Help a gimp

**Vuk** · 10-30-2011, 19:22

The last two months+ I have been figuring out how to live without the use of my right leg and the constant pain and aggravation that that brings. I have learned to drive with my left leg, how to carry things while using crutches, and a whole bunch of other Gimp survival skills. I have now mastered a good deal of 'being-crippled' skills. There is one that I still have yet to master: bathing. As I am going to still be in a boot and unable to put weight on my foot for another 6-8 weeks, and even then I will have weeks of therapy before I can put full weight on it, this is something that I really wanna figure out how to do.
Currently, I bring a chair in and set it next to the bathroom sink (try doing that every day on crutches and you will understand why I have only been bathing twice a week

), then I bring in a second chair for my right leg and put it beside the first. I then use the water from the sink to wet my washcloth, apply body wash, scrub, rinse the washcloth, dab, rinse, dab, rinse, dab, rinse, dab, etc. until the soap is off. It requires standing up on one leg (often times when the floor is wet) as I wash and then spend forever trying to get rid of the soap. I then have to dry, get dressed, put everything away, clean and dry up, etc. After everything is done, not only have I spent forever, but I am exhausted for the rest of the day (it is a lot more tiring than it sounds).
I bought two expensive products that my doctor recommended to keep my cast dry so that I could buy a shower chair and just sit in the shower. The problem is that I am a big guy with a big boot, and even the biggest cast covers do not fit mine.
So my question is this, if the castcover/showerchair is not practical, does anyone know of any other way that could make bathing easier and less time consuming? I'd appreciate it...

**Drunk Clown** · 10-30-2011, 20:02

Get a nice girl and let her wash you.

**Vuk** · 10-30-2011, 21:40

Originally Posted by Drunk Clown

Get a nice girl and let her wash you.

lmao! Unfortunately, as I am now unable to take care of my place (shovel my driveway, etc), I have had to move back in with my ma until my leg heals. She is the only female in my house...and she is not even much help when it comes to helping me get food, drink, make my bed, go to school, etc.
As I don't have my own place and a live in GF right now, that is not an option. :P

**Andres** · 10-30-2011, 22:33

Is the plaster just around your ankle or does it go from groin to ankle?

It it's the first, then what I usually did was sit on the side of the bath, then slowly let yourself down in the bath, have the leg where the ankle is in the plaster hanging outside of the bath. It looks really ridiculous, but it worked for me. Getting out of the bath can be a bit tricky (danger of slipping), but if you're careful, you'll do fine.

When I had my leg from groin to ankle in the plaster some 15 years or so ago, I did what you're doing now

EDIT: oh, and be prepared for the smell once the plaster comes off. It'll smell awfully. On the positive side, you'll finally be able to scratch your damnable leg... If it can be any consolation, I had my left leg in plaster from groin to ankle during Summer. A hot Summer that was. Itching and not being able to scratch drove me mad.

**Vuk** · 10-30-2011, 22:49

Originally Posted by Andres

Is the plaster just around your ankle or does it go from groin to ankle?

It it's the first, then what I usually did was sit on the side of the bath, then slowly let yourself down in the bath, have the leg where the ankle is in the plaster hanging outside of the bath. It looks really ridiculous, but it worked for me. Getting out of the bath can be a bit tricky (danger of slipping), but if you're careful, you'll do fine.

When I had my leg from groin to ankle in the plaster some 15 years or so ago, I did what you're doing now

EDIT: oh, and be prepared for the smell once the plaster comes off. It'll smell awfully. On the positive side, you'll finally be able to scratch your damnable leg... If it can be any consolation, I had my left leg in plaster from groin to ankle during Summer. A hot Summer that was. Itching and not being able to scratch drove me mad.

Hi Andres, thanks for the advice. The cast went from my toes to my knee. I was lucky (well, I am actually not sure if I would say it is lucky) though and had it removed early and a boot put on (kinda like a cast, only you can take it on and off) because my foot cannot return to the neutral position, and I am gonna start going through therapy where they will do stretches and give me exercises until my fut returns to a 90 degree angle (relative to my foot). The thing is though that I cannot take it off completely as my bones and the ankle joint have not healed completely. I can unstrap it at therapy so they can stretch my foot, but I cannot actually take the boot off yet or get it wet.

**Hax** · 10-31-2011, 01:45

As I don't have my own place and a live in GF right now, that is not an option. :P

what

**Montmorency** · 10-31-2011, 07:17

Live-in.

**Vuk** · 10-31-2011, 15:12

Come on guys, I am on a crap-ton of meds right now...give me a break. :P

**Lemur** · 10-31-2011, 15:33

Hey Vuk, not sure I understand your difficulty. I broke my ankle some years ago, and also spent some months on the gimp bus. I'm guessing you must have other injuries, 'cause I was able to sling my body into a bath just fine, leaving the wounded leg hanging off the side of the tub, high and dry. Awkward, sure, but very doable with the full use of my arms and one leg.

So ... what other injuries are you dealing with?

**Vuk** · 10-31-2011, 20:04

Originally Posted by Lemur

Hey Vuk, not sure I understand your difficulty. I broke my ankle some years ago, and also spent some months on the gimp bus. I'm guessing you must have other injuries, 'cause I was able to sling my body into a bath just fine, leaving the wounded leg hanging off the side of the tub, high and dry. Awkward, sure, but very doable with the full use of my arms and one leg.

So ... what other injuries are you dealing with?

Hey Lemur, I don't have any other injuries. The problem is my facilities. I have a tiny, crowded little bathroom with a stand-up shower (I am living in my ma's house until I heal). A sit-down shower would be do-able if I had something to keep my cast dry, but there is no way that I can lay down and bathe in that thing.
I guess what I was looking for was ideas on how to keep my cast dry or something that would allow me to take a shower within the confines of what I am working with. People have suggested to me before a trash-bag and rubber-bands, but my doc told me that that never works. I tried the dry-corps cast cover which is supposed to be the best out there, but their biggest (which they claim will fit any leg) was too small for my leg.

**Lemur** · 10-31-2011, 21:27

Oooh, no bathtub option, shower only? That is a puzzler. No, there's no good way to isolate your foot because almost any skin/plastic/tape seal on your leg/calf/knee is going to be imperfect. So water will get in. I think you're stuck with sponge baths, unless you can source out a tub in the building that you can borrow. Might want to check with friends, too, and see who has a nice tub.