hi all - my father had a fall and fractured his hip last August. the day before his fall he had a ct scan. the ct scan came back "suspicious" for colon cancer. He was too sick for a colonoscopy. he just got it done and of course it came back positive. we are aiming for a surgery date of mid December. However. he just was diagnosed with " c. diff" which of course will delay the surgery. he also has exhausted his rehabilitation benefits which means he is coming home next week (regardless of whether or not he we are ready.)
my question is - my house is multilevel so there are steps here and there. we have a bathroom near the study that Dad can (and has) used in the past. the bathroom is tiny and we were wondering about converting it into a step in bath for the elderly. I think this is a great idea as it will benefit my dad AND my mom. has anyone had this done and any tips/tricks to advise? thanks!
Only once have I had to call upon my daughter for assistance and we wont be doing that again - bathing mob handed just made the minor battle WW3
We have a VERY tiny bathroom - it is literally only as wide as the length of the tub, and the tub is not average length. So when you walk in, you are facing the tub, and the sink and toilet are across from each other just ahead of the tub - you have to turn sideways to walk between the sink and toilet to get to the tub. I've seen closets bigger than this bathroom!
I also was concerned about the length of time to fill and empty the tub, cwillie, but a friend raved about hers and said they didn't take long to empty. She was right. The pipes are larger and the fill/empty process is much faster. (Also makes a more powerful shower.) I wash my hair last, so I am standing up under the shower head while the tub is draining. I can also begin drying my upper body while still in the tub.
For both my husband and my mother I draped a warm towel around them while they waited for the tub to drain.
As I said, I love my walk-in tub with air jets.
I would go for a huge shower with bench rather than a walk in tub because she has to be able to stand while you hose her off. When she can't get out of bed that presents a whole new set of issues.
Place the hand rails where a handicapped person can actually us them rather than conventional places. The one over my slapdash is totally useless as is the one beside the toilet. A person needs to be able to pull themselves up. I have to roll over in the tub and get up on my hands and knees. Not elegant but it works. I do let the water out first in case I slip and drown myself. (The family won't have to wait six weeks for the autopsy drug screen to come back negative)
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