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Bathtime in the UK!

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stives

graduate
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Mar 29, 2009
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Cornwall, England
Hi Bonesmarties

I've been away for the past week, enjoying beautiful Devon and staying in our touring caravan on a fantastic camp site. We got lost several times, and ended up travelling down very narrow lanes where the hedges were touching the car on both sides - good job the caravan wasn't behind us at that time! Jo's adventures when trying to find her dentist come to mind when I think about all the navigation problems we had. :hehe:

The knees have been behaving well. We visited several very old castles with ancient spiral stone staircases winding their way up and down inside ancient walls. Apart from being rather slow, I managed them all as well as anyone else. I also did quite a lot a walking. I'm now finding that I don't need any sticks or canes on level ground, but they are VERY useful for going downhill, especially on rough tracks. They are also useful on steps where there is no handrail. I've also done lots of driving but need a break for a stretch after an hour and a half or so. :thmb:

Now I have a problem, and cannot find an immediate answer by looking through the 'search' facility. After my first TKR I found that I was able to get back into a bath, and get out of it again, without too much trouble. However, now that I have two bionic knees, I am really struggling. At the moment I'm not too bothered, as in the summer (and we have had it really hot here) I prefer to have a shower, which is no problem.

However, when the weather is cold, or when I just fancy a nice long soak in bubbles etc, only a bath will do. I tried doing this about four weeks ago. As Brian mentioned in one of his posts, I did the same as he did, held on to the grab bars we have, but had to drop the last bit. Then to get up ...... real problem. I found myself really pulling on my shoulders to heave myself up. Guess what - I've now got two very painful shoulders. I've never had problems there before. :doh:

Next time I tried the bath, my shoulders were so painful I had to get hubby to lift me out!!!!! He is very willing to do this, but he has a tendency to back-ache, so I don't think that is a permanent solution. I haven't dared get in since.

Turning over onto my two metal knees won't work - I used to do that sometimes before I had any knee surgery, and that worked well then, but I wouldn't like to try it now as kneeling isn't really an option at the moment.

Has anyone a solution? The only thing I can think of is to buy some sort of bath lift. I've seen them advertised. You sit yourself on a seat that is level with the top of the bath, then it lowers gently (I hope) to the bottom. :zzz: When you are ready to come out, the seat lifts you up again.

I hope that I haven't done any permanent damage to my shoulders, and I am trying to give them a rest at the moment, but perhaps I should in fact be exercising them instead. Any ideas on that? :pzld:

I can't believe how much has been posted while I've been incommunicado. This forum is certainly getting well used! I'll never have time to read it all.

Off now to make some blackcurrant jam, having just picked lots of fruit.
 
Hey I was wondering where you were...I bet the castles were beautiful. With 2 knees it might be harder, but if you can atleast get your backside on to the side of the tub swing your legs over....Maybe you wouldnt have to lift to high for your shoulders. Im sure others have a better idea. Im glad your back and your knees did so well.......PS dont tell anyone. I like bubble baths as well...........Happy you had such a great time...K, now its time, pics do you have any of the castles would love to see some....Take care, we missed ya, glad your back....
 
Val

When you say caravan, do you mean pulling a travel trailer somewhere and camping? Just wondering. We pull our travel trailer with our PU when we go places. It is a nice size trailer. We have not used it much, since my knee has been a problem for last 3 years. But hope to soon.

You Knee did well you said. That is so good. Did you do a lot of walking?

I still have such stiff knees it is hard for me. I am over 3 months out, but soon I hope the stiffness will go away.
Still can't get up out of chairs very well either.
 
Those lifts cost silly money, Val. Even the one that inflates like a bouncy castle! I'm afraid I have no suggestions, sorry.
 
I had polymyalgia rheumatica before my TKR which made it difficult to use my arms to get out of the bath, so I bought a bath lift then. I got it second hand through ebay and it has been a boon. I did look at the inflatable type but worried a bit about punctures!!! So I just got one that rises and falls. You do have to be able to get your legs over the side of the bath though, and I had help when I first came home from hospital.
 
Hi Pat Loggon!

