Bath or Shower or.....?

stickywicket

Last night my compressor went on strike. For 10 minutes it seemed like my bath hoist was an ex bath hoist as Mr SW sighed, peered, tugged and pulled while I stood (Those of a delicate disposition may wish to look away here), stripped to my blouse and socks, offering words of encouragement and unwelcome advice and feeling that, for the foreseeable future, my only friends would be cyber ones. I would be indisputably unhuggable in the rancid flesh. But eventually Mr SW hit on the correct combination of expletives and persuaded it out of its coma. However, it is antique, a gift from Social Services when we first moved in here some 32 years ago and I feel hard decisions must be taken about its funeral.

Help me folks – bath or walk in shower? I know that showers are normally preferred for creaky old codgers like me (& MR SW will want one anyway) but if I’m high enough to be able to get off a shower seat unaided I’m too high to get anywhere near my feet and lower legs even with my long handled bath aid. I’d be unable to put a shower cap on. And, as I’m a bit ropey trying to walk without my surgical shoes I do tend to feel skiddy getting in and out of showers even with a good mat and grab rail, as the undersides of my feet resemble a minor mountain range so no grip there. And my hands and reach are rubbish too.

So, another bath hoist? Mr SW hates ours. It’s a dirt magnet and although, theoretically, I can use it independently, in practice I need him to haul the compressor out of the bedroom every time because there isn’t really enough room for it to live in the hall by the plug. (It’s supposed not to be in the bathroom near water. Besides, we don’t have a plug in the bathroom.)

Heaven would be a walk-in shower with a high seat, low lever controls, a rubbery, grippy base and lots of grab rails for daily ablutions plus a weekly bath to ensure I haven’t missed any bits. But I have doubts that either our small bathroom or ditto budget would stretch to that.

Wet room? Don’t think so. A friend has one. Their sloping floors are not for locked ankles. I worked that one out as I daintily – well, maybe not - side stepped my way to the loo.

Any input/ideas/comments/suggestions whatsoever greatly appreciated.

julie47

Morning sticky

There are so many different things on the market it is soooo difficult to choose. Plus they all have pros and cons, which I think would be a good idea to jot down when looking.

I have seen in mags the bath bubble, this inflates and deflates and is easily (apparently) removed from the bath so that others can use the bath.
BUT are they stable, would we roll off therefore endin up in the floor out of the bath.

The walk in bath tub looks good, you open the door walk in and sit down.
(close the door after entering) trouble is .....would you be cold waiting for the tub to fill up.(or do they do one that has a shower too)

This is something I think about too, I do have a bath lift that is in our loft that I did buy, but, I stopped using it cause it never fully let me be covered with water. Plus the fact it had to be removed for my family.
I now get lifted in by OH , but I am thinking after my op this may not be a good idea.

I think a shower cubicle would be my option as long as the step in wasn't too high. With plenty of grab handles. This would mean though that I have to wear a plastic leg sleeve every time on my prothetic leg. Things are never straightforward eh?

Sticky I hope you find the right one for you and please let us know what you decide.

Take care
Juliepf x

lululu

Hi Sticky this may be a consideration for you too Julie
Where do lost posts go to I have spent on a reply for you and it has gone so here goes again!
I suggest you contact Occupational Therepy pronto accidents happen so easily take care.

can't think what it is called I thing somethig like community care adaptation grant but not sure.you can ask for an assessment via your GP or you can ring Adult Social Care Direct. I suggest the best thing for you given you description would be a low level easy access shower - they are very low not like ordinary showers and you can also have a chair with wheels (not a wheelchair) especially for the shower and you can keep it in the shower when not in use. You sit in the chair in the shower. make enquiries first before you spend any money. Also if you want another hoist instead you can ask Social Care Direct and they would be sure to replace the old one.

jillyb1

Morning , Sticky , I have a wet room and it is my second love in the whole world ! ( hubby has always been first true love ) I have a fold away seat so hubby can use the shower standing , and the sloping bit of floor is under the seat so no slips and slithers . The controls are low , non slip grippy floor , lots of support bars etc etc . We are fortunate though as we are council tenants and my OT was able to liaisse with the council building folk to fit just what we needed . Hopefully you would be able to get a grant with help from your OT dept . Jillyb

suzygirl

It is a problem, the bathroom dilemma. I agree that thee are grants available from various charities and I believe social services. I would contact them for advice as to what would be best for you.

