One of the greatest challenges in caring for an aging parent is a loss of mobility, especially when the parent is in a wheelchair. Wheelchairs are intended to provide greater access to activities outside the home, but the challenges of moving from the chair into a vehicle can limit a person’s mobility.

Transferring a person from a wheelchair to a vehicle requires strength and training in specific techniques for ensuring a safe move. However, even under the best of circumstances, the transfer process can create anxiety, possibly making your parent reluctant to travel in a vehicle.

• Lifting a person from a wheelchair to a vehicle requires upper body strength, because the person’s weight must be carefully supported as the move is made.

In addition, some parents resist being lifted because it highlights the dramatic role reversal between parent and child, and the subsequent new vulnerability.

• For people who experience pain with movement, the extra movement required to use a transfer board can create additional discomfort.
Some people also dislike transfer boards because the board has the potential to slip, creating a feeling of insecurity during the move from chair to vehicle.

• Even partial assistance into a vehicle is difficult and awkward. Unlike assisting the move from a wheelchair to a commode or armchair, a vehicle assist does not allow you to brace yourself in a single stable position.

People who have some mobility sometimes move in unexpected ways—either in an attempt to help or in an effort to protect their head as they are maneuvered into the vehicle. This can hamper your efforts, or worse, interfere with your balance and stability as you perform the assist.

The challenges of vehicle transfer can make disabled parents reluctant to travel outside the home. Wheelchair vans can eliminate vehicle transfers, but many families feel they cannot afford such a purchase.

However, there are a wide variety of wheelchair vans for sale at a range of prices. Many used handicap vans can be purchased for less than $50,000; some even go for less than $30,000. If you already have a van, you can adapt it with one of the several available types of wheelchair lifts for vans, which can be installed on side or rear doors.

These practical options make purchasing a wheelchair van or adapting an existing van a worthwhile investment in improving quality of life for a parent in a wheelchair.

Most pituitary tumors or adenomas are benign and present no immediate risk to the patient. However, in certain cases, even benign adenomas can increase in size and put pressure on delicate regions of the brain, causing serious side effects and potentially damaging vital areas of the brain and nervous system.

1) Understanding the Symptoms

The pressure of the tumor on the brain can produce symptoms that typically signal to the patient that something is wrong, prompting them to seek medical treatment. These pituitary symptoms include the following:

• Severe or chronic headaches

• Unexplained fatigue over an extended period of time

• Unusual visual effects

• Partial or total loss of vision

• Stomach and digestive upsets, including nausea and constipation

• Unusual physical growth patterns

• Various sexual dysfunctions

2) Deciphering the Diagnoses

For some patients, an unrelated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan may be the first indication of an unusual growth or adenoma on the pituitary gland. In most cases, these tumors require no immediate treatment. It is estimated that up to one in four MRI scans reveal abnormalities and growths on the pituitary gland; of these, between sixty and seventy percent will never increase in size and require no further medical attention.

Other methods of diagnosing pituitary tumors include the following:

• Measuring hormones in the blood to detect abnormally high or low concentration

• Predictive diagnosis based on family history and past incidence of pituitary adenoma

• Blood sampling via the petrosal sinus blood vessels

• Biopsies and tissue samples of suspected tumors
3) Trusting the Treatments

Regardless of the method of diagnosis, most pituitary adenomas are treated through medication, radiotherapy, surgery or a combination of these methods. Depending on the type of adenoma, medications can sometimes produce significant reductions in the size and activity of the tumor. Radiotherapy can cause damage to surrounding tissue, and it is typically used only in conjunction with other therapeutic methods. In a large number of cases, however, surgical methods of pituitary tumor removal offer better prognoses for patients.

Recent advances in minimally invasive endoscopic surgical methods have allowed pituitary tumor patients to enjoy reduced recovery times and improved outcomes. Because these surgical methods typically require only a minor incision or, in some cases, no incision at all, they cause far less damage to the brain and surrounding tissue, while allowing surgeons to excise much more of the tumor than previous open-brain surgical techniques.

By understanding the symptoms, deciphering the diagnosis, and trusting in the treatment options available, healing quickly from a pituitary tumor is easier than ever before.