how does one weigh a person in a wheelchair?

Question

my 26 yr old son is a quad and is losing weight rapidly. we are having a hard time finding a way to weigh him. he's too heavy for me to lift. his dr advised us to go to a meat dept in our local grocery store. i was mortified that he would even suggest such a thing. i asked his staff if they could look into it and they really were no help at all. any suggestions? he weighs under 150 lbs at last check so he's not obese. also, uses a power wheelchair.

Answer 1

You probably just want to make sure he has a well balanced meals.
Don't kill me or anything but maybe he's depressed and his body maybe is just passing the food he eats.
I would suggest finding another doctor who would do something correctly and not be an ***.

Answer 2

Finding the weight of him + the chair as well as the chair alone would be difficult on a home scale, since the chair won't fit nicely onto the scale. Perhaps it would be easiest to find someone else who could lift him, and then you could subtract the weight of the person from the weight of the person + your son. While you may not know other people who you would be comfortable bringing into your home, maybe you could take your scale with you (to work, or a friend's place, or even a doctor's office) and have someone strong there hold him to be weighed, since he is not obese at all. I'm sure even someone who doesn't know your son would be willing to help weigh him, such as another patient at the doctor's office if there isn't a staff member who is strong enough.

Answer 3

There are scales that have a large, flat base to them that can accept a wheelchair. A hospital would almost certainly have such a scale. You may have to call a local hospital and explain your situation to them. I assume they would either schedule a time when you could come in or they may know of a local doctor's office with the same type of scale.

I'm a bit shocked that your sons doctor made such a suggestion to you. I'm not even in the medical field and I'm aware that scales exist for patients in wheelchairs so I'm not sure how he wasn't.

Anyway, good luck to you!

Answer 4

go to a hospital and ask if you can use the scale. Make an appointment with a dietitian at a hopsital they might have access to a wheelchair scale, or they can transfer him onto a chair they know the weight of and weigh him that way. You could go to the vet and sit him on the scale, but that would be really degrading as is the meat dept. Go to the hospital - they have wheelchair scales.

Answer 5

You can try finding a medical facility that uses lift equipment to safely handle patients in similar conditions. That way your son can be weighed. Another suggestion would be a scale with a build in chair, the only thing is that you would have to transfer your son to that chair perhaps with a safety belt, a portable lift, or a sliding board. Good luck this should give you some ideas to work with. Vanessa

Answer 6

go to a nursing home...they have a special scale...they basicly put a sheet like thing and lay him down on it...then they connect him to a thing that looks like a crank and they will lift him up...when he is completly off the bed..the nurse will push a button that will show her how much your son weighs!!good luck! i hope i was some help!

Answer 7

Find out the weight of the chair (like on the internet) then minus it from the total weight with him in the chair.

Answer 8

a hospital, or large clinic can solve your problem. They well weigh the empy chair first and get the basic weight and then your sons weight will show.{ difference} good luck...

Answer 9

they make scales that have a hoyer sling for patients, you might call a medical rental supply and see how much it costs to rent one.