I hope you are able to find an acceptable solution, that leaves you with your dignity in tact!

tjt6768

must say, I'm with Jilly. I love my wetroom shower, as with Jilly's, it has a folks away seat, lots of grab handles etc. We even got them to put an extra long hose inn the shower for rinsing my footsies while sat down etc.. Tis heaven. And the floor is excellent as fast as none slippage is concerned, but I do have to admit, it's a bugger to clean.. It's the grey, rubber type flooring with the diamond pattern on.... Last night (another reason I can't really move today) I had to mop it with almost pure bleach and leave it for a while before rinsing it. Having said that, the rinsing is so very easy. Just turn the shower on, lol.

Best of luck with whatever you go for

stickywicket

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's obvious that those of you with wet rooms love them, as did my friend. I'm intrigued by your sloping bit being under the seat, jillyb1 as my friend's drain is in the middle of the floor (Their bathroom has a loo in it - ours is separate) and the whole floor slopes very slightly towards it. However, I suspect these don't come cheap and we're not in a council property.

Lululu - Thanks for the suggestions. I may well contact Occy Therapy as a starter. When I was in having my last op the main lady remembered me from previous ones (Although, to my shame, I couldn't remember her) and my wheelchair comes from there so they probably have a file on me and may well be able to advise over the phone.

Meanwhile Mr SW has perused several websites for walk-in showers and baths, hoists etc etc & prices and is currently in the recovery room with a cool beer. Think I'll join him.

Thanks again, everyone. Time to think.

tjt6768

ours also drains towards where the shower seat is. The rest of the bathroom (it's only small) is the same flooring but totally level.
As you enter the sink is immediately on the left with the loo straight ahead, then the left corner is dedicated to the shower. The floor starts to slope after the sink and to the left hand side of the loo if that makes sense?
Are you all on one floor sticky? We are in a ground floor flat, it's just I have a vague memory of a post regarding someones wet room in a first floor bathroom & they had problems.. Ours is spot on though.
I hope that some kind of grant etc is available for you....??

dreamdaisy

I know I shouldn't have laughed but ye gods, woman, you have a way with words. Poor Mr SW. I think the time has come to do some thorough research into matters, not only the design of showers etc but the possibility of some funding from somewhere.

If it were me (and I know it's not) I would opt for a super-duper walk-in-and-sit-down shower, with all the add ons and gadgets one could desire. If Mr SW really wants a bath he could always pop round to the neighbours. DD

stickywicket

tjt6768 wrote:

ours also drains towards where the shower seat is. The rest of the bathroom (it's only small) is the same flooring but totally level.
As you enter the sink is immediately on the left with the loo straight ahead, then the left corner is dedicated to the shower. The floor starts to slope after the sink and to the left hand side of the loo if that makes sense?
Are you all on one floor sticky?

Thanks, Tony. It makes perfect sense. We 're in a (dormer) bungalow so no upstairs bathroom problems. I think we need to think hard about this.

stickywicket

dreamdaisy wrote:

If it were me (and I know it's not) I would opt for a super-duper walk-in-and-sit-down shower, with all the add ons and gadgets one could desire. If Mr SW really wants a bath he could always pop round to the neighbours. DD

Would the add-ons & gadgets include a patent foot-and-lower-leg washing device? Human is fine (I currently use MR SW) but a later model would be nice and...er....stimulating. Could you indicate where I might get the funding for him, please? Is it on a sliding scale dependent on age and usage? I'm getting quite interested in this project now.

lululu

Hello again Sticky.
Please do not let Mr. SW buy any equipment untill all the alternatives have been considered.
As part of my work involves contacting Adult Social Care on behalf of clients I am used to assessing for suitabillity and believe me it is a simple process and I am familiar which the different ranges available.
The wet foor is super but if you are not steady on your pins be careful. The walk in shower with a seat is also super but as you currently need a hoist would you be able to get into a walk in the shower?
The new frofile shower with a shower chair whith cut outs so that you can sit and still wash the important little places is also super.

hileena111

Hi Sticky
Dont go spending money before you try things out.
MY OT decided I should have a bath lift/seat...there is a long thread somewhere her about it :roll:
Her first idea was a bath seat.....sat across the board like a bath board, you sit on it and brought your legs over then pressed a button and down went the seat, the bits on the side went up {if you know what i mean} I'm slightly overweight.....about half a stone.....but when the seat went down it pushed the water to the sides and it was cold....I wasnt covered with water.....and her idea was that I could soak to help my back.....not a chance......tried it for a while then sent it back,
the next one she suggested was a bubble type thing but after talking we thought it might not be stable enough and I wouldn end up in in an undignified heap
The others I know very little about ...sorry. At the moment its just a grab rail until we think of something better
Love
Hileena

dreamdaisy

Whilst it is patently obvious that Alistair Cooke would be the ideal add-on to your bathing arrangements I fear that that will remain a pipe-dream.

