11 replies to this topic

[star_gazer]

My husband suffered a spinal stroke in November of this year. I think it is C4. He can talk, shrug his shoulders and has limited arm strength and has just begain to slightly wiggle his left thumb. He is still in rehab,and gaining strenght, but we will need to do renovations to the bathroom for sure and possibly the doorways. I have read many things on this site and need to continue. So will he need a roll in shower, as he needs to go from a lift into a wheelchair? This is all so overwhelming to me as I know it is to him. We have a long tube in a pitcher sitting on a sticky mat on his hospital table. Anything better out there? And the communications (phone)? What works best for you? He is not a computer guy, but I think that will change. He is supposed to be getting into an electric wheelchair this week and we are talking to the Iowa Vocational people tomorrow to see what is out there for help. Input and suggestions are welcome....THANKS !

[greybeard]

Hiya star_gazer,

I can't offer any advice as mine are different circumstances, but can offer a warm welcome to the forum. Good luck to you and your husband.

[jenny407]

Very welcome to the forum!

I'm sure you'll get good advice. Also look around the sub-forums. Or perhaps post once more, asking specific questions about the equipment you're looking for. You can also use the search button (upper right hand side) for specific info (like 'shower').

I do wish you and your husband all the very best. This is a good place to share and ask.

Jenny

[Edinburgh Colin]

Welcome and I hope we can be of some help and that you can find information here that is useful to you.

[Edinburgh Colin]

Welcome and I hope we can be of some help and that you can find information here that is useful to you.

[star_gazer]

jenny407, on 28 December 2010 - 07:50 AM, said:

Very welcome to the forum!

I'm sure you'll get good advice. Also look around the sub-forums. Or perhaps post once more, asking specific questions about the equipment you're looking for. You can also use the search button (upper right hand side) for specific info (like 'shower').

I do wish you and your husband all the very best. This is a good place to share and ask.

Jenny

Thanks for the welcome and the directions on how to use the buttons etc.

[cando]

Hi Star_Gazer. My hubby is C6-C7...incomplete...his injury also caused by spinal stroke. I'll offer some details of our experience...they may or may not apply to you:

When he came home from rehab after his injury, he had very limited use of hands and arms. He required a Hoyer lift to get into and out of bed...you'll need a regular sling as well as a shower sling.

This also meant he needed a roll in shower with a shower chair. Fortunately, we had a sunken shower at the time, so we simply had a subfloor built, and this made for few adjustments to create a shower that could be rolled into.

We started off with hospital bed that could raise and lower. It had a trapeze bar above it that he was able to use after he gained strength.

We used lots of bed pads that were used to help slide him up or down in the bed.

We certainly had a medical type roll table for him to use while in bed.

In the beginning, he was unable to use his hands, so he had straps that tied utensils to his hands...forks, spoons, toothbrush.

We also had flat plates with staps to tie to his hands so that they would not curl in and be useless as he did gain some use back.

We brought in a table with mats on it for his stretching exercises.

We had boots built for him that would help keep his feet in the proper posiition as he slept, and they also had bar attachments on them to keep his legs turned inward...didn't want those frog legs!

Not sure what your husband's catheter situation is, but mine has suprapubic cath...so lots and lots of vinegar to keep those clean...lots and lots of extra urine bags...both daytime and night time.

We had MANY instances of autonomic dysreflexia...with this comes vomitting, so lots of extra white rags and some good vomit buckets are important.

I found this really great medication organizer at CVS that offers trays for each day of the week...with separate compartments for morning, lunchtime, evening and night time meds.

Yes, I would suggest widening doors, and we found it simpler to pull the carpet and stain the concrete floors. Although, we also found that rugs are not a good idea!!!

We gained assistance from DARS...department of assistive and rehabilitative services. I think this organization may be specific to our state, but maybe there is something similar in your area?...Many of these services will help with wheelchairs, vehicle lifts, hoyer lifts, etc.

We were very lucky in that we had the most AMAZING occupational therapist come home with us. She really worked with us...even with physical therapy. I learned a lot from her as a caretaker, and she set us up for success in adjusting to our new reality.

Over time, my husband gained much strength, and he is quite independent these days. No more hoyer lifts or shower chairs. Woo Hoo!!!!

So, I hope at least some of this helps you and yours.

