How many of you... | Arthritis Information

How many of you go to the handicap stall when you go to the bathroom in public?

I do everytime it is open and clean. I just hate sitting down on the regular toilets and then doing all that rocking back and forth to get back up, and then I was already tired out from the struggle unbuttoning and zipping my pants! I know, I should get hubby to unbutton my pants for me before going to the bathroom, but I do not feel like showing everyone what color my under-roos are. I use it. It is just easier with the raised toilet seat and the grab bars to get up and down with my bad knee. We are thinking of getting a raised seat with the bars on it for the bathroom at home.

We have separate disabled toilets over here, they are normaly locked and you have to get a key from the shopping centre manager or resturant manager. it can be a pain to find them. I can just imagine my hubby undoing my pants for me and walking aroung the shopping centre looking for the manager , by then my pants would be round my ankles and my wobbly bits would be on display for all to see. I would then get a tattoo across my lower back near my tush that says..."take a picture it lasts longer" LOL.

Just make sure we are all wearing clean undies if our pants need to be undone by our husbands and we have to wander around for a key to the potty. I would have to get undies that say something funny on the butt lol. Or a picture of a smiley face. Or the ummm middle finger.

I think I should just go back to bed now. Stupid insomnia. LOL.

I do, but thats mostly because I Have this HUGE double stroller with me, or at least one kid, and I need the space for them. lol

Oh, and when I am out by myself, I don't wear pants that require help....since it's warm here, I usually wear skirts that can be flipped up, or my new thing, cute summery dresses (and add a cardigan when it's chilly)

nmakes going potty SO much easier!
I do, even at work! I don't like having to hoist myself back up either - actually going DOWN to the pot hurts even more :(

OMG FORGET IT if I have my knee brace on - even the handicap toilet is a pain to use :(
Same here. Skirts flip up so easily and I get the ones with elastic waist and cargo pockets then I don't have to carry a purse.

I'm one of those who NEED the handicapped toilet, but I think that anyone should be able to use it if it's easier for them. No one has ever questined me about it, even before I was in my chair. Getting off a toilet can be extremely difficult. I got stuck in there at Orchestra Hall. It was humiliating to get someone to help me get off the darn toilet!!

Kathy

I remember this time I had to stand in line for the bathroom, there was this one lady standing there and stated that it was illegal to use to handicap stall if you were not handicap. The next stall to be freed up was the handicap stall and that lady was next in line and then me. She passed and I went right on it. I know she looked at me crazy, but ya know... I really was not getting around to good, it was back when I was going with hubby to town just to get out and sitting on benches waiting for him.

I know... I want a pair of state certified placard under-roos, so people can see I am disabled and do have a right to use the handicap stall.

I do not run around the store with my pants unbuttoned, hubby follows me to the bathroom and unbuttons them before I go in. I also do not wear skirts, as I do not shave my legs... because it grows back faster than I can shave them

Thankfully, I have no problem undoing the pants, no problem getting on and off the toilet, but my big problem is, well

With painful hands, a painful shoulder and back, and more weight than I'm happy with right now, it's difficult to "twist and wipe".

I get literally exhausted doing it, so I need to rest, and hubby's getting used to me being in the bathroom for a looong time.

Tell me I'm not the only one! (Lie to me if you have to) And tell me your good ideas, as long as they don't humiliate me too much. HI Innerglow, I agree totally, I have this problem and find it incredibly hard to do that job, I also have to use lots of toilet paper to try to do it right so I have to carry extra just in case, apparently there is a helpful long handled toilet paper holder we could buy, but I am trying to remain independent without aids for as long as possible, good luck and hope this is not too much info for some.... Love Janie. I'm with you guys. Your not alone, and I'm really for a placard for my behind in the ladies room. Ha Ha GinniNope, not alone, had one of those days just the other day. I had no bendy fingers on my right hand and semi-bendy fingers on my left. I dreaded going to the bathroom to even pee. And then to top it all off, I had to not only wipe my butt that day, but my son's butt too. Potty training as been detoured since the move. Yeah twist and wipe can be a problem and being women we HAVE to wipe. I have had hubby ask me before if I needed help and I burst into tears. Not because I was offended by his offer (what a guy to want to help his wife clean herself there I can't ask for a better hubby), but because I was so disabled I couldn't do it myself. Talk about a low point in life. Once athletic...stretchy...bendy...roller blading...softball palying...football playing...hiking...canoeing...etc. woman that now can not clean herself properly.

I am so glad I am not the only person that has had this issue. I really thought I was. Thanks Glowie me girl for making me feel better and well normal.

Me, too

There really aren't too many helpful hints for this particular problem.

Wishing you all well,

Nini

Funny you should say that Nini. I have cute Huggies wipes for my grand daughter when she comes to visit us because it is easier to wipe her little tushie with those versus regular toilet paper. I never even gave it a thought that they might be useful for me lol. OK Guys, or perhaps I should say Gals, although guys might find it helpful on occasion! Baby wipes are greatII Now you can have my little secret. Little bit indelicate, but if you have skinny legs like me, it is easier to approach the little "problem" head on, i.e. from the front. This avoids that awful shoulder stretching, and is really much more comfortable. For hygiene reasons though, remember to wipe towards the back.

