My husband is 6 foot 2 inches, 210 pounds and non-ambulatory. He also needs assistance to transfer. We do pretty well at home because we have a caregiver who comes in the mornings and does all of the heavy lifting and transferring. I am able to manage the rest of the day. We would like to travel but I am hesitant. Is there any way we can find assistance along the way? We would love to be able to pull into a location and find someone who would come in the mornings and get my husband up and running. Any help or leads would be most appreciated.

I have two suggestions for you. If you’d like a morning aide to come in and help your husband, contact Home Instead (www.homeinstead.com). I’ve had good reports on them from several readers who have used them in their travels. They have offices across the U.S and abroad, and they are reasonably priced. They are not capable of performing medical procedures, but if a higher level of care is needed, they will work with their affiliate nursing agency to coordinate things. But it sounds like you just need some simple non-medical tasks performed, and they can easily handle that.

Additionally, if it’s the lifting and transferring that are difficult (or impossible) for you to do alone, you might look into getting a portable sling-type lift. The Take Along Lift (www.takealonglifts.homestead.com) is ideal for this purpose, as it only weighs 46 pounds, but it breaks down into two 23-pound pieces for transport. I’ve even know people who have flown with one, and they just pile their luggage in it and wheel it through the airport. Although the morning caregiver is the best solution for you, the portable lift will come in handy in smaller cities where Home Instead doesn’t have offices.