Along our travels Bug has had to use many different bathrooms and we've had to learn to adapt to each potential obstacle that a new bathroom can deliver us.
Sometimes, it's difficult to get the wheelchair in the room. This is most common when we're staying with friends who have regular sized bathrooms...
Oh, I guess I should describe Bug's bathroom first.
Bug has a huge bathroom. His suite has been designed for a wheelchair occupant and he can do a 360 degree turn in his electric wheelchair in the open space of his bathroom. There's never any issue of getting him in there. He's got an aluminum commode with a backrest and armrests so he can prop himself up to poop. It has footplates that he can put his weight into so he can adjust himself on the attached toilet seat. This allows him to have a private dump.
Very comfy.
Now back to the reality of bathroom travels.
Several times doorways, in some people's homes, aren't wide enough to even get the manual wheelchair into the bathroom. So I have to park it outside, lift Bug off the chair and twirl him around to get his butt facing the toilet. Then he's in business. But because he doesn't have armrests, he needs me to kneel down beside him and steady him on the royal throne.
If the bathroom is large enough to fit the wheelchair, I wheel Bug in backwards and park the wheelchair beside the toilet. Having the chair side-by-side with the toilet makes for an easier transfer. I have to wheel him backwards, maneuvering him by using his knees as a steering-wheel. I wouldn't be able to get him turned around in the narrow spaces between showers, tubs and vanities.
Public toilets pose even more obstacles.
Many of the stalls or rooms designated for handicapped users have ample space to rotate the wheelchair and get Bug situated comfortably by the toilet. The issue comes with the design of many industrial public toilets.
It's understandable that many establishments don't want a porcelain tank that could get smashed by a rowdy person or over flow. The design then is to have a large metal pipe attached to the toilet bowl curve around to disappear behind the wall. But Bug can't hold himself up and relies on the tank to bear some of his weight as I hold him in place.Poor guy had metal pipes digging into his lower back, until I came up with a solution. When I get Bug off his wheelchair I take the seat cushion and place it behind his back. Now he's got a soft surface to rest his weight against. Unfortunately it took several trips to several bathrooms before the idea hit me.
Another issue with public washrooms is that they're public. Bug loves places where it's either a one person room, like the majority of coffee shops or, as on the BC ferries, a separate room designated for handicapped users. Bug's body becomes pee and poop shy if there are other people in the room. Of course he's gotten used to me as I've sat beside him on the cushion-less wheelchair, holding his arm steady as he waits for nature to takes it's course through his lower bowels.
Also toilet stalls don't have a trashcan in them. This is frustrating because I use a moist butt-wipe and then I want to dispose of it. I can't leave Bug to balance himself on the toilet while I try to discard this crappy item. So I usually have to place it on top of the toilet paper dispenser, get Bug off the toilet and then get rid of the soiled towelette.
Bug and I designed our perfect away-from-home bathroom once while waiting for him to do his business. The toilet would have a cushioned back and there would be armrests so he could prop himself up. Right beside the toilet there would be a pull-down seat for me and of course a trash bin on the other side. Vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, marble floors and a hunky shirtless bathroom attendant who'd come in afterward to help get Bug dressed.... OK I made up the last bits, but we did fantasize about our perfect public toilet.
The best bathrooms have been airports. The Vancouver international boarding area has great single occupant handicapped bathrooms. Also Seattle's airport washrooms are very comfy. The B.C. ferries, as I mentioned earlier, are great bathrooms and Bug is comfortable at Starbucks too.
Most restaurants are terrible for handicapped guys.
I often think that if there's a movie made about Bug and I, the first image will be of us in a gas-station washroom. Flickering fluorescent light, cracked mirror, holes in the wall where there once was a brushed aluminum bar for handicapped people, but now two gaping wounds in the graffitied drywall.
Bug would be on the shitter, pants pulled down exposing those wonderfully furry skinny legs.
Me sitting beside him on the wheelchair with no cushion, knees crossed and our elbows hooked together like we're waiting for a ride to start at Disneyland.
Both quiet.
Both looking directly ahead.
Both waiting.
Until the next time...
No comments:
Post a Comment