Reddit mentions: The best standing aids & supports

There’s already a lot of good advice here so what I just want to add is this: get any medical equipment offered to you before you think you need it. My dad died of ALS this past February. A lot of the time when he was offered medical equipment (whether by rental/donation/prescribed by doctors and paid for by insurance/etc) he’d do the “nah I’m good” thing if he didn’t see an immediate need but it’s better to have what you can before you really need it. Sometimes these things take a long time to actually get to you.

Something that was a must-have for my family was a patient lift. We had a Hoyer lift that I believe was paid for by my dad’s insurance, but he preferred this one:
Lumex Sit-to-Stand Patient Lift, Battery Powered, LF2020 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VXKAWO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_lftQDbS4089GW
Unfortunately that’s something he had to pay for out of pocket but it was a huge help.

Also it’s important to note that different ALS patients lose certain functionalities at different rates. There were people at our local support group who could not talk or eat on their own but could use their arms and legs just fine, but my dad could talk and eat whatever he wanted up until the end but couldn’t walk or use his arms at all. Some people progress quickly and some people take longer. If you meet other ALS patients it’s easy to look at them and think that’s it, that’s what’s going to happen to your wife, but it might not be true. Even though my dad was totally dependent on his wheelchair and caregivers for a few years, he considered himself to have very good quality of life because he could talk and eat.

Also, speaking of his wheelchair: he had a Quantum powerchair that had a Bluetooth-enabled joystick control to move the chair. When he wasn’t able to use the joystick anymore he switched to a head array (basically 3 pads that position behind and on the sides of the head and you move your head to move the chair). My dad bought an iPad, we installed a mount on his chair, and someone from Quantum set it up so that he could control the iPad through Bluetooth using his chair controls. He was able to use it to scroll through Facebook and change the TV channel, watch YouTube, etc. He also loved having an Echo and a Google Home in his bedroom and the living room. He was cold a lot of the time so we installed a Nest thermostat he could control himself, too. There’s a lot of great options for home automation now that really help people with ALS retain some independence.

My dad also paid out of pocket for a caregiver to come to our house and get him out of bed and ready in the morning, get him showered and fed, etc. She came for 4 hours everyday Monday through Friday. It was not cheap (almost $500/week) but it was a huge help with caregiver fatigue for myself and my siblings.

This is already a little more long-winded than I intended but the last thing I want to say is that if it’s reasonable for your family, try to take a trip or something. My family went on a cruise even while my dad was totally wheelchair-bound. We had to bring a llllot of medical equipment and such with us so it wasn’t super easy to manage but it was worth it to have one last family vacation with my dad.

If there are any questions I can answer for you let me know!

Right leg ACL. Was driving stick after 3 weeks. Most of the delay was the car, a Subaru Legacy, which is fairly low. Doc's advice was as soon as I could push the brakes hard enough to lift myself out of the seat with no pain, I could drive again.

Drove my Bronco sooner than than, but that's an automatic and much easier to get into. Probably 1.5-2 weeks for short drives. Same leg strength test.


TBH, best advice is get one of those handles that clips into the door latch. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Able-Life-Auto-Assist-Grab/dp/B00I45JJQO

It was a godsend for me because it made is SO much easier to get in and out the car.

They make step stools with handles for balance that would be perfect for this guy.

There are other variations with folding handles and 2 steps available. The best selection will be from a durable medical supply company online but the cheapest prices will usually be Amazon.

I gotta say, he’s putting his safety and physical well-being before his pride and ego so I applaud him and his step stool. It’s a wise move.

Wow, thank you! This is a great idea. I have been slowly moving forward with an office like this and had been thinking about these two as a way to possibly mount the monitors.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0026IBSUA/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N1GQXII/ref=s9_acsd_al_bw_c_x_4

Well, here's what I and my wife have going:
For comfort- a $50 lazy boy recliner, Craigs list usually has tons of them. Then get an Able Life Able Tray. Then a gaming laptop (I have an MSI GT70 Dominator, it's pretty awesome). Add a G13 gaming keyboard pad and a good gaming mouse and rest them on the chairs arms (less stress on your arms compared to reaching up to use the laptops keys). I've modified the tray's table area with a torque hinge so the laptop keyboard can be tilted downward to a comfortable angle. And lastly, esp. for summer, I have a fan clipped to the handle of the tray pointed at moi.

Able Life Able Tray: https://www.amazon.com/Able-Life-Tray-Multi-Use-Adjustable/dp/B0026IBSUA/ref=pd_sim_121_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0026IBSUA&pd_rd_r=4DMC9X1WMTHZZEQSP63V&pd_rd_w=esQmm&pd_rd_wg=5WHCK&psc=1&refRID=4DMC9X1WMTHZZEQSP63V

Torque Hinge: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=tension+hinge

G13: https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-G13-Programmable-Gameboard-Display/dp/B001NEK2GE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495498058&sr=8-1&keywords=g13

not really, but nothing we own/owned is. It's definitely better than the pick-up truck or the corvette.

This really helps her get in and out

It's a tool to help people get out of their car.

Put the metal spike in the hook for the door latch in the door frame and now they have a handle they can use to support their weight.

Like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Able-Life-Auto-Assist-Grab/dp/B00I45JJQO

I'll get you something when I get home. If I can find a solution that fits this spot, that would be great. In short, I have that c-table coming over the arm of my sofa, so I have a desk while seated. It just makes it a touch more awkward getting up and sitting down, so I also want something that'll get out of the way.

Some of these types of desks are on casters; the couch's floor clearance is quite low, though (An inch, maybe two), so that won't work here.

This is what I'm looking at, at the moment, and pieces like it. Unfortunately, it's a $140 replacement for a $45 table. I wanted to solicit some opinions, in case there's some solution I'm overlooking. Using a laptop at a couch, and instead of a desktop, seems so common that I figure there have to be more solutions that what I'm seeing.

Then again, I guess they didn't get the name 'laptop' without reason.

It's an assist handle for getting out of the car. You hook the metal thingy into the door and it gives you an extra hand hold for climbing out of the car. Here's a similar one on amazon.

Here you go

The others are correct, is a car cane. The more popular ones also have a built-in seatbelt cutter.

This could be of some help possibly.

http://www.amazon.com/Able-Life-Vehicle-Standing-Compartment/dp/B00I45JJQO

Sounds like you might need one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00I45JJQO

If you are in North America here is an Amazon link I dug up. Maybe the OP can see if it is about the same or not. https://www.amazon.com/Stander-HandyBar-Automotive-Standing-Emergency/dp/B000GUKKMW

A gait belt. Example: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B9MM1QT/

There are handles that are designed to hook on to the door latch to be used as the handle.

https://www.amazon.com/Able-Life-Auto-Assist-Grab/dp/B00I45JJQO

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00B6AD2RG/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_G2OUub11QMSPP

There is a handle that fits on the door catch you can buy...handle fits in body part of door latch ..another option