Wheelchair clothing questions

[Aussiemndcarer]

My husband is now wheelchair reliant. We have been on the MND/ALS journey since September 2014. We are experiencing greater difficulty transferring or standing up to change clothes or go to the toilet.
So, I wondered if anyone out there can refer me to a manufacturer of men's shorts,or trousers that can open easily. Maybe I think we need trousers that are suitable for easy toileting.....elastic waist with a Velcro fly? Does anyone use these? We just want to save on energy. I look forward to any hints that come my way.
By the way, this is my first post. What a great community there is out there. Together we can fight for a cure for this terrible disease. Looking forward to chatting with others especially any west Ausiies.

 

[zoohouse]

For the first year that he was wheelchair bound I tried different specialized pants that were on the market, but they were obviously "special" looking. Then I started cutting out the back side of sweat pants, by cutting from the waist band down the back about 4" then a circle to the crotch, so that basically he was sitting bare bottom on the chair with the pants tucked about an inch under him so that no bare skin was showing. This proved to be so effective as I was able to access the necessary parts to give him the bottle (a female urinal, as it has a longer neck and prevents less spilling) and then tuck him back in. He now looks like he is wearing normal jeans, or dress pants when he wants to, but usually he is most comfortable in the slippery fleece like workout pants when he is at home. I have sewn clothes my entire life but admit that I have not even finished the cut edges and have not found that to even be a problem. I put a cotton quilted pad on his wheelchair seat, and have torn 12"X20" squares from old bath towels and place that on top of the pad, and change it each time he is off of it, or basically the same as you would change under wear. If he needs to go to the toilet during the day I just put the sling on as per usual, leaving the pants on and he is set to go. If you have any other questions I will try and take some pictures.
Paulette

 

[Green Queen]

Hello!
I'm from Geraldton. I have been diagnosed with PLS.
Sorry you and your husband are faced with this terrible disease. There is a lot of wonderful advice and compassion on offer here.

Gembead is from Bridgetown. Only a few hours from you maybe? We are 4.5 hours the other side of Perth.

There's a cyclone hanging around. Easterly wind all day. Horrible weather!

I look forward to getting to know you more.

 

[JimInVA]

My wife Darcey is my PALS. When standing became a scary proposition, we began using a hoyer/patient lift with a hygiene/toileting style of sling. We also changed over to stretchy pants with elastic waists (a bit dressier than sweat pants... but very similar). I lift her up from her PWC and because of the type of sling, her entire backside is exposed. This would allow me to pull down on the waistline at the back, uncover her entire bottom and push all material towards the front. I then would move to the front of her and (holding material so as to be clear of the commode) would then begin lowering her into place. When she's done, I raise her back up, use toilet paper or wipes and pull her pants under her from front to back. I then wheel her back to her PWC, lower her and we're done. Has worked great and the lift does all the lifting and makes everything safe from falls. Note, however, we had no boy parts to contend with in this process... so Paulette's comments, above, might prove a more capable method for certain types of toilet trips. Hope you find what works well for you!!

Jim

 

[notBrad]

One other thing I would really recommend is a bidet toilet seat. They're < $400 and a huge convenience/comfort. They even come with remotes. We love ours...

 

[GregK]

> bidet toilet seat

I second that

 

[Gembead]

Hi Aussie,
We are just getting to the stage where standing transfers are becoming risky and BJ is spending more time in his power wheelchair! BJ is now starting to wear sports shorts as they are baggy and stretchy and comfortable to wear, this makes it easy to use the bottle while sitting in chair or on recliner if to tired to get to to loo if just wanting a wee.
Jeans are becoming a problem as he can't undo his zip and has to wear a belt when wearing jeans and this all adds to the rush when the need arises and this is when accidents can happen,
Bj was diagnosed just a month after your man, would love to chat any time if you would like to catch up.
Love Gem

 

[affected]

Hi from another aussie, but east side. Welcome to the forum, I'm sure you will find lots of support and help here.

We used elastic waist shorts in the summer and I could just pull the front elastic down and hold the bottle in place, and in the winter trackie dacks, same deal I could pull the front down.

Chris was able to do standing transfers until his last few days, so these were also easy when transferring him onto the toilet. In that last few days he just went commando ...

 

[Gembead]

Hi Aussie, there are a few adaptive clothing manufacturers in Australia, just look up Adaptive clothing,
Love Gem

 

[Diane H]

There is a Canadian company, Silverts, that makes disability clothing for men and women. I can't provide a link to their website or this post will be removed, so just google them. They have pants with velcro side closures for a drop down front, and open back pants like Paulette described that work for both types of nature calls. These will make transfers onto the toilet much easier now since the balancing act while getting his pants down and back up won't be necessary. Later they will work great with a sling and lift.

I have had regular pants cut this way too and love being able to wear real jeans and slacks in my choice of colors and fabric! My website has the instructions for altering pants. Just click on my name, then on my homepage. Look in the "Toilet Troubles" section.

Paulette, not finishing the cut edges is not an embarrassment! A finished edge just leaves a lump to sit on and create pressure areas. A zigzagged edge helps if the fabric tends to unravel, but otherwise raw edges and commando are the way to go!

 

[Nuts]

I've been altering athletic pants based on Diane's instructions, and it works great. My guy fusses about the flaps falling in the toilet, so I've started splitting them down the back and just attaching a tab to one side to Velcro over the other side. I dress him in his PWC after placing him on a chux. Bare butts are beautiful!

 

[pjinca]

Paulette, I would interested in some pictures of your altered pants. It would help me to have a visual to know how much to cut. Thanks Patrick

 

[Green Queen]

Hey Tillie, don't you just love saying trackie dacks and the intended reader will know exactly what you are talking about!!

Oh my dear American and Canadian friends...I luv youse...I luv youse all!

 

[Aussiemndcarer]

Thanks , your tips are very helpful.

 

[Aussiemndcarer]

Hello!
I'm from Geraldton. I have been diagnosed with PLS.
Sorry you and your husband are faced with this terrible disease. There is a lot of wonderful advice and compassion on offer here.

Gembead is from Bridgetown. Only a few hours from you maybe? We are 4.5 hours the other side of Perth.

There's a cyclone hanging around. Easterly wind all day. Horrible weather!

I look forward to getting to know you more.

Hello Janelle.
We have fond memories of Geraldton,as we spent a lovely few days there on the way back home from a 4.5 month caravaning trip. I remember enjoying fish n chips on your wharf. We even left with some wonderful seafood. My fishing is not the best,or should I say I wasn't that lucky so we had to rely on the seafood outlet in Geraldton.
We are on the land 3.5 hours south of Perth in a place called Kendenup near Mt Barker. Being on the land ,we watch the weather closely, and hope that the developing cyclone doesn't do too much damage. Our MND / ALS journey has been indescribable! We have a lot of support,but it is difficult to talk to others who are travelling the journey as we feel a little isolated being country folk. I really hope we can keep in touch.already I feel supported in working out how to handle the next hurdle of wheelchair life! Cheers, Bev