I have another friend that still found it difficult, so puts the wipe around an old hairbrush handle first (ouch - bristles removed of course) , and wallah!!

By the way, I also use baby wipes for removing make-up. Much MUCH cheaper than the make-up removal ones, and does a really good job.

Hope this helps

Take Care

as others have said

wipes instead of toilet paper

there are tools out there for extending your reach for hygeine purposes that are probably a bit easier to use than a hairbrush handle. Mine has a gripper for the paper/wipe similar to the grippers for a swiffer

standing up to wipe extends your reach

for those with more income bidets, and you can get portable purse size ones, are nice

and joonie-there are easy to use button pullers that make doing and undoing buttons doable

buckeye39184.3217013889I am so glad I am not alone with this problem!!! I use so much TP my husband gets upset. He has told me he is going to start rationing me and only give me 10 sheets a day LOL!!!!!

yeah..I am really short.

Thanks, ladies, for letting me know I'm part of a larger club (even if I don't really want to be a member).

And Joonie, I'm sorry I hijacked your thread. To answer the original question, I generally don't use the HC stall unless it's the only one available, since I am (so far) able to get around in the stall alright. But none of us should feel badly for using it. I bet if we all had placards on our butts, we'd still get "the look"....because "we don't look sick".

Buckeye, What is a portable, purse-size bidet?

You may think I'm truly goofy, but all I keep picturing is a squirt bottle!

Or did I misunderstand, as I am apt to do?

Nini

More hijacking... a cheap and you probably own one already, wipe helper is to hold the tissue (or wipe) using kitchen tongs. They will extend your reach by at least 4 inches. (Please do not throw back in the kitchen junk drawer)

I only use handicap stall when my knees are so bad that I'm afraid I'll need help getting up. Like Crunchy I'm too shortMy knees are always that bad.................when I sit down, it's a 50/50 shot on if I'm getting up alone, or with the help of another human or some foreign object. The wipes are good, but you still have to reach and sometimes that is almost impossible. So what you do is put a wet facecloth on the bathroom doorknob and back up to it and wiggle for all you are worth! Just kidding of course Thanks for the laugh, N & T

Hijack away... like my new urologist said "It is all connected."

I figured someone would have mentioned about using the good ol' corn cob

here is a link that gives you a description and picture.

http://www.dynamic-living.com/personal-bidet.htm

OMG!!! N& T I am in hysterics, that was the funniest thing i have heard in ages.

Dear all,

When I was at my worst, hurting, hands wouldn't bend, etc. THAT was what I told my doctor's nurse and she got me right in for an appointment. I said, "I am hurting so badly, my hands won't work, I can't even wipe my own bottom"!! She got me right in!! Something everyone can relate to.

I have also found the bran english muffins help with the digestion and so that helps.....I'm always struggling with that.

good tip about the wet wipes!, sarah

Wiping my own butt was one of the first things to go.

Bad pun..sorry.

But yes I use the handicapped stall, every time, and sorry I take a while, because Ican't twist and wipe. I have to take off my brace, then my hand wont bend, and I cant move. I can't lift to the side, its just misery.

Especially in the morning with the first potty of the day I often need mark to help wipe. i just can't do it, and on far too many occasions have just "spread it around" more than cleaned it up. soo then I have to put on fresh underoos..

I used to ski, roller skate, climb hills, clamber over the fields and hills, climb on top of my 3 story roof and work hot tar and help shingle. I rode horseback.. I used to work in Stained glass, cutting and soldering teeny pieces of glass. I used to sew and embroider..

Now wiping my ass is the high point of my day.

Well today there was a totally rude lady in the ladies bathroom at Wal-Mart. Here's how it went down:

I came into the bathroom and there was one lady washing her hands at the sink and the second lady (I use the term because I tend to be polite) was just coming out of one of the stalls. I had just placed my hand on the door to the handicap stall when I heard her say, "If you're not handicapped you shouldn't be using the handicap stall." I"ll admit I couldn't resist and replied, "Do you see anyone else who needs to use this stall?" She replies, rather huffily, "NO, BUT." and she didn't get any further for I went into the stall. She was still in the bathroom and couldn't resist again and asked her, "Did you hear my knees doing the Snap, Crackle, Pop Song?" Heard her hmph and she left.

Like who care what stall I use? If she didn't need to use it she should have kept her mouth shut!
OMG - when I first read that I thought you said there was a totally NUDE lady in the ladies room! I kept reading to find out what happened, and then got confused! LOL

I have an answer for people who comment on my using the handicapped stall or the handicapped parking spot.

"I have a severe, progressive and fatal disease (cardiomyopathy)..It isn't visible, just like stupidity."