When I first met him he could sit in the bath ninety minutes to two hours easily. These days his baths have been consistently around an hour.
When we travel, the bathtub is an important feature to know about. We avoid wheelchair suites in hotels as they inevitably have wheel-in showers. This doesn't work for Bug as he can't sit up unassisted. Even if I were to get him situated on a plastic seat in a shower, I'd be so busy trying to keep him upright and not slipping off the bench, I'd get little soaping and scrubbing done. Also with one portable wheelchair we can't wheel it into the shower, get it all wet and then expect Bug to sit in it for the rest of the day.
No.
Baths are really the only way to go. I surmise that it must also feel so good for him have his limbs floating weightless in the steamy water.
In the past couple years of traveling Bug and I have had out bathtub mishaps and adventures.
One trip I took Bug to a men's gathering in Atlanta. That was the time we met our friendly flight attendant who pilfered snacks from first class. The retreat was at this amazing mountain top facility in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. When Bug and I got to our room we were greeted to a shower stall in the bathroom. All the cabins around us had shower stalls. We asked around and found out that there were a limited (2or 3) bathtubs anywhere on the mountain top. We found one fellow who had a coveted bathtub in his room and asked if we could use it. He eagerly gave his consent.
I wheeled Bug over to the room, got him striped and in the steamy cleansing waters. He soaked and we talked. Close to the end of his bath there were the noises of someone entering the suite. The bathroom door was closed and we thought it was our gracious host. To all of our surprise it was a fellow arriving a day late. He was scheduled to be an occupant of this room and was caught off-guard to find Bug in his tub. I let him know that his roomie said it was OK and the fellow hurriedly dumped his luggage and said he'd come back and unpack later. That was the only bath Bug got the four days we were at the retreat centre.
Another time Bug and I traveled to Vashon Island just off the coast from Seattle to help a friend celebrate his brother's fiftieth birthday. It was very nippy as it was February, but Sunny and our hosts had all the windows and doors flung open to the Winter's chill. Bug doesn't do well with cold and I had him wrapped in two blankets to help contain his body heat.
After dinner our friend suggested that Bug soak in their big jacuzzi tub upstairs to warm him up. I hauled Bug's wheelchair up the flight of stairs and then Bug. Our friend had run the tub and it was a shock when we were both in as to how damn hot the water was. It was almost unbearable. Bug and I could only handle being in it for a brief time.
I got out of the tub, holding onto Bug, steadying him in the chest high water. I got my arms under his armpits and dragged his body over the edge of the tub. I got him seated on a towel draped over his wheelchair seat.
He noticed the blood first.
There was blood on the edge of the tub and small spots on the floor.
I'm pretty blind without my glasses. I can see out-of-focus shapes. So I tried to scan my body for any seeping bloody wounds. I put my face close to my arms and tried to see if there was any blood on my legs. I put my glasses on to check Bug, but they fogged up immediately and I still couldn't see. I wiped the lens quickly on a nearby t-shirt, put my glasses on again and they fogged right up.
Shit.
Bug went pale and listed to one side of his wheelchair, trying to support himself on the armrest. I grabbed him and got him upright. I tried to look at Bug's body through foggy glasses and finally spotted a scape just above one of his heals. Blood was running from the tiny wound. I staunched it with toilet paper and put a cold cloth on Bug's head. The coolness brought color back to him instantly.
As it turned out the back of Bug's foot scraped on the wooden frame around the jacuzzi tub. I was able to stop the bleeding and cover the cut with a bandaid.
But our most creative tub experience came when we went with Bug's family to Mexico. Bug's Mom wanted all three of her son's to join their parents in Mexico. Since Bug is on a fixed income she paid for him to go. I was also covered for this trip as his helper.
The hotel was very pleased that they had a wheelchair accessible suite which had, of course, a wheel-in shower. Argh.
What to do? We couldn't go the whole week without getting Bug cleaned.
Bug's Aunt and Uncle were in the room beside us and when we went to visit I noticed their shower stall had a six inch or so raised edge that one would have to step over to get in.
I suggested to Bug that if we plugged the drain with a facecloth and filled the area with water, we could have a bath. It was a good sized shower stall made of these warm earthy coloured tiles.
The plan went off without a hitch and Bug got to have a nice soak in a warm, albeit, hard surfaced bath. We were able to repeat this another time and I filled the tub with soapy foamy body-wash and shampoo from the dispensers clung to the elegant tiles. I also tucked a couple towels under Bug's butt and made it a more comfy experience.
More bathroom tales to come.
Until the next time...
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