Hi DJ! I am an Occupational Therapy Assistant. First of all, can you tell me if the adaptive device needed for your grandmother is for the paralyzed arm or for the good one? I am assuming that it is for the good one but I just wanted to make sure before I responded to your question - because if she needs something to hold the effected arm she would most likely benefit from a hemi arm sling. However, if she has difficulty raising her good arm enough to use it she might benefit from a suspension sling of some kind to allow her to use it in a gravity eliminated plane such as for self-feeding. Your post does not really specify what kind of trouble she is having other than she only has the use of one arm. I am guessing that she has trouble stabilizing her craft projects while she is working with her good hand in which case some sort of stabilizing device would be helpful. However, if you are unsure what kind of trouble she is really having, you can request an OT evaluation by a qualified Occupational Therapist who can best make that type of determination for you. The OT can then recommend the best type of adaptive device which would be most beneficial to your grandmother before she invests in a bunch of useless products! I hope that helps!
She can bend the affected (left) arm at the elbow, but has little strength or feeling in her wrist and hand due to nerve damage in the wrist as well as the brachial plexus.
She likes to do plastic canvas, sew (with a machine), etc. She has full use of her right arm / hand. She usually holds the plastic canvas in her left hand but cannot. When sewing, the left hand is used to guide fabric, but she still has trouble lifting her left arm to sewing machine height, so sewing is a future hope. Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.
There might be a way to build up the edge of the plastic canvas so that your grandma could hold it in her left hand, perhaps with built up foam or something. Also, do you know if your grandma ever received therapy on that left arm and hand before? Perhaps with a little therapy (OT) she might eventually be able to lift that left arm up to the sewing machine height. Or else if the sewing machine could be lowered or the chair she sits in elevated with a seat cushion or pillows perhaps then she might be able to use that left hand to guide the material through the sewing machine again. Just some ideas for you to throw around!
Definitely speak with a physical or occupational therapist. They will be able to make recommendation on how she and you can do things differently in order to manage. They can also make recommendations for special equipment. Good luck.
She likes to do plastic canvas, sew (with a machine), etc. She has full use of her right arm / hand. She usually holds the plastic canvas in her left hand but cannot. When sewing, the left hand is used to guide fabric, but she still has trouble lifting her left arm to sewing machine height, so sewing is a future hope.
Thank you for your help. I really appreciate it.