Yes, we tow our caravan behind our car, but I doubt if our whole outfit is anything like as large as yours! We were amazed at the size of some of the things on the roads when we visited the States a while ago. The caravan (a trailer?) is 18 feet long inside, and ours is a 5-berth, so sleeps five people. It has all mod cons - sink, cooker, microwave, toilet, shower, heating etc. We tow it to a camp site, hook up the electrics, put up the awning if we decide to, and enjoy our life of freedom.

Yes, we did quite a bit of walking. The scenery in Devon is beautiful. We went on quite a few tracks through woods etc. I'm afraid I haven't got any decent photos to post. Our main computer has developed a small problem - well, it actually won't work at all!!! - so I've got the lap-top only, which doesn't have many photos on it.

[Bonesmart.org] Bathtime in the UK!


This is the only photo I took last week of our oufit, but it doesn't show it very well! We ae going back next week, so maybe I'll take another one. Our daughter, husband and three kids are using it for two weeks now.

I am also very stiff when I first get moving, especially if I have been sitting in one position for too long, and I found the step into the caravan was a bit of a challenge. We were pitched on a bit of a slope, which meant that it was quite a high step up to get in, but I managed it by holding on to the caravan door frame, and pulling up with my arms (those shoulders again!)

I'm also finding it a bit difficult to get up from a low chair, and am wary of using my shoulders too much as they are causing me some grief at the moment!!

Silverbird, I am glad to hear that you found a bath lift useful. Do you still make use of it? I shall be very upset if I cannot have my nice warm bath when the weather gets colder. I'm a cold bod, my feet are like blocks of ice in winter, and a nice warm bath warms me up and helps me to get to sleep! I expect it could also help my knees, although they are not causing me much of a problem now - just stiffness really. I shall have a look at e-bay and see if they have got any good bargains in the bath lift section!

I'll let you know if I find something. I cannot think of any other solution. When my Mum had a stroke, and eventually had to go to a residential home, she was helped in and out of the bath with a huge hoist. I don't think I need that quite....yet. Bath lifts sound as if they are for OLD people, don't they! I keep being told I look younger since my ops. (I'm 66). A lady in church last week asked if my hubby realised he had brought home a new wife from the hospital!!! :hehe:
 
Oh Val nice. I think its a nice size and atleast you get to go when ever you want........I like it......Looks very pretty there to...I so want to go to England (is that where this is to) Everything always looks so pretty no matter what I see. I think it was Jo who took a pic of the outside of her house/yard/flowers, very nice, COZY THATS IT. I could be wrong but dont they have alot of stone roads something like that......I just think its so nice...I will get there someday I might be older but Ill get there.............
 
Yes, I still use the bath lift. I can get in the bath without it, my trouble is getting out, and I feel independent if I don't have to ask my husband to help. I am sure they are not just for old ladies (I am almost the same as you Stives, just 67) A bath does help my knee feel good, although I don't have a lot of trouble - like you just getting up from a low chair, stiffness if I sit or drive for too long.

As we live in Devon I haven't bothered to go away this year, but in September we are going to Stoke on Trent to look after the grandchildren for a week. Bliss !!!!!!!!!! No.
 
I could be wrong but dont they have alot of stone roads something like that

Hi again Kim. I'm not sure what you mean by stone roads! Do you mean 'dirt roads', that is tracks that are not made up?

Our main roads are just the same as yours, except not as wide! And of course we drive on the left hand side of the road, and our cars have the driver sitting on the right hand side of the vehicle.

The countryside is very green at the moment - that's 'cos we have lots of rain! I'll see if I can find some more photos when the other computer gets going again. I've got a general photo of the camp site I can put in :

[Bonesmart.org] Bathtime in the UK!


Here is a snap of the River Dart near Dartmouth, which is near we were camping.

[Bonesmart.org] Bathtime in the UK!


Silverbird, fancy you living in Devon when we've just had a holiday there! Whereabouts are you? We were at the River Dart Country Park last week - it's perfect for the grandchildren who are using our caravan now. Their schools broke up last Friday, as did that of my son-in-law who is a teacher.

We don't really need to go away on holiday as Cornwall is so beautiful. I was born and brought up in St Ives, but I don't like it in high season now - it is far too busy!

