really upset with a gynecologist who wasn't very understanding of/compassionate about my physical limitations (this was pre-SCI). I think their office also discouraged patients from having their spouses accompany them into the exam room. Fortunately, I was able to switch to a different doctor with a very gentle demeanor where their office actually had a sign on the wall telling patients that they are welcome to bring someone with them into the exam room. When I first went there, they asked me why I switched, and I was honest with them. They must have made a note in my file because every time I went to them after that, they've been over the top accommodating to what I had told them.

Good luck to you and your husband!

[wheeliebear75]

For YEARS the Dr. I have didn't have anything "special" as far as people who aren't ambulatory goes....I've been seeing this particular Dr. now for about 9 yrs or so, it was only a year or 18mo ago or something like that, that they needed to replace an exam table ANYWAY so MY Dr. was @ THAT POINT able to talk the purchasing person (he works for a large insurance it's not a private practice) into buying an exam table that raises & lowers, and now sits at the edge of where his area starts & another Dr.'s area so that they can "share it"....although the nurses have told me I'm the only one who's actually NEEDED it....but prior to that I had to be lifted up on to it, & the only way for me to get weighed is I SIT "Indian style" (feet crossed over knees) to be weighed. I've teased the nurses "I hope these (meaning the scale) get sanitized, I don't wanna get athlete's butt!" (like athlete's foot but since I SIT).

Edited by wheeliebear75, 23 June 2012 - 05:42 AM.

[skinnylatte]

I WISH there were some examination tables at a lower level. I have had to pick my husband up and get him up onto tables that are like chest high for me! (I'm only 5/2") It cracks me up when the nurses in the doctor's office direct us into a particular examination room, and then they're about to leave, and they're like, "go ahead and get on the examination table, and the doctor will be right in." It's like oh, ummm..... yeah... this may take a while! And I love the look the medical professionals give me when they come back in the room and he's up there! Phew! That is a hard lift!!

[airart1]

make them do it, for sure, so they are responsible for any accidents that might occur.make them get there whole staff if they have to......it's their responsibility.......

[SaraK]

Thank you for the support and thank you for the links Tetra that center looks amazing we'll have to check it out. My husband has been in the chair since he was 7-8 so it's been about 25 years. He's used to the struggle but, I think he's just at a point in his life where he's tired of everything being so much more difficult. I'm sure everyone here can relate. We were going to Mayo clinic before we got new insurance. The exam tables in their internal medicine department didn't lower but if he needed to get on a table to be examined it was available at the facility.

There's no way I could lift him onto an exam table. He's a big guy and anything that's much more than a foot higher from where he sits isn't going to happen. I didn't think I would be able to find what he was looking for but I had to try. I just wish doctors would have at least one exam room in their offices that accommodated people with special needs!

Thanks again for the help
Sara

[richo]

its nothing too do with special needs.if the doctor cant give a shit about having the right equipment......go see someone that dose

[ClaraTaylor]

This is a weird one but something my own GP told me: if you want a truly wheelchair accessible place go to somewhere that has an interest in the obese / is in a part of the country where obese is "normal".
They have all the wide doors, the slings and straps for lifting people (nurses who will actually know how to do it properly without hurting their back), and many other fancy gizmo's!

Plus they know a trick or two about pressure sores!

[Rolilancou]

We live in Mexico and most of the doctors offices even though they claim to be wheelchair accesible because it has a ramp but once you go up that ramp you can't pass the door because it's too narrow... anyway, people here are very nice and the couple of doctors we've visited had actually carried my boyfriend and sit him or lay him for examination not before moving the whole office around which is hilarious. So we do strugle but there's always very nice people to help when I get stuck I need extra time to move him through.

[wheeliebear75]

Thank you for the support and thank you for the links Tetra that center looks amazing we'll have to check it out. My husband has been in the chair since he was 7-8 so it's been about 25 years. He's used to the struggle but, I think he's just at a point in his life where he's tired of everything being so much more difficult. I'm sure everyone here can relate. We were going to Mayo clinic before we got new insurance. The exam tables in their internal medicine department didn't lower but if he needed to get on a table to be examined it was available at the facility.

There's no way I could lift him onto an exam table. He's a big guy and anything that's much more than a foot higher from where he sits isn't going to happen. I didn't think I would be able to find what he was looking for but I had to try. I just wish doctors would have at least one exam room in their offices that accommodated people with special needs!

Thanks again for the help
Sara

What about using a gurny? many Dr.s offices have them & sometimes they're lower to the ground by a few inches anyway. Although the gurny is usually been used for checking the 1 sore I did get on my butt that required some monitoring.....but there was a curtain they pulled closed for privacy & it was easy enough for me to transfer myself from chair to the gurny. Ask if that's an exam table alternative. And Yes I think almost all of us can relate to the cumulative drain these extra hassles can have. Although there is no magical FIX, I can say is to hang in there & know there is a throng of wheelers & wobblers who are there for him...... www.apparelyzed.com .

