Toileting 201

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Margesmn

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Joined
Mar 23, 2016
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66
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
11/2015
Country
US
State
MN
City
Minneapolis
I'm looking for suggestions on the next 'level' of toileting. Right now I am still able to walk the few steps to the commode in our bathroom. (My PWC doesn't fit in the bathroom.) However it is becoming challenging and I think I need to make a change soon. We have a bedside commode, which I use in the middle of the night. We also have a chair that rolls over the commode, but it is really high over the commode and doesn't really go far enough over the seat to be useful long term.

I'm looking for options and hoping for something that will be semi-easy for my husband-i.e. Not having to clean out a bucket of poo...

Thanks in advance!
Margaret
 
While you can safely transfer can you not get a shower/ commode chair that does fit over the toilet? Alternatively at least for the short term get a small manual wheelchair that will fit into the bathroom ( but that means 4 transfers per visit)

Some people line the commode with a trash bag especially if the " poo" is predictable.

Discuss with your ot / PT too
 
I am still using a walker, but like your wheelchair it does not fit into the bathroom. So I had my helper build sturdy metal bars that i could hold onto while walking those few steps. I also had him install a raised toilet seat and a bidet unit on top of that. For now, I am safe and clean.....
 
I use a shower chair with a plastic bucket. Keep the bucket lined with a plastic bag. Holds the soiled wipes and my carers rubber gloves when I'm through. Works great but I still prefer the toilet and bidet seat.
 
At different stages, we used all the equipment.

You have to minimize transfers for safety's sake. We learned that while we were laying on the floor together waiting for EMTs to arrive.

To minimize transfers, we needed a bigger doorway to the bathroom. So I asked the landlady for permission to make the bathroom doorway bigger so the Power Wheelchair could go in--the Veterans Administration would pay for the house modification. But she refused, so I got a big power saw and made the doorway bigger myself. I love buying tools.
 
Lol mike! I imagine my husband doing the same
 
I'm so glad this question came up! We're using a shower/commode/transfer chair that goes right over the toilet because transfers onto the toilet are so difficult in the bathroom. I found I can help my husband transfer onto this chair from his wheelchair in another room where we have more room (and not over tile) and then slide the open commode over the toilet. The problem is cleaning - I would love to get a bidet for him but I don't think it works if you are on a seat over the toilet - and not on the toilet itself. Does it?? He often needs to shower after to feel clean enough. The same chair moves right into the roll-in shower but it is a time consuming affair and tiring for him. I think we need another solution.
 
Do you own your own home? Friends of ours had a ceiling lift track installed in their sons room where they could put the sling on him, and then glide him to the toilet and lower him down onto it. He stays in the sling, and after he is done he is raised and cleaned and then moved back to his room back into his chair or bed. It did mean that a slot had to be cut out in the door way to the ceiling, but it doesn't look bad at all and the door can be closed for privacy when someone else needs to use the bathroom. If you think this might be an option for you I could see if I could get pictures.
Paulette
 
As for the bidet unit fitting over the shower chair over the commode--this is well worth tinkering with for dignity (if any dignity is left!!), safety, and hygeine. The shower chair can probably be modified with some kind of clip so that the bidet unit can be slipped on there when needed and clipped in place, or maybe the bidet unit can be installed over the commode seat and pointed up through the shower chair hole. For me, the bidet has made the bathroom experience infinitely less vexing.
 
Lots of great tips here.

If I had a choice I would have a ceiling lift, they are amazing and so adaptable.
 
The toilet is way important and is quite the challenge. It can also be dangerous.

We're tempted to think sitting is safe. But a face first fall onto tile or onto the corner of the sink can be very unfortunate, so we used straps to keep Krissy from falling.

We didn't have a bidet, and a garden hose seemed a little rough, so I would wipe her bottom with a wet wipe, from front to back, doing a good job to make her clean, and telling jokes to make it OK.
 
Toileting issues are Huge and lead to my terrible fall. Wish I could go back to December and use the gait belt to avoid that fall. Since then we have had to use a Commodè as my legs never recovered enough to do standing transfer to regular toilet. This is bad, but not as horrible as I imagined. Mike is correct, it helps to make lots of sick jokes during the process!

The ceiling lift with Rail system would be great, and I wish we had one, but the price was $7000, and I just couldn't justify my husbad spending that kind of money on top of all other expenses.
 
We love the ceiling lift. The batteries died and we had to use the hoyer for four days and I hated life. Sometimes I put him on the toliet with the bidet, and sometimes he goes into the shower chair with the bucket underneath. After using the chair I either clean him with a wash cloth or roll him into the shower.

Oh, while using the Hoyer, we found it easiest to lock the lift down and drive chairs (PWC and shower chair) in and out of it rather than rolling the lift from one chair to the other. Especially on carpet.
 
Sun, we rented and our bathroom isn't configured for lifts or wheelchairs, so apart from a ShowerBuddy (which didn't fit our toilet) when Larry could still tolerate it, we did nothing there.

We did the sling over the lined bucket thing, Sage wipes after, for ~3y. But if you own your home and can afford it, there are all kinds of mods that people here can suggest.
 
Thank you all for the great advice. I agree, through it all, humor is a must.
 
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