Last post Wed, May 28 2008 6:05 PM by wazabiker. 18 replies.
Hi Akua
As a c5/c6 quad. I use an Activeaid shower/commode chair. I would be reluctant to use my manual chair in the shower. Another thing shower/commode chairs are not cheap and most are not covered by insurance! Hope this helps.
Stay Strong
Vinny
C-6.7 here. I use a shower bench. It is durable and plastic. It costs about 100 bucks or so and I buy one every year or so. I wouldn't recommend using your everyday chair in the shower. It won't last to long getting wet everyday. After rehab back in 1997 i was given a "slide board". Really smooth 2 foot long board that you shove under your ass and slide on to the shower bench. I don't use it anymore as I just sort of do a drunken "leap" of faith haha. Good luck with your showers. Your post reminded me of a funny story. I went to a week long Rodeo in Siline Mich. once. After 2 or 3 days of not showering I found an empty unused barn on the fairgrounds. I removed my gel seat cushion and wheeled under a spicket type of water pipe. Nude as a Jaybird, spashing off, a pretty cowgirl and her horse entered the barn. (She was taking the horse for a relaxing walk before she entered a barrel racing comp.) I can still see the look on her face! She asked me if i was ok /needed help because I was in a wheelchair and then she realized i was fine...just cleaning up a bit. Later that night we became friends and drank a few beers. She joked that she felt she new me so much better then the other people around. Just a wheelchair shower story i thought I'd tell you.--Greg
I aslo use a shower bench ! by the time i am done i need a nap lol raineyyyyy
Vinny is right... shower wheelchairs can get expensive, especially if you are loking for one that is self-propelled. They can run anywhere from $600-800 depending on the quality and features.
We carry a few options if you want to take a look: http://www.activeforever.com/
Good luck with your search!
Another funny shower story--I'm a c6-7. I went to Las Vegas with my in-laws not long after my accident. My mother-in-law was helping me on the shower bench at the hotel when I started to slip. She stepped in to help and she slipped, pulling me down on top of her. My big, naked ass was up in the air with my poor mother-in-law squirming under me. It was so funny! Well, I thought it was funny.
All I do is wheel it into my room and then transfer to my bed from it doing a front transfer.
I have a bathtub/shower insert and I use a padded chair. I wheel up to it in my everyday chair (little bit of an angle) and transfer straight over to it since I have it set at the same height as my wheelchair seat. It works great for me and I am also a T10 SCI. Here is a pic and link:
It is also adjustable from left and right opening as long with adjusting the height.
I am new to being injured and I am not sure about idiopathic transverse myelitis, but what I just read it only effect the arms in rare cases. Are you one of the rare cases? I am not trying to be rude but maybe exercise would help? I built a cheap stand out of water pipes so I could do dips and pull-ups.
Hello I've been reading these threads and I think most of us are in the same boat when it comes to showering, or close to it. When I read your reply about not being able to get off and over your wheel. I had to reply. Please try a "sliding board" if you haven't. This should help you out alot. Please be careful about getting over your wheel. You can damage your skin very easy like that. I have had several decubitus ulcers which I have had to have flap surgery for. Not because of transferring like that, it just happened. I went for 20 years with no decubitus ulcers, which by the way is a fancy name for a bed sore. I don't know what brought mine on, all I know is I never want to get another one. You must be very careful with your skin and check it often. I know you can really damage your skin by making transfers from a chair to a shower chair. Just a word of warning. Nothing more.
If you have medicaid maybe they would pay for a shower chair or part of it? I think I will look into that myself. I'd like to go from my bed straight into my roll in shower instead of the bench I use.
I try to push myself up with my arms as much as I can. Trying not to drag my butt over.
Karen
I ALSO USE A PADDED SHOWER BENCH AND A SLIDING BOARD. I AM A QUAD WITH USE OF ARMS. I DON'T HAVE VERY GOOD BALANCE SOMETIMES SO I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL. I LIVE ON MY OWN AND HAD TO FIGURE OUT THE EASIEST WAY TO GET IN AND OUT OF THE SHOWER. GETTING IN WAS NO PROBLEM, YOU SAID YOU ARE HITTING YOUR TIRE, ARE YOU SCOOTING FORWARD IN YOUR CHAIR BEFORE YOU TRY TO GET ON TO THE BENCH? I SCOOT FORWARD THEN GET ON THE SLIDING BOARD AND GET INTO THE TUB ON MY BENCH. MY PROBLEM WAS GETTING OUT, YOU CAN'T SLIDE WITH NO CLOTHES ON SO I SLIDE MY TOWEL UNDER MY BUTT, THEN MAKE SURE IT'S ALL THE WAY UNDER ME. THEN PUT THE SLIDING BOARD UNDER THE TOWEL AND TRANSFER TO MY CHAIR. I ANGLE MY CHAIR INSTEAD OF PUTTING IT FLUSH AGAINST THE BATH TUB AND IT DOES MAKE IT EASIER TO GET PAST THE TIRE. LIKE I SAID I AM A QUAD AND IT IS VERY EASY FOR ME TO GET IN AND OUT OF THE BATH TUB BY MYSELF. SINCE I HAVE THE TOWEL ALL THE WAY UNDER ME IT MAKES IT EASY TO TRANSFER RIGHT INTO THE BED TO GET DRESSED ALSO. GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!