The world of ablutions has moved on tremendously since the days of the tin bath in front of the fire. I reckon you would be astonished by the gadgets and gizmos that are out there - and that Mr SW will need a snifter or ten to recover from the shock of the expense of them BUT there must be some form of grant or dispensation from somewhere to contribute towards the expense. If there isn't there damn well should be. I don't know enough about these matters - would your local CAB be able to shed any light, I wonder? Meanwhile, Alistair Cooke . . . . yum-yum. DD

stickywicket

dreamdaisy wrote:

Whilst it is patently obvious that Alistair Cooke would be the ideal add-on to your bathing arrangements I fear that that will remain a pipe-dream.

My life is ruined! You might have let me down gently, DD.

I'm going to look into this. The obvious thing would be to get another hoist but I want to be as independent as possible and, certainly with the current one, I'm not totally so.

I can step into walk-in showers, Lululu. I just always feel skiddy once I've done so due to my underfoot problems as there are only very small areas of my feet that actually make contact with the floor. I'm only really sure-footed in my surgical shoes. Seems like a bit of an impasse & I think a proper assessment would be the sensible option.

lululu

Oh eck - I am so sorry Sticky I did not mean to suggest that I assess you! I will have no clout and you are not in my 'patch' I just want to encourage you to loook at all the options and then look again because it is easy to miss something with all the super gadgets available. And not to spend any money, till you are sure that you have checked out Commuity Care Grants.

Stay safe an please let us all know how it is going.xxx

stickywicket

Don't worry, lululu. I didn't think that for one moment but I do intend to start asking questions, hopefully tomorrow and probably starting with OT at my 'usual op hospital'.

Thanks for all your help.

stickywicket

Thanks everyone for all your help on this. I have now bitten the bullet and got my ar$e into gear and made some phone calls. I'm going to be assessed not just for the bathroom but they're going to check out the kitchen too. She even asked about my bed! (Don't touch it. It's new and I love it and it's big enough for Mr SW to keep his long legs to his own side.) It'll probably all boil down to what would be good versus what will be possible but right now anything will be an improvement. Thanks again all.

julie47

Thats great news sticky

Good luck with the assessments I hope you get the equipment you need.

Juliepf x

tjt6768

Good for you hun. Keep us up to date

hileena111

Well done petal.......let us know as thing progress

Love
Hileena

stickywicket

This didn't go quite as I'd expected. Nice guy. Breezed in. Offered to consign my hoist to the museum and they'd give me a new one.

I asked about showers. He said they don't put them in now as everyone gets so's they can't use them. They put wet rooms in. I can't deal with wet rooms. Last attempt in hotel last week. Only about 2 small bits of my feet actually make contact with the floor if I've no surgical shoes on so I just aquaplane in wet rooms.

He clearly hadn't come to talk kitchens. Said he knew nothing about them. Re-think needed but right now can't be ar$ed.

dreamdaisy

Oh dear Sticky, that was a deflating experience wasn't it? He doesn't sound particularly helpful despite being nice. Surely he needs a better grasp of the possible needs of the person he is assessing. You sound 'dismissed' rather than 'assessed'. DD

stickywicket

I eventually summoned up all my backbone, which is currently of the consistency of a wet lettuce, and rang my local Disability Services line as they’d started the ball rolling for me. I explained I’d been expecting an OT to assess my needs (Not to hand me out even a tiny wodge of money) rather than a quick hoist exchange. He put me on hold, rang the guy who’d been this morning and told me he (the one who’d been this morning) would ring me back tomorrow. An utterly futile exercise. I would be brassed off, both with him and with my meek acceptance, if I cared to think about it but I don’t.

julie47

oh sticky
sorry that the assessment was rubbish, what a waste of your time.
I hope when the chap rings today he is more helpful and that they send the ot out to you this time.
Good luck
Juliepf x

stickywicket

He did ring back. We were both very nice to each other. To be fair, I think the local people hadn't received the full message from the central number I was given. A qualified OT will be round but I shan't hold my breath.