Shower Bay - leave door open?

[MupstateNY]

My bathroom is tiny. No room for anything.

I looked at the Shower Bay. They emailed me to say it's too small to fit a reclining shower chair -- which I don't know if I will need. Should I assume yes?

They said some people with ALS and a reclining shower chair use the Shower Bay with the door open. I want to put it in the bedroom because if I put it in the living room, I'll get too chilled in the big open space. But the bedroom has a carpet and that makes me nervous -- even if I use the waterproof pad they sell. What do you guys think?

I can still step into the tub but I'm trying to come up with a game plan for the future.

I read in one thread here about a "ceiling lift" -- not sure if that would fit in my bathroom -- it's so small. When I sit on the toilet, I can put my book on the edge of the bathtub and see it quite well.

 

[lgelb]

Their Web site and product design do not fill me with confidence. At any rate, I wouldn't buy something that connects to the faucet in another room. I can't say whether you will need a reclining shower chair before if/when the whole shower chair thing becomes impractical -- PALS vary in the loss of core strength.

Do I take it you don't have a shower stall? If not, have you priced removing the tub, if you have room for a stall, or making the whole thing a wet room? Or is this the only bathroom?

 

[MupstateNY]

It's not the only bathroom, but the other one is upstairs. Currently it's a bathtub that one can have a shower in. There is no way this room is big enough for a roll-in shower.

Perhaps stupid question: How does one get clean after the shower chair thing becomes impractical?

 

[lgelb]

No-rinse bathing wipes. The old-fashioned washcloth or bowl is also possible if careful about residual moisture/bacteria. Of course, the CALS can mix and match. I would follow crevice-y area washing where fungus is a risk, with grapefruit seed extract for disinfection.

For the hair, dry shampoo (combed/brushed through dry or wet hair) and/or a washcloth for scrubbing the head and neck. Depending on the amount of neck movement, using the sink may be possible for a while.

 

[ReginaS]

We also had small bathrooms. We had reps from 2 different companies trying to help us figure out a system that could work and nothing seemed to work. Then someone told me to contact the Gleason foundation. The Gleason foundation put me in contact with a company in CA. A rep from that company asked for all kinds of measurements and they figured out a custom built shower chair, reclinable with foot, arm and headrest that actually worked. It slid over the toilet into the shower - we removed the glass wall of the shower and had a shower curtain. It was a rather tight fit. The Gleason foundation paid for consults and shower chair which was a blessing. A warm shower when other comforts are falling away.
I had to put Tom from the wheelchair into the shower chair with the hoyer lift in the bedroom and then roll him into the bathroom in the shower chair bc bathroom was too small for hoyer. This worked until close to the end when we has too weak to want to go through all these steps. I washed him with a washcloth, soap and water. I know he appreciated it.
I have a friend in a nursing home who is too weak for showers and she has been getting sponge baths for a while. It works.
Much luck and I hope you will find a solution that works for you.