My Gurney Shower

I am now at the point where the easiest way for me to take a shower is lying down. I am not happy about this at all, but I do get a more complete shower a lot easier this way. It really messes with my “I'm not really disabled” mentality, but after two years of trying to shower sitting up, I'm ready to concede. Also, when I say “I” am doing something, it is my caregiver actually doing it.

The problems I had with the shower chair I do not have with the gurney, but there are different things to watch out for. The main one being, I don't want to get water up my nose. When rinsing my face, I always start at the top of my head and move quickly down to my chest. I can also blow air out my nose to prevent the water from coming in.

Before I'm transferred to the gurney, my CNA washes my back and butt in bed. That prevents her from having to turn me in the gurney. She washes the back of my thighs by bending my leg at the knee and putting my foot flat on the gurney. I find it much more pleasant to pick up my leg at the knee rather than the ankle.

Since I am lying in bed most of the time, my neck muscles are very weak. They don't get the unconscious exercise of holding my head up when I am sitting in my wheelchair. So, when I am lying flat, I raise my head to look down at my feet. I also raise my head when my hair is being washed so they can get to the back of my head. (Were you wondering why I was talking about weak neck muscles?)

The last thing I would say would be about closing your eyes. In the beginning, I squeezed my eyes shut as hard as I could. As I got used to things, I realized I could relax my eyes. That got rid of the wrinkled places where soap and water can hide. It also made it possible for my helper to remove the gunk out of the corner of my eyes.

Oh, I just thought of the real last thing. I like a soap that rinses off me completely. I don't like feeling a filminess on my skin. I have found that Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap is very good. I like the bar soap as you don't need much to get a good lather. I always made sure the soap dish was dry so it wouldn't erode the bar between showers. The liquid soap is good too, but it is expensive and does not lather at all.

Enjoy getting clean!