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Looking for tips handling toileting needs for wheelchair bound
Neuropathy | Last Active: Oct 11, 2023 | Replies (12)Comment receiving replies
When I was in a wheelchair for 6 months, toileting was about the most humbling part of my ordeal. In just 10 days, my sudden Neuropathy took my legs and my hands, so I had to be lifted onto the toilet and wiped when done. I have never been so appreciative of medical assistants in my life for doing that! But I was in a rehab home. These people were trained to do the job, and sometimes it took 2 people and they had belts/tools to help. It was the extensive PT over 5 weeks in the facility that made it such where I could safely transfer myself (with bars) from wheelchair to toilet. PT was able to help get wiping ability back too to a manageable degree. At home, I needed to continue PT (and have a caregiver present) to regain as much more strength and ability that I could. Toileting by myself was my #1 motivation, even before feeding myself. I can only guess your husband would love to be independent as possible too. Is in home care and/or PT an option to help bridge the gap while he gets through this challenging period and work to maintain and improve strength & balance? Thinking of you both and praying for quick recovery.
Replies to "When I was in a wheelchair for 6 months, toileting was about the most humbling part..."
I agree about the humility and gratitude involved in needing help toileting, in getting on a toilet from a wheelchair and back again.
Some “accessible” stalls are still too tight for an easy transfer. However, an inexpensive wooden slide board, recommended by a PT, was very helpful for months in helping me transfer from a wheelchair (with movable arms) to a toilet and back. I still needed help from my husband in getting pants up and down, but have managed more on my own recently—without the slide board or my husband with me. This is where PT and upper body strength have helped me as well.
Thanks for opening an issue that is most often hidden in dealing with a loss of mobility—the need for a wheelchair for managing distances, and then needing help with what used to be a private bodily function.
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That’s one of the most degrading issues I have had in the past.
Being unable to clean yourself after having a bm was very hard for me.
I was embarassed even with my husband doing it.
I could sense how repulsed he was when I would have a very messy stool or diarrhea.
The best thing I did was get a toilet seat that cleanses you with water and even has a dryer mode.
I bought it on Amazon and it’s the best thing I ever did.
Lately I’ve been having severe cramping and diarrhea episodes after eating dinner sometimes.
I never know what the culprit is, and when it will strike.
As a result I’m afraid to go out and eat too far from home for fear of an accident.
I can’t imagine being out somewhere and having an episode.
I have done some testing for celiac disease, and some malabsorption diseases.
So far they were negative, even stool testing I did.
I do have an appt at my gastroenterologist next week to discuss results.
Hope she has some answers for me.
I did have emergency surgery last Nov for a tear in my intestine, and this was when this started,months after the surgery.