CALS needing tips from PALS

[Megan Dontain]

Hello,

This is my first time venturing out of the Care givers forum, I hope I picked the right place. My husband has limb onset ALS that started in his left leg. He has severe foot drop and wears an AFO and walk with the aid of a cane. We are just now starting the PWC evaluation process.

Here's my dilemma....we have no walk in shower in our house. The master bath has a Roman Soaking tub/shower with sliding doors. The main bathroom is just a standard tub/shower combo also with slider doors. My husband has to pay very close attention to what he's doing when he walk so as not to fall. His legs are very atrophied. When he gets in and out of our shower he has to lift his left leg up behind the thigh to get it to clear the tub. I bought a suction shower bar to help stabilize him, but it turned out to be a piece of scrap that only sticks to the wall sometimes. He doesn't trust it and I don't blame him!

I need some help/tips/advice/magic on getting him in and out of the shower safely as his legs get weaker. I don't want him to fall and break something. I know the simple answer is " get started remodeling that master bath right away!" Well, that's the thing, we rent this home. So I feel limited as to what I can do for him. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Megan

 

[affected]

Hi Megan,
I'm a past CALS answering, but I hope I can help.

Firstly can you get an OT to come and do an assessment of your actual situation? That could be very helpful for you both.

Secondly there is NO safe way to get a PALS in and out of a regular shower. This is about the most dangerous of activities - hard tiles, glass, confined spaces, and if you are going to try and assist you both risk serious injury.

Do you have a drainage hole in one of the bathroom floors?

I used a wonderful portable shower base for Chris and can give some details and upload photos if you have a drainage hole (it drains through the floor drain).

A second possibility I have seen is to build a wooden floor that sits inside the shower at the level of the tiled lip he has to lift his feet over, then put a ramp in front of the shower to get up the lip. This will allow you to get him in there in a shower chair. The wooden floor is built so that it can be lifted back out again easily. But it depends on the dimensions of the room as to whether you can fit a ramp in. We had some amazing rubber ramps that you just sit on the floor, no fixing of them needed.

 

[krnNdug]

You should also be able to have the local ALSA come out and do a safety evaluation. We did and it helped us a ton, and at not cost! We just had ours remodeled because I couldn't lift me leg over the tub. They widened the door so when it come time for the chair and/or lift it will be easier for my wife.

Doug

 

[Nuts]

Megan, they are pricey, but check out the Shower Buddy (google it). There are several models, one works with a shower with a lip and one with a regular bathtub. I think Tillie's solution for the Roman tub is brilliant!

 

[Megan Dontain]

-@Tillie, is that something I would ask his Neuro for a referral for? Occupational Therapist ?

-@Doug, thanks for the pic. That looks perfect and totally accommodating. I hope to get something going like that for my husband. I will contact our local ALSA and see what they think.

-@Nuts, I'm on it....googling Showerbuddy now!

Thanks guys!
Megan

 

[azgirl]

Megan, if you go to an ALS clinic you should see an OT as part of your team. Your local ALSA should be able to do a home visit, make suggestions, and have helpful equipment to loan you.

 

[affected]

I just put the pictures and explanation of the portable shower solution we used in a new thread.

https://www.alsforums.com/forum/tips-tricks-gadgets/27953-cheap-easy-shower-solution.html#post330562

 

[lgelb]

Megan,
We rent an apt., no floor drain, asymmetric bathroom, no room for a ramp, no one had any thoughts beyond a tub slider, which was unsafe, and so I bought a ShowerBuddy. It worked for >2y before my husband became too unstable to use it. We did permanently tape foam to the arms, and add a gel overlay (Action Products) for the seat. We had a regular shower stall w/ threshold and single glass door, which we removed. When we move out, we'll reinstall the door (after my husband could no longer shower, we repurposed the stall as the cat's litter box lair).

I wish I had a more economical solution. I would offer it to you but we sold it to a stroke pt.

 

[affected]

This is what a friend of mine did - wooden base inside the shower and ramp to get into it.

 

[Megan Dontain]

lgelb,

You are so sweet. Thank you for being truly kind. I was in the bathroom, last night trying to figure it out and I just started laughing. I'm sounding a little crazy I know, but it just struck me as funny that for the past 14 years I've been married to a contractor and never had to worry with these matters. He did it all. We needed a fence, he built it. My son needed a ramp for his skateboard, he built it. Flood in our house that needed new drywall, mold remediation, carpet and plumbing. He did that too! And now here I am doing a secret construction mission on this forum with all of you, because my husband is still in a state of denial thinking he's not going to need to figure out how to get in and out of the shower because he's not going to get any worse. So yes, I started laughing at the irony of it all. I can't thank you people enough. To have a team that understands is awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Megan

Btw- I think the lucky winner is.....Showerbuddy! Now I just have to figure out how to get him to sign the Damn check? Lol

 

[cheerleader]

At my mom 's senior apartment building which has tubs (someone wasn't planning well on that one!) they are cutting out a rectangular area of the tub so it is almost like a walk in- has just a small step. This might be a temporary quick fix. Think you can get a kit to enclose the edges of the cut out portion.

 

[maryhahnward]

We've used a bathroom chair that straddles the bathtub so part of it is outside the tub and a good part of it is inside the tub. You'd probably have to assist him to get on it and help slide him to the seat part inside the tub. We also use a shower head that is a hose so he can shower himself with as little interference as is possible.