We have NEW Chairs...

[Rerun]

The side trays are smaller but do have a lip around them so stuff doesn't roll off.  I can get myself back to a straight sitting position but the tech has to engage a bar in the back to go back any further and then he also has to help sit back up.  I hate that!  The foot stool that kicks up is tiny. 

All in all they are uncomfortable and SUCK but they do have heat and massage. 

I am going to bring a rope and tie it to the bar in the back and see if I can lay back and get back up by myself.

 

The Nurse says "You will get use to them"  coming from one who doesn't have to even sit in one. I guess when she complains about having to lay me back and sit me back up 10 times a night I will say "you will get use to it".

[Michael Murphy]

I don't know if this will work on your new chairs but in mine it's push back with your none fistula arm. Shove your butt back as far as it will go and your up. It's not easy but at 150 kilos when I started dialysis I was embarrassed by the team of tiny nurses pushing to get me up.  It took 6 months and 3 infiltrations to learn.  Good luck I hated feeling stuck in the chair.

[kickingandscreaming]

My hemo clinic (I'm no longer there. I'm on PD now) has the very chairs that Rerun now has.  They suck.  They have heat and massage--which I never used, but they grow ever more uncomfortable to sit in by the hour. And I really wished I could change the position myself.  Fortunately, I no longer have to sit in them.  Good luck.

[cassandra]

O Rerun I feel for you. They sound painful

Love, luck and strength, Cas

[Simon Dog]

I've found that a DRIVE  brand wheelchair cushion from walmart.com helps.

[kitkatz]

We got new nocturnal super comfy chairs about a month ago.  These are nice chairs.

[Charlie B53]

Since I am on PD I don't get into the Hemo side of the Clinic but I do see some of the people coming and going.

I have noticed many bring their favorite blankets, pillows, etc.

I have notice one or two also bring a section of that sort of egg crate or waffle foam padding.  Folded or rolled.  I imagine they lay it  out on the chair to make it more comfortable for  sitting that long at a time.  I image they cover it with one of their blankets, sheet or something in case of spills.

[talker]

I don't know if this will work on your new chairs but in mine it's push back with your none fistula arm. Shove your butt back as far as it will go and your up. It's not easy but at 150 kilos when I started dialysis I was embarrassed by the team of tiny nurses pushing to get me up.  It took 6 months and 3 infiltrations to learn.  Good luck I hated feeling stuck in the chair.

Ah yes, was how I used to get back into a sitting-up position (also used my feet to apply downward pressure on the foot rest)
A few weeks back while doing what I had been doing for many weeks, a sharp pain hit in my fistula arm. I called for help, as my fistula was rapidly swelling up, plus hurting.
Needles removed, ice pack applied .
Next morning palm size area was black and blue.
Next dialysis session an area twice the size was black and blue.
Next day (now 4 days) area from wrist to elbow and completely around the whole forearm is black and blue.

Needless to say, I now call for the Tech to adjust my chair to allow sitting up.

[Michael Murphy]

I seriously hated being stuck in the chair, when I started I was treated my two nurses who were less then 5 feet each, the chairs were old and cranky.  It was like watching a Monty Python sketch with this diminutive staff getting me back up, I had a mental picture of a bunch of small people trying to unbeach a whale.
There was one other large patient on my shift and he could get up by himself.  It took 6 months before I learned not to move my fistula arm at all.  Now I generally sit-up with between a half hour toa hour to go.  Plus the signs to clamp twist and run scared me. How could I clamp twist and run if I couldn't even sit up to run.

[Charlie B53]

??

Clamp, Twist, and Run??

Sounds like a Survivor Challenge.


while I don't 'watch' the show it is on the channel I do watch.  I'm too lazy to change channels, much less turn it down, or off, while I am sitting there connected to my Cycler and reading on my laptop.   With my tinnitus I half needd some sort of background 'noise' to cancel out the incessant ringing.