Whew. I just took my first shower. Just preparing for it was a struggle - after I measured and dumped the drains, and took off the bra, undershirt and binder, I was overcome with exhaustion and then my guts decided to cut loose (before the shower, thankfully). I was on the verge of passing out, but sat on the toilet until everything settled down. By the way, not only is the Toto washlet a wonderful accessory for DS patients, so is the Squatty Potty (and for anyone, actually).
Being prepared for the shower was important. My tub width shower has a small corner seat, but it wasn’t really big enough for my behind. I had previously bought a regular shower seat for the stall in the second bedroom, so I had Charles bring that seat in, and used the corner seat as a shelf for the soap, scrubbie, toothbrush and toothpaste. Another important aide is that our showerhead is on a hose, so I could mostly stay seated while I brushed my teeth and soaped up. A grab bar on the wall of the shower would have also been helpful - I think I’m going to order a couple of the heavy duty suction cup type grab bars, especially since my elderly father will be coming to live with us in the near future.
Someone had suggested using an unfolded wire hanger hung over my neck to hold the drains, but it seems we have purged our house of them. But Charles found a stretchy card leash from a casino which has clips on both ends, which worked perfectly - the drains have cloth tabs on them with safety pins through the cloth, so they can be pinned to the binder for support. But without the hanger suggestion, I probably would have just let the drains hang, which wouldn’t have been good.
I don’t know how anyone could do this without a significant amount of help, at least at first. I was able to get out of the recliner by myself today, by grabbing the ends of the arms of the recliner to use my arms to get vertical and then use my legs to stand. But Charles was standing right near me just in case.
I’m currently collapsed in the recliner in my terrycloth bathrobe, trying to get dry and gear up to putting on deodorant, powder, fresh underclothes and a cotton shift dress, and to put the binder back on. I took a pic (not for public consumption) for comparison to the preop pic to remind myself of the improvement.
Q: how often should one use a inspirometer?
