Showering

[tinyandme]

Evening!

Anyone have any good tips for showering? Hubby can only weight bear minimally, no arm or hand use at all, very very difficult to lift leg high enough to get in shower now. We rent so apartment size tub, no option for roll in shower or anything. Have tried a few different transfer benches but none really work. Either all 4 legs are inside tub and he can't get into tub easily to sit down or 2 legs on outside of tub and he doesn't have leg strength to shuffle along once sitting.

I'm at a loss, asked my OT, so is she. Just thought I'd try here before going straight to bed bath

 

[Nikki J]

Look up liteshower. A PALS on FB uses it and recommends. I have no personal experience

 

[Barbie]

Tiny, do you have a patio? if you do you could get a portable outdoor shower and that would get you thru the summer. also, how about a local gym or church with a rec hall or even a hotel in town? maybe you could talk to the manager, and they would let you come in a couple times a week and shower him. before we converted our shower I use to hand wash my husband while he sat on his commode, and I would wash his hair in his chair, leaning back over the bathtub.

Do you have any ability to move into an apartment that is handicapped accessible?

 

[MaxEidswick]

>if you do you could get a portable outdoor shower and that would get you thru the summer.

there was a recent link on a portable shower w/ pics ... I'll see if I can find a link ...

 

[JimInVA]

Google this for a number of ideas and choices - portable shower handicap

Hope that helps!

Jim

 

[JimInVA]

Also... we used a sliding shower chair for quite some time. I'd transfer my PALS either from a scooter or wheelchair to the seat which was OUTSIDE of the tub. I was then able to slide her into the tub area by pushing on the side of the seat and raising each leg, one at a time, over the side of the tub. We had to be a bit creative with shower curtains... but nothing of any difficulty. We began using this when she could no longer step over the side of the tub safely.

Jim

 

[SMP51]

"we had help from GoodWill to get ours"

 

[zoohouse]

Look into the shower or tub buddy, it is as Jim said. If you use it with a tub you will need to attach a telephone shower instead of the regular one.
Paulette

 

[JimInVA]

I will try to remember to put the transfer seat in the bathtub and take a couple pictures... including the curtain (which is two separate curtains instead of one so that it splits where the seat extends out of the tub).

Jim

 

[MaxEidswick]

>"we had help from GoodWill to get ours"

Thanks, Meg ... very interesting.

 

[affected]

do you have a floor drain in the bathroom or in your laundry?

 

[Atsugi]

We showered once a week at the handicapped family shower room in the local YMCA. Lots of room with handholds and a proper lip-less shower.

 

[SMP51]

>"we had help from GoodWill to get ours"

Thanks, Meg ... very interesting.

yes, we met with the local director here, filled out a simple needs form, had our doctor sign it and they took care of getting it, we just have to return it when no longer needed

 

[tinyandme]

Thanks everyone. Lets see:

No patio, balcony w big step. That he can no longer get over.
Can't move, moved here when we got diagnosed as this was most accessible place I could find.
Never heard of a sliding chair..will ask OT
No floor drain, no laundry. Apartment building!

Will look up links, thanks for all your input!

 

[JimInVA]

Here are some pictures of our Transfer Seat...

For the shower curtain, we could have simply cut a couple of slits the width of the chair. Instead, we opted for two curtains. Hope this helps... -Jim-

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/JimInVA/Us/20140702_082256_resized_1_zps04c4f5f4.jpg