Equipment
I already
mentioned wheelchairs. Measure your doorways and buy or borrow accordingly.
Take a walk around your house and see what
needs to be moved aside or cleared—you’ll need a path to wheel him around
and those things are awkward, especially when you need to navigate corners. And
wheelchairs and transport chairs are longer than you realize—which he’ll not so
gently remind you as you mash his feet into things. Be patient with yourself. You’ll become an accomplished wheelchair
driver yet!
While
you’re walking through your house, remove any scatter rugs, electric cords,
clutter and other tripping hazards. He will eventually be using a walker and
probably shuffling at first, so this is important. Carefully consider what he will need to access. We actually
removed a bathroom door so that my husband’s walker would fit through the
doorway. I found some Japanese door curtains and put them on a highly-placed
spring rod for the few times privacy was needed.
And what
about sleeping arrangements? Do you have a guest bed that’s accessible? If you
don’t have a king-size bed, it might be better to let him sleep by himself so
you won’t be bumping his sore hip. Turning over may be painful for him, too,
and he might need more room to maneuver. Both of you may possibly sleep better
separately for a while.
As to
equipment and supplies, there are several pieces I found useful, but again,
your situation may be different, so judge for yourself.
First of
all, take everything home from the hospital. They’ve charged you for it
and will just throw it away, so it’s yours. We had small plastic basins,
kidney-shaped trays, pitchers, mugs, chuks (those absorbent sheets), gait
belts, wheelchair seat cushion, wheelchair tote, wipes and various toiletries.
We also had a set or two of various occupational dressing tools, most of which
were not useful. The sock putter-on-er was the worst—a device that you have to
throw in front of you and then try to maneuver your foot into. The leg-mover
thingee was the funniest—looked like a stiff leash for an invisible dog. But we
took it all home. Maybe the grandkids can use some of it for dress-up and
Halloween.
The
basins can be used for a catch-all, urinal holder, or water for shaving or
sponge bath. The kidney-shaped trays are useful for rinse-and-spit after
brushing teeth. Gait belts are compression straps that you put around the waist
or lower chest of the patient; you can then slip your hand under it to guide
and balance—practice this with the PT people first. A broken hip requires the
patient to relearn how to walk, so we ended up using the gait belts a lot.
A word of caution: just
like with baby equipment, there’s a lot you can buy but maybe don’t need. Your
guy may speed through recovery and not require as much. Take a look around your
home and determine what your individual needs are before you buy. We ended up
using footstools and sturdy TV trays to hold necessities. Put a rimmed kitchen
tray on top and you’ve got a controlled spill zone, too.
Another word of caution: Medicare
and insurance rules change all the time, and they may or may not cover some of
the medical equipment. Check online or with your insurance company. It
may also depend on the order you request things—we got a walker from Medicare
and then learned that they wouldn’t approve a bedside commode later because it
was assumed he could get around the house if he had a walker! Some things, like
wheelchairs, can be only ordered every few years. Take the time to look things
up: it could save you some money.
If not,
there’s always Amazon.
Seriously,
don’t buy directly from a local durable medical equipment store. Their prices
will be two to three times for the exact same thing found online. It pays to
shop around, and you’re stuck at home anyway, so fire up the computer!
I’m not
endorsing particular products, but I found these things useful:
·
Diaper
genie-type pail—I had one for the grandbabies, and it also works
for adult-size Depends. The kind I have uses a continuous plastic bag that can
be cut and disposed as needed. No smell!
·
Toilet
safety bars—I got some that were freestanding and they worked
well for an assist in getting up off a low seat. Other types have bars that
attach to the toilet seat bolts. Best would be to have some bars installed on
wall studs, but there may not be time to get someone to do that before you need
them.
·
Bedside
commode—there’s a three-in-one version that can be used as a
night-time toilet, a raised seat over the regular toilet, or as toilet bars.
Get the kind with arms that lower for easier scooting on.
·
Waterproof
shower curtain—I had an old one too cute to throw away. It
proved useful for sponge baths on the bed and keeping the bedding dry. It can
also be used as a mattress protector.
·
Apron—it can
be hard to eat neatly if you can’t sit up properly. A chef-style apron that
covers his chest and lap will save you a lot of laundry.
·
Meal
trays—yeah, we’re the kind of people who eat in front of the TV, so
we had several lap trays that hold plates, cups and silverware. A rimmed cookie
sheet will work, too, so rummage through your kitchen to see what you can use.
·
Bed
assist bar—I didn’t need bedrails to keep him from falling out, so got
small ones that strapped to the frame and provided a sturdy handhold when
getting in and out of bed.
·
Shower
transfer bench—with a broken hip, moving in and out of the tub
was difficult. And of course, the only bathroom my husband could reasonably
access didn’t have a walk-in shower. This kind of bathing chair has legs that
fit both inside and outside of the tub, so you sit on the outer end, swing your
legs in, and scoot over. It takes a little practice, so be patient.
Theoretically, you can run the shower curtain through a slot in the chair, but
get sponges or extra towels because water goes everywhere with this kind of
set-up. At least your floors will be clean!
·
Hand-held
shower—most shower heads screw on and off, so this is easy to
change. Just be careful not to turn the pipe that goes into the wall. Some
kinds of heads have an on/off switch on the hand-held part, which makes it very
convenient.
·
3M broom
holder to hold hand-held shower head where a seated person can grab
it. This features removable tape and doesn’t mar the shower or tub surround
surface. There are suction cup versions made specifically for this purpose as
well, if it works ok on your surface.
·
Plastic
gloves and large size wipes—find them online or in the incontinence
aisle of the drugstore.
·
Plastic
bags
to fit the bedside commode and trash cans. For the trash cans, I copied a hotel
practice of leaving the entire box at the bottom of the can, then putting a
fresh bag over it. You can always find the bags that way. Special bags for the
commode securely hold both solids and liquids, and can be bought online or at
drugstores.
·
Waterproof
mattress protector—get a couple, since one is often in the wash. I
also discovered a twin-size one fit his recliner quite well and saved me from
having to clean the upholstery later. And it’s not just for bathroom
accidents—I found the recliner’s protector worked well for Coke and crumbs,
which I happened to spill on him!
·
Waterproof
bedpads/chuks—I was told that the disposable hospital kind are
often found at thrift stores, but they tend to stick to you and crinkle. I
bought four cloth/microfiber ones in 34” x 52” size, which were somewhat more
comfortable and gave my husband room to roll around a bit. They laundered
easily and I figured they’d be useful for grandkid stayovers later on.
·
Standing
assist rails—there are various kinds that help people with
leg/hip difficulties get out of sofas, beds, chairs.
·
Portable
urine bottle—the kind you get at the hospital is useable, but
has sharp edges and spills easily. It also needs to be emptied after each use.
What I bought has a small intake cylinder, a lid, and a long hose attached to a
2-liter capacity bottle that sits on the floor. This actually helped me sleep
through the night, because my husband could take care of business without
needing my help to dump the urinal each time. Comments online indicate that the
bottle needs to be secured or it tips—I put ours in one of the hospital plastic
basins and it worked just fine. Best to rinse out often, though—just sayin’.