This is a weird one but something my own GP told me: if you want a truly wheelchair accessible place go to somewhere that has an interest in the obese / is in a part of the country where obese is "normal".
They have all the wide doors, the slings and straps for lifting people (nurses who will actually know how to do it properly without hurting their back), and many other fancy gizmo's!

Plus they know a trick or two about pressure sores!

Huh. I NEVER would have thought of that......but good idea!

[SaraK]

This is a weird one but something my own GP told me: if you want a truly wheelchair accessible place go to somewhere that has an interest in the obese / is in a part of the country where obese is "normal".
They have all the wide doors, the slings and straps for lifting people (nurses who will actually know how to do it properly without hurting their back), and many other fancy gizmo's!

Plus they know a trick or two about pressure sores!

That is an awesome idea I never even though about that!

What about using a gurny? many Dr.s offices have them & sometimes they're lower to the ground by a few inches anyway. Although the gurny is usually been used for checking the 1 sore I did get on my butt that required some monitoring.....but there was a curtain they pulled closed for privacy & it was easy enough for me to transfer myself from chair to the gurny. Ask if that's an exam table alternative. And Yes I think almost all of us can relate to the cumulative drain these extra hassles can have. Although there is no magical FIX, I can say is to hang in there & know there is a throng of wheelers & wobblers who are there for him...... www.apparelyzed.com .

I never noticed a gurney at any of our doctors offices. I think we're going to look for another doctor either way. His nurse really upset my husband I don't think he ever wants to go back there.

We went to the Piper sports fitness center last night. All I can say is WOW, and THANK YOU once again to Tetra. In the 10+ years we've been together we've lived in MI, AZ, and NY and I've never seen anything like this! The place is amazing. It's beautiful and huge. Everything in the place is accessible. The locker rooms have private changing tables and accessible showers. The lifts into the pools are incredible. The gym was awesome they have a bunch of different machines where the seat swings out so you can just back into it without having to get off the chair. They also had a scale that my husband could just roll on to so he was finally able to weight himself, although he wasn't really pleased with the number!

I just wish it was closer, it's a huge hike from my husband's job and from our apartment so I think he'll probably keep his monthly membership at L.A fitness and go there a couple times a month. It's only $6 for a single visit so it's definitely worth it.

[Tetracyclone]

That is amazing that the fee is only $6. Wowza.

[Blazergrad]

I'm running into the exact same issue where I live. I've decided I'm tired of not being weighed and not being able to get on the exam tables, so I've started searching for a doctor's office that actually meets the ADA guidelines on medical care. So far I've struck out on all the offices that I've called, but I'm still searching.

It's really pretty sad, actually, that most of them never even think of this when setting up their offices. Pretty interesting aritcle on the whole subject at http://www.npr.org/t...toryId=14362338.

[wheeliebear75]

This is a weird one but something my own GP told me: if you want a truly wheelchair accessible place go to somewhere that has an interest in the obese / is in a part of the country where obese is "normal".
They have all the wide doors, the slings and straps for lifting people (nurses who will actually know how to do it properly without hurting their back), and many other fancy gizmo's!

Plus they know a trick or two about pressure sores!

That is an awesome idea I never even though about that!

What about using a gurny? many Dr.s offices have them & sometimes they're lower to the ground by a few inches anyway. Although the gurny is usually been used for checking the 1 sore I did get on my butt that required some monitoring.....but there was a curtain they pulled closed for privacy & it was easy enough for me to transfer myself from chair to the gurny. Ask if that's an exam table alternative. And Yes I think almost all of us can relate to the cumulative drain these extra hassles can have. Although there is no magical FIX, I can say is to hang in there & know there is a throng of wheelers & wobblers who are there for him...... www.apparelyzed.com .

I never noticed a gurney at any of our doctors offices. I think we're going to look for another doctor either way. His nurse really upset my husband I don't think he ever wants to go back there.

We went to the Piper sports fitness center last night. All I can say is WOW, and THANK YOU once again to Tetra. In the 10+ years we've been together we've lived in MI, AZ, and NY and I've never seen anything like this! The place is amazing. It's beautiful and huge. Everything in the place is accessible. The locker rooms have private changing tables and accessible showers. The lifts into the pools are incredible. The gym was awesome they have a bunch of different machines where the seat swings out so you can just back into it without having to get off the chair. They also had a scale that my husband could just roll on to so he was finally able to weight himself, although he wasn't really pleased with the number!

I just wish it was closer, it's a huge hike from my husband's job and from our apartment so I think he'll probably keep his monthly membership at L.A fitness and go there a couple times a month. It's only $6 for a single visit so it's definitely worth it.

Do remember to subtract the weight of the w/c from the total weight. I might be a bit unhappy with an extra 30lbs of "metal-butt" added to MY total.