And.....guess what......I've just been trawling through e-bay and I've bought a second-hand bath lift! Hurrah - I'm looking forward to a nice soak in warm bubbly water in a short while. Can hardly wait. Thanks for the idea. :wahey:
 
Those bath lift thing would scare ME, Val! But I certainly don't want to put you off since you seem so determined! Just be VERY CAREFUL and make sure you don't have any obstacles in your way!!! :)
 
Thanks Judles, but I think the bath lift is very safe. Loads of them are advertised over here, and they are intended for disabled people and those who must not fall and hurt themselves. The one I've ordered looks good. You sit on the seat at bath-top height, then a battery operated device lowers you (on the seat) very slowly to the bottom of the bath. When you have finished you get raised up again. It looks good on the video, anyway!

I don't think I'll put a photo of me using it onto the forum though! :hehe:
 
Val

Go ahead post a video:evil::hehe:

Just get you a really pretty poka dot bikini get on the lift and show us how it works:rotfl:

They do have a bath tub at least here that you can have installed where you walk into it. It looks really nice, but I bet expensive.
 
Haha!!! I may be wrong, but do we have many of these bath lifts in the US? I don't know anyone who has used one! Chair lifts yes, not bath lifts....those would be hubbies or step stools!
Oh Val, your black currant jam sounds HEAVENLY!!! With a scone and clotted cream,,,,,WOW!!!! :)
 
Judles, I have never felt that there was any danger with my bath lift. Perhaps you are thinking of something different to that which I have. It is not a hoist, but a seat which lowers you very gently into the bath, and the same going up.

Stives, I am sure you will be happy with it. I have used mine for about a year now, both before and after TKR. I just like to make sure the battery is charged up - I don't like the idea of being stranded in the bath if it is not. We are in Tiverton, East Devon not too far from the M5. I have only been here a few years and originated the other side of the country in the garden of England, Kent.
 
Thanks Judles, but I think the bath lift is very safe. Loads of them are advertised over here, and they are intended for disabled people and those who must not fall and hurt themselves. The one I've ordered looks good. You sit on the seat at bath-top height, then a battery operated device lowers you (on the seat) very slowly to the bottom of the bath. When you have finished you get raised up again. It looks good on the video, anyway!

I don't think I'll put a photo of me using it onto the forum though! :hehe:

Hi Val,
I was thinking if it's battery operated and once it gets you lowered into the tub, the battery would become wet and just shock you out of the tub????:shk: Just joking Val,,I am sure it will work great!
 
Judles
What is clotted cream:sct:

Val
Love the pics. Oh if only this knee would get better and not feel so stiff all the time. Just got off the bike it was fine and 5 mins later wow.

Yes you have to have a big pick up to pull our travel trailer.
Ours is a Diesel F250.

Noticed you did not have hook ups. Or,did not seem them for electric, sewage, water.

We have 3 steps to get into ours and the knee does OK.

Hope to take it to the coast in a few weeks.

Keep the pics coming I love seeing UK country side and towns. Can't wait to come over there.
 
Silverbird

It sounds as if the bath lift you have is similar to the one I've just ordered, which is a Mountway Neptune (used!!).

We used to live in Orpington in Kent, and I used to teach in Bexleyheath - that was before we moved back to Cornwall in 1986.

Why don't the Americans have bath lifts? You do have baths like ours, don't you? Surely there must be ways of helping folk in and out of a bath without needing another body around!!!

Judles, the blackcurrant jam is yummy, but for a real Cornish cream tea it has to be strawberry jam with clotted cream! I've made about ten pounds of strawberry jam in the past few weeks. Should keep us going till next year!
 
Loggon, all the sites we tend to use have electric hook-ups. If we get a super-pitch then it would be what is called fully-serviced. We could then connect our water input pipe directly to our own dedicated tap, and the waste would go directly to a drain.

The sewage is never connected directly in this country for a touring caravan. We have a flushing cassette toilet but this has to be emptied at a chemical disposal point.

That's the worst job!

At the Devon campsite the loo emptying point was by the gents toilet block so hubby HAD to do the emptying!!! He usually delegates that job to me, as he says I use it most (which I must admit is quite true!!!)
 
Val

Yes we do have the lifts here. I know several folks with one and they love them.

Have not tried the bath yet. But if I can't do it I am going to tell
my hubby I need one of the new tubs you just walk into. It is also like a hot tub. Know what he will. "RIGHT" haha

You jam sounds wonderful. I should make some peach and berry jam, but just can't get into the mood. Not as lucky as you,
I have to buy the fruit.

What is clotted cream?
 
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