Good Luck!
Cando

[brianboru]

Get an iphone and download/buy a dragon voice recognition app.
He will be able to use his phone TOTALLY hands free

[sh1wn]

On the computer end your going to want a laptop, a overbed table or one like this http://www.laptop-laidback.com , http://www.lapdawg.com/lapdawg-x4.html . I haven't had much luck with voice rec but it works great for some, before you buy dragon I would recommend you try the one that comes with windows vista and win 7. For the mouse I would get a naturalpoint smart-nav-4 http://www.naturalpoint.com/smartnav/ I have had mine for 3 1/2 years no problems, it comes with a dwell clicker or you can get a sip n puff switch to click with.
For software click n type keyboard is great and so is dasher.

[star_gazer]

cando, on 28 December 2010 - 05:59 PM, said:

Hi Star_Gazer. My hubby is C6-C7...incomplete...his injury also caused by spinal stroke. I'll offer some details of our experience...they may or may not apply to you:

When he came home from rehab after his injury, he had very limited use of hands and arms. He required a Hoyer lift to get into and out of bed...you'll need a regular sling as well as a shower sling.

This also meant he needed a roll in shower with a shower chair. Fortunately, we had a sunken shower at the time, so we simply had a subfloor built, and this made for few adjustments to create a shower that could be rolled into.

We started off with hospital bed that could raise and lower. It had a trapeze bar above it that he was able to use after he gained strength.

We used lots of bed pads that were used to help slide him up or down in the bed.

We certainly had a medical type roll table for him to use while in bed.

In the beginning, he was unable to use his hands, so he had straps that tied utensils to his hands...forks, spoons, toothbrush.

We also had flat plates with staps to tie to his hands so that they would not curl in and be useless as he did gain some use back.

We brought in a table with mats on it for his stretching exercises.

We had boots built for him that would help keep his feet in the proper posiition as he slept, and they also had bar attachments on them to keep his legs turned inward...didn't want those frog legs!

Not sure what your husband's catheter situation is, but mine has suprapubic cath...so lots and lots of vinegar to keep those clean...lots and lots of extra urine bags...both daytime and night time.

We had MANY instances of autonomic dysreflexia...with this comes vomitting, so lots of extra white rags and some good vomit buckets are important.

I found this really great medication organizer at CVS that offers trays for each day of the week...with separate compartments for morning, lunchtime, evening and night time meds.

Yes, I would suggest widening doors, and we found it simpler to pull the carpet and stain the concrete floors. Although, we also found that rugs are not a good idea!!!

We gained assistance from DARS...department of assistive and rehabilitative services. I think this organization may be specific to our state, but maybe there is something similar in your area?...Many of these services will help with wheelchairs, vehicle lifts, hoyer lifts, etc.

We were very lucky in that we had the most AMAZING occupational therapist come home with us. She really worked with us...even with physical therapy. I learned a lot from her as a caretaker, and she set us up for success in adjusting to our new reality.

Over time, my husband gained much strength, and he is quite independent these days. No more hoyer lifts or shower chairs. Woo Hoo!!!!

So, I hope at least some of this helps you and yours.

Good Luck!
Cando

Thank you so much for the information. How long did your hubby stay in rehab before he came home? I also lost my job in August due to the manuf plant relocating to Mexico...so I am on unemployment at the time, but will have to get another job in the future. Did someone stay with your husband while you went to work until he gained more strength? I have to be careful with my back.so I do not know if I can do this on my own.
StarGazer

brianboru, on 28 December 2010 - 09:01 PM, said:

Get an iphone and download/buy a dragon voice recognition app.
He will be able to use his phone TOTALLY hands free

Thanks, I will look into it. I was looking at the dragonspeak program already, but was waiting for input from others before I made a choice.Star_gazer

[cando]

Star_Gazer, my hubby was in rehab from June until November. Yes, he did have to have some one stay with him until he learned the ins and outs of his new life. Fortunately, his mother was able to spend the days with him while I worked. She was such a blessing to us! I hope you are able to have someone there to help you out. It does take a major toll on your body...so a bad back will most definitely get worse for you.

Please do not hesitate to ask more questions, I'm more than happy to share our experiences with you.

Cando

[slyd]

Cando seems to have covered a lot of bases there; nothing for me to add right now . .
I'll just say welcome to the site, .. you will find many, many helpful people.
I did !