Shower Time Questions...

[Bad Balance]

As I mentioned in another recent post, we are looking at construction details and my wife has asked me several times about how the shower should work. So far, I have not got good answers for her.

Am I correct? I assume that you would not simply roll into the shower and turn on the water, deluging your expensive wheel chair. I am thinking that we need a good set of sturdy grab rails and a flip down seat. We need a layout that will let me transfer from wheelchair to this seat.

What happens in the next step when you do not have sufficient strength to transfer yourself....does your caregiver help with this? Is there a point where this simply will not work any longer? What then? Only sponge baths?

I believe that we can set up our shower to allow the chair to roll in. This will involve some special details to slope the floor and set up the threshold correctly. Is all this necessary? Is it really worthwhile to be able to roll your chair into the shower?

I appreciate your thoughts and insights. Thank you.

- Jerry

 

[trfogey]

As I mentioned in another recent post, we are looking at construction details and my wife has asked me several times about how the shower should work. So far, I have not got good answers for her.

joelc's website has some great information on how he and his family set up a bathroom designed to accommodate a PALS and the necessary equipment that the PALS needs.

Bed Bathroom

Am I correct? I assume that you would not simply roll into the shower and turn on the water, deluging your expensive wheel chair. I am thinking that we need a good set of sturdy grab rails and a flip down seat. We need a layout that will let me transfer from wheelchair to this seat.

There is a special type of wheeled chair that folks use to roll a PALS into a roll-in shower. You'll see a picture of one type of that chair on Joel's website. Transfer into that chair from your bed or your power chair and your caregiver can wheel you right into the shower. Some of them also double as chairs that you can roll over a standard commode when you need to use that facility.

What happens in the next step when you do not have sufficient strength to transfer yourself....does your caregiver help with this? Is there a point where this simply will not work any longer? What then? Only sponge baths?

When you can't transfer yourself any more, you'll be using some type of lift. Joel's house is set up with an overhead powered lift system. Most of the rest of us have to make do with a Hoyer lift or something similar. With the right type of slings for whichever type of lift you get, you do the same thing as you did before -- transfer to shower chair, roll in to shower, wash/dry, roll out of shower, transfer to power chair or bed.

I believe that we can set up our shower to allow the chair to roll in. This will involve some special details to slope the floor and set up the threshold correctly. Is all this necessary? Is it really worthwhile to be able to roll your chair into the shower?

Depends on how much you prefer a shower to a sponge bath. I didn't have the choice -- our house was too small to contemplate a bathroom remodel on that scale. It's been sponge baths for me for more than a year.

 

[Miss]

How big is your shower area / bathroom? We are just winding up a remodel. We chose the Pro Line drain. That way, we could have a zero barrier shower. The shower floor is the same as the rest of the bathroom. We have a tile and granite bench in the shower, but for my husband, it is really for showering supplies. My husband will use the Etan Swift Mobile Tilt shower chair/commode. This chair can go over the commode as well as act as a freestanding commode. If you have any questions, feel free to send me a message.

 

[olly]

hi jerry.

yes a wetroom is all one level except for a slight slope towards the drainage making it wheelchair accessable.
a person would need to be transfered to the pull down seat and grab rails are a very good idea.

here are some photos of mine,not what i would choose but i had to move to my disabled accomodation.
some others may have photos of theres to show you.

 

[LizT]

personally i think its safer to get a shower chair instead of transferring you onto a bench in the shower.
grab bars would be good if you still are able to stand and need something to hang onto for balance.
Is it worth it? thats a personal decision. If you get to the point that you get vented, you wont be able to shower anymore. then its just bedbaths. not sure if you can get bipaps wet or not.

 

[fba75]

With my wife, we used a bathtub with an aquatec orca :

You can use it to take shower and bath and i found it very secure.

Of course, my wife was unable to use it alone, I was always with her.

 

[abbas child]

I agree with Liz--a shower chair, which you will need to be transferred to will become necessary. I got one from the ALSA loan closet. Here is a picture; the small wheels are good. Make sure they lock and also you want a "toilet seat" arrangement. Invacare Mariner Rehab Shower Wheelchair | Commode Shower Chair | Invacare 6895, 6891

As you know, there are many stages with different needs, so providing a shower room for the most difficult stage is best. A tilting shower chair would actually be best, but they're quite expensive.

Jerry, forget the flipdown seat--its usefulness is shortlived. Begin with a shower bench like this, or if you can find it, one with a cut out to sit on, giving you access to your undercarriage: Nova 9070 Deluxe Transfer Bench | Shower Bench | Bath Bench You will need those grab bars, and plan them so that you can push down on them to help you, both at the level needed for this bench, and also higher for when you're less needy and just need help getting into the area. You pretty much cannot have too many grab bars.

