Transitional bathing/showering strategies. What has worked for you?

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Buckhorn

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My husband/PALS can still stand and step up over the 3" lip/ledge into our 1st floor shower with my assistance, multiple safety bars and use of a shower chair. It is becoming more and more tiring to him, and less safe for both of us. We had the bathroom door widened and the shower stall and access re-done to accommodate easier access, but it is not an ADA / roll in shower. When necessary, I think that I can navigate one of the PVC/ high-back reclining shower chairs into the bathroom and over the small lip into the shower. If not, I have another strategy I am thinking of....

In the meantime, while my husband is still ambulatory, I am thinking of purchasing a sliding shower bench like this one or something similar: (mod note: link to Amazon product deleted)). However, I am not sure how long he will be able to use this either, so I'm not going to buy a top of the line model.

I am wondering what has worked for the PALS/CALS out there, as ALS progresses & abilities decline? I know many PALS ultimately receive bed baths & use of shampoo caps. I was hoping to start a dialog that will be helpful to me as well as many others, since the collective knowledge and experience of our members is amazing.

Thank you for your anticipated responses.
 
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Honestly, if he's too tired to navigate the lip, not sure I would try a bench that he would have to transfer to/balance on -- would keep him in a shower chair. Falls are a great risk in that environment. I would focus on making the roll-in scenario work, or determining that you need a plan B.

Best,
Laurie
 
Our shower has a 3.5inch lip that we added ramp so they can roll me in shower chair. Both were loaned to us from local alsa
 
A small lip like that should be fairly easy with a little ramp?

I would go that route if he will agree now as it's safer and a one step solution :)
 
Thanks to everyone so far. My husband still has good trunk stability and stength when he is seated. It is the step over 3" lip and transferring to the shower chair and/or any standing longer than about 30" that is extremely tiring to him. Getting back out of the shower then is exhausting to him & becoming a safety risk (water, soap, weakness - egad!! - recipe for disaster, huh?!). We have some mini threshold ramps placed at both entrances to our home, so that may be something to look into; however, at this point he is still mobile, albeit declining/fatiguing more everyday. Not sure he will agree with being rolled into the shower yet, but he has been agreeable and thankful for all of my interventions so far.

In all honesty, I am totally in awe of the CALS/caregivers past & present who are now or have in the past navigated these decisions and steps with advanced ALS / & limited to no mobility. You are my heros and I look up to all of you, and thank you for being here for all of us!! This freakin' disease requires constant adaptation, creativity, tolerance, humor, and dedication to stay abreast of it all & without you all I think I would be LOST!!
 
Buckhorn that difficulty in getting over that lip is why I would go for a shower commode and ramps. Wheel him over, set the brake, then let him shower himself for now with a seat in there. When he is done, wheel him out again. Love you girl xxx
 
We had the same problem only the threshold in our shower was more like 5". I purchased a shower transfer system from Nuprodx. It tilts, pivots and has a head rest. It is the multichair 6000RS with tilt and headrest.

Up until a week ago, my PALS had been stepping over the 5" threshold. A week ago, he told me he didn't feel safe showering any longer.

I now put him in the rolling shower chair, roll him to the shower, attach the bridge, slide him into the shower, release the bridge and pivot him. He washes himself. I reattach, slide him out, release and roll him back to the bedroom. Without this, he would be at sponge bath stage way too soon.

I purchased this direct from Nuprodx and received a 30% discount from their list price.

I hope this helps!
 
In the beginning I would put walker in shower step in and sit down. The problem is when do you stop. It becomes dangerous and WILL lead to a fall. Then you really are screwed
 
You might be able to take out the 3 inch lip/edge and replace it with a 2 inch rubber one that allows easy roll in. You won't need a ramp. As long as your entrance is wide enough to roll in a chair, and the shower low enough, replacing the edge with a rubber one should work.

I'm attaching a picture of how mine looks. It is wider than it looks. I can step on the rubber and it will give under my feet but it holds water in fine.
 

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my PALS has lost almost all movement. Can move head. i put him in the old manual wheelie that tilts back, take him into the back yard, tilt him way back...and give him a lovely long shampoo...lovely long scrub all over body. i add lots of hot water to giant bucket. water drips off wheelie, and i can pat him dry.

we both love it. of course, now the weather is fine to do that.
 
We just use a blow up kids pool with a little less air in it. Then roll a transfer chair over the sides and we use a water hose connected to the faucet for rinsing. We use sump pump for draining and preventing over flows. There you go, put me in the transfer and roll me in, rinse me off, roll me out and we're done.
 
Thank you all for your ideas/suggestions. Keep 'em coming if you feel like contributing, as I feel this will be helpful for others as well.

notBrad, I can't believe someone else was "thinking outside the box" the same way I have! I have looked at some "collapsible pet bath pools", foldable PVC pet pools, & even hazard collection pools like UltraTech 8068 Economy Polyethylene Ultra-Pop Up Pool, 66 Gallon Capacity, 12" Height (Amazon). This could fit on our bathroom floor and be drained easily into the shower with our pool sump pump. I would only resort to this if navigating a reclining shower chair with headrest is too difficult/not possible. I spent quite awhile looking into alternative shower arrangements and was inspired by the creative ways that people who live in vans have created.

Thanks for the encouragement/LOVE Tillie!

And, thanks very much for the shower chair info Sooner; I have looked up the model # you mention as well as a few others.

AZ girl, I agree - sometimes it's not clear when to stop, but I know we are there or very close. IMO, you stop when either or both of you (PALS/CALS) feel things are not going smoothly and are becoming a hazard. I've had 32 years of PTA experience, but in the PT profession we do not bathe people. That is in the nursing/CNA/OT realm. So, I have OT's to bounce ideas off of, but no real life experience myself.

My regret is that when I had the bathroom redone I dicided not to have a center drain put into the bathroom floor & into the basement. I thought this would be a big negative down the road when I will someday sell this house. But during travels to Europe & England we noticed the concept of a "wet room" is not unusual.

TY again to all of you.
 
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My portable shower base was a bit like a kiddies pool but with a drain hole that fitted into the floor drain. It was a bit tougher too than the blow up pools we get here.

You are getting some great ideas here!
 
The Shower Buddy shower chair, has model that comes with a track system. It also tilts and gets rid of the need to step or roll over a shower curb, or side of a bathtub.
____
Bruce
 

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We have a 4" lip on our shower that became a problem very quickly for my wife to navigate. We purchased one of the sliding shower benches via Amazon. It worked pretty well for roughly six months. As she lost more and more of her strength we were afraid she would fall when she exited the shower. It did solve the problem for a while.
 
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