suggestions on dialysis chairs

[boswife]

how funny looney, i was just comming on here to mention the same sort of thing.  I DID also mention it, and have now been given a few options so wanted to let people here know, at least they'res hope :-)  Im so glad you followed through, and........ are you happy with it??  Thanks a bunch!

[MooseMom]

 

Since we have quite a few more members doing home hemo, I thought I'd bump up the discussion re chairs, especially after seeing someone mention Champion chairs.  Anyone care to share their description of their ideal, award-winning home dialysis chair?  Thanks!

[Gerald Lively]

Yes, I know that I am not most people.

However, if I have to sit for four hours and do the butt-o-rama, I am going to have a quality chair.  I will do my home dialysis in a Barc-o-lounger highback wrap around in black leather.  I have two of those at the moment.  The insurance people bought those after the forest fire wiped us out.  It pays to be ornery to insurance adjusters.  I have no idea what they cost.

gerald

[del]

Hubby doesn't use a chair at all.  He does nocturnal and sleeps in our king sized bed beside me every night.    Your chair does sound really comfy Gerald.

[Dannyboy]

i use a Lazy-Boy.  It is "ok" but since it lacks the attatched little table things (like a proper Dialysis chair) we have to move a small table of suitable height near to it when running for supplies.    Advantage is the Lazy Boy doesn't look "medical".

It's comfortable enough so far (5 months).

---Dan

[amanda100wilson]

I have a Champion chair.  It doesn'tbotherme that it is a medical recliner.  It is soft navy blue vinyl so easy to clean and it is matt so it  looks quite nice although I wouldn't particularly like i on view in my living room.  In addition, I am glad that I don't have leather as I always seem to slide down in leather chairs.  It is the Passage recliner which is designed for home use as it is not so wide as the other models,but saying that, it will only go through the double doors to the master.  Optional extras include side tables, cup holder, iv pole, push bar at the back.  Some of the other Champion chairs can be reclined electrically, and heat and massage can be added.  I chose a side table with acup holder, and an iv pole (at the time I didn't know that this was an integral part of the NxStage machine.  However, the only way that I could get the chair within a week was to accept their offer of a floor mode, so I ended up with an additional table andcup holder and a push bar at the back, as well as having swing-away arms.   I am actually glad that I have the two tables as I always use both and even the iv pole is useful as I hang my pillow (more on that later) and the fleece jacket that I wear for dialysis on it.  My chair is manual recline, I just pushback to recline and it is not difficult to do.  I cannot operate Trendelenberg mysel as this is set with foot pedals on the side of the chair but when it is in full recline my head is pretty low relative to my body anyway.  To make the seat as wide as possible but minimise the overall width, the arms of the chair are very narrow, but this does not bother me as Inever rest on them anyway.  The seat is firm but I do not fidgit on it, which is a sure sign that it is comfortable.  I did buy a Wondergel cushion thinking that this would make it more comfortable, but would not reccomend these.  They are too small for the seat and the cells flatten and make it difficult to shift position.

The only crticism with the chair is that, when I recline there is no bridging fabric between the seat and the back so itcan be draughty but could be overcome withthe use of a throw.

Champion also do a sleep recliner that will go completely flat.  You cannot purchase direct from Champion, but from an agent.  i used

http://www.dialmedsupply.com/champion/medicalrecliners/medicalrecliners.html

They were cheaper than the company that Champion gave me the name of.  The chair was not cheap, cost about $1600 including shipping and delivery to any room in the house, which in my case was on the second floor.  my overall opinion is that I am very happy with my chair.

[MooseMom]

Thanks for that, Amanda.  I've found a couple of really lovely chairs, but then I started wondering if they were perhaps TOO lovely.  I'd be worried about bleeding all over them or something, and then I started thinking that the smart thing to do would probably be to get a chair designed especially for dialysis.  I'd read your post on another thread about your Champion chair, and that's what made me reopen this discussion.

I'll be setting up my D crap downstairs in our finished basement, and since we don't really have friends over, what the chair looks like isn't really a concern for me.

[cattlekid]

I refuse to sit on vinyl in my own home.  So for now, I'm using my existing fabric recliner.  It's covered with a blanket but I have gotten blood on it a couple of times.  Peroxide takes blood out of fabric like nobody's business.   

Thanks for that, Amanda.  I've found a couple of really lovely chairs, but then I started wondering if they were perhaps TOO lovely.  I'd be worried about bleeding all over them or something, and then I started thinking that the smart thing to do would probably be to get a chair designed especially for dialysis.  I'd read your post on another thread about your Champion chair, and that's what made me reopen this discussion.

I'll be setting up my D crap downstairs in our finished basement, and since we don't really have friends over, what the chair looks like isn't really a concern for me.

[JohnJ]

I guess we were lucky and got a chair from my clinic. They had recently moved to a brand new building and got new chairs so I got one of the old ones. It's set up in a den with my computer, TV and dialyzer so it's not the center of attention in the living room.

We found out that a chair was covered by our insurance so buying one was the original idea until the clinic offered one.

[amanda100wilson]

Oh, the pillow that is use is a daisy shaped pillow with a whole in the middle.  It is filled with little beads and its shape allows it to be configured in  different ways.  Seems to be muchmore comfortable then a regular neck pillow and firms up nicely to support the side of my face if I want a nap.  They are one of those 'as seen on tv products'.  I bought mine from Kroger butI think CVS sell them too.

[tyefly]

I too was a lucky one who got a chair from my center.......   it was not good..... yes it had they side tables  but what a pain to sit in ...... plastic or vinyle or what ever.......   I just gave them back that chair last week......  I am glad I did ........  If I had to do it over again.....I would just get a really good recliner.....how ever  I dont like to relax when I was doing short daily....I was always doing projects with a table....so I really depends on you.....when I started nocturnal  I slept in a bed.....  with my machine right next to me.......  oh how I miss those days.....LOL......  its been too quiet......now I have to leave the TV on all night......LOL

[The Noob]

yes on clinic supplying chair. we don't have funds to buy anything. i got onto the social worker about supplying chair, its taken 3 months, but dh picked color and style last week. it belongs to clinic, will have to retunr when not needed any longer. it is fabric. i would imagine its gets re-upholstered after each use. i sure hope so. should get it first of march.
yes, clinic is required to give chair but you have to request it, sometimes a couple times.

[amanda100wilson]

I had no choice from my dialysis unit.  I was told that the only option was a Geri chair which are apparently pretty uncomfortable.  I can't imagine sitting in one place for several hours in discomfort.  I suppose to some extent it depends on how much ypu can moce around when doing it.  For me my access is pretty positional, so I can't really do anything much with that hand when dialysing, and can't move around easily.