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    Being home alone

    I'm needing more help to get to the bathroom. I used to be able to transfer to my scooter and get myself to the toilet and back. I had to work hard to do it but I could when necessary. Now as I need more help transferring, and then help pulling down (or up) pants, my husband or daughter don't leave me home for more than 2-3 hours. What do others do to be more independent? I am trying to exercise more to see I can regain what I had. Six months ago, I could be left alone for up to 7 hours without problems.

    #2
    I don't know how to help you but am hoping the moderators could move this over to the occupational therapy thread or ????
    Diagnosed with MS spring 2010; Still loving life

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      #3
      Home alone

      NKH18, I hear you. I wonder if portable toilet or Toilet hand rails would work. They make a device that slides behind the toilet and has hand bars for stability. Check your closest medical equipment stores. It may be worth checking out. Hope you find a solution.
      Kathy Sue

      I not only believe in Miracles....I depend on them.

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        #4
        Dealing with the exact same scenario. Up until a few months ago, I transferred on/off the toilet, pulled clothes down and up by myself...transferring from chair to toilet. Over time, last 2 years, grab bars and elevated toilet seat have been necessary to keep this independent. Now I urinate in a plastic bottle...one designed for such a task, about half the time.

        I think exercise is a great idea.

        I also am slowly losing ability to transfer in/out of bed, and bet you are too. It is inevitable that we need greater dedication from our caregiver's. I am already there, paying my "ex" to be caregiver in the home. She lost her job and the choice was; 1) Pay her to be my caregiver. 2) Hire a caregiver from an agency.
        Not much of a choice but am lucky I had the option.

        MS tends to progress faster than we can get our heads around it. Tough and very important decisions arrive upon us quickly and need to be resolved quickly.

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          #5
          Originally posted by justacowgirl View Post
          I don't know how to help you but am hoping the moderators could move this over to the occupational therapy thread or ????
          Good idea, justa. Our volunteer occupational therapist, Susan Dorne (who also has MS), has lots of good suggestions. I'm going to move this thread to that forum.

          nkh18 - you will find your thread here http://www.msworld.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=97

          Also - have you had some physical therapy recently to help you?
          1st sx '89 Dx '99 w/RRMS - SP since 2010
          Administrator Message Boards/Moderator

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            #6
            Hi nkh18
            I'm sorry to hear things have progressed. I think it's great that you stay motivated to maintain your independence. This is important.
            Here are a few things I suggest:

            You can put a commode chair next to bed. It comes with a bucket (can use disposable liners for easier discard). There are chairs that come with a drop arm so you can scoot to transfer.
            Use wet wipes / cleansing wipes and hand gel afterwards.
            As mentioned, female urinals

            Instead of wearing pants, perhaps you can wear a house coat/lounger,
            Shorts,
            If you prefer pants, use elastic waist and loose fitting.

            There are adjustable underwear (ie depends) that have tabs on side to eliminate pull up/down,
            Open crotch/ crotchless underwear,
            You can also wear bathing suit bottom and pull underneath at crotch to side just before sitting.
            Yeah, sometimes we need to think outside (and way outside) the box!

            I hope you find these suggestions helpful.
            Please, share your thoughts
            Be Well,
            Susan

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