Both Joel C and Mare have wonderful pictures of their shower rooms. For the near future, place a couple of movable screens up for your privacy, and have the toilet placed fairly near the shower, with the sink away from that area. Expect to raise the toilet, beginning with an ADA height toilet, possibly adding a toilevator (sp?) under it to add a few inches, and have a removable bars around it.Stand Alone Toilet Safety Rail - Freestanding Toilet Safety Frame - Toilet Safety Frame - Allegro Medical Supplies This is similar to mine, but you can find better prices elsewhere. And finally, consider a bidet seat. Do a search on this site to read about them. They do require an electrical outlet next to the base of your toilet for many models... and who wants to be shot with cold water. The bidet seat goes right on top of your toilet, and gives you privacy and dignity for a longer time.

To sum it up, Jerry, you will probably be able to do your own transferring both to the toilet and to a shower bench for a while. The railings/grab bars make it a longer and safer time. The next thing is being transferred by a gait belt or other means by your caregiver, but expect a hoist and sling to follow fairly quickly, and at that point a shower chair with small wheels is best, in my opinion. Phil gets naked and rolls my chair into the shower (ours is 4' by 5' and we wish it is bigger) and he washes and rinses me, tilts the chair to drain as much water as possible. Then he rolls me out and uses a bath towel on me. And finally, he hoists me with the sling and a hoyer-type lift into my power chair.

 

[abbas child]

Re: Shower Time Questions.....

ALS/MND Support Group Forums - View Profile: mare Look at her album "Bathroom Renovations.

And Joel's, https://www.alsforums.com/forum/members/771-bathroom-albums117.html

Again, one of the goals is to have as few barriers as possible, which is why the shower room is so great. And so is using removable screens. Phil is planning to do this very thing in our own home when renovations reach the downstairs bathroom. It will be much harder to gut a present bathroom with an iron tub, and then need to cut away parts of floor joists in order to get the slope, than it is to build a new bathroom with this plan... but the ease of having a shower room really means a lot.

 

[smwelder]

there are rooling shower that you use in the this allows you th transfer in another room and then rool in shower then repeat transfer good luck

 

[David_W]

Jerry -
Ditto the excellent information above, especially the details provided by Ann and Joel's website. My hospice purchased a Broda shower chair that works quite well with our roll-in shower and is very comfortable. (see Broda Seating - CS 385 Chair) I also agree that a bigger shower area is definitely better, if at all possible. ADA suggests 3' x 5', but ours is 3'-6" x 6'-6" and we use every inch of it.

Good luck and God bless.

 

[Bad Balance]

Thanks everyone for the great information.

 

[butterfly.silverwings]

i found the easiest way was to use a commode for toilet and showing.
just make sure the commode has a full foot plate.

 

[Bad Balance]

I went back through this thread again and was simply amazed at all the great information.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to post the links and giving me some better insight.

- Jerry

 

[jeffro]

MY Shower is what my mother used when she lived with us, we closed in our garage and made it a suite for her.We built the bathroom without consulting anyone and it turned out pretty good.The shower size is 32 inches by 50 inches ,now I know that doesn;t sound very big but its big enough for my wife to wheel me in in a shower chair and her to bath me.
The shower chair I use a stainless steel one ,with fold down arms I got it off Ebay,make sure to get fold down arms makes transfering very easy .
What I'm trying to say is you is you don't need a giant room just lay it out right.

JEFFRO

'

 

[rocmg]

Jerry -- I second whoever suggested just using a commode chair as opposed to the flip down shower seat. My PALS has used both and to be honest, transfers when wet and slippery are very dangerous for both you and your caregiver. I would avoid them at all costs! The commode chair has been such a help to us -- we have one exclusively for shower use and another for toileting needs. The chair is also great for middle-of-the-night toileting calls when we are all much too tired to make the journey to the bathroom. (a little basin slides underneath the chair.)

I have uploaded a couple pictures of our bathroom revamp which we did about 8 months ago. Mum was adamant that she wanted the bathroom to still look like an able-bodied peoples bathroom -- she feel like her equipment was taking over the house and it was a source of great concern to her (although dad and i couldn't care less!) anyway, we were very pleased with how things worked out for us. I love the shower - it's so roomy and comfortable and easy to clean because we opted for a thing called "Mermaid Panelling" which does away with tiles and grout in the shower which makes it easier to clean -- this means less time cleaning, more time with PALS!

ps. remember to get an extra-long shower hose with your shower so it can be taken off to do undercarriage and lower extremities with ease!

https://www.alsforums.com/forum/members/7864-albums469-picture3049.jpg

https://www.alsforums.com/forum/members/7864-albums469-picture3048.jpg