March chitchat

[agate]

My place is designed that way too, jingle, and I'm very glad that all of the grab bars are built in and I don't have to install them.

Most people take showers if there are mobility problems, I think? I don't know why I don't switch to showers but I think it's partly because I can't see what I'm doing in a shower. If I drop the soap, I can't find it. You can't wear glasses in the shower though I always do--and always wore them while swimming too, back in the day. I just don't see that well without them.

If you wear glasses in the shower, they'll probably get wet and you can't see even with them on.

But I should try showers more often.

[Prot]

I have a shower stool. Where I live is for those aged 55 or more.

[Virginia]

Agate, do you have anything you can sit some liquid soap on? I started using that and I put some on a washcloth and that's all I need. I use dove liquid and it really lathers a lot. That and my chair has made it easier but still not great because I don't have built in grab bars. I do have one right outside the shower and two close to the toilet.

[Prot]

I use two wash clothes that I put shower gel on . I also use a back scrubber, and a lower leg scrubber. My favourite shower gel is a mango scented one.

[jingle]

Virginia - my shower has a built-in ledge to set my shampoo and my bar of Dove. The little neighborhood where I live is designed for and rented, like Prot's, only to people over 55.

[agate]

Good suggestions--and many thanks for them.

I have liquid soap that I use for handwashing. I'd use it in the shower except that I have such fumbly hands that I'd be sure to drop the bottle, and then soap would spill onto the tub surface, making it slick. I don't trust myself in showers.

Or maybe it's just a different approach to bathing/showering. Immersing myself in a lot of warm water has an amazing effect on me. I feel my whole body "unwinding," everything instantly relaxing. It's as if I've been all tied up in knots without realizing it, and the warm water unties the knots.

Some years ago I was very incapacitated by kidney stone pain attacks, and the only way I could get any easing of that pain was by immersing myself in a tub of fairly warm water. I sometimes did that several times a day. And I hope I never have that much pain again.

[Virginia]

Jingle, your place sounds ideal for people with MS. Glad you found it.

Agate, I loved taking a hot or very warm bath until I could no longer get out of the tub. I wouldn't dare take one now.

[Prot]

The worst thing for me,shower wise, is waiting for the water to warm up.

[agate]

Virginia, getting out of the bathtub is so much of a challenge that it's pretty daunting these days but I have so many assists by now that it's ridiculous--two grabbars built into the tub "surround" as well as one just outside the tub area, plus two portable ones that I've installed on the edge of the tub.

Tim, you don't get into the shower when the water is still cold, do you? I'm so fussy about temperature that I would wait until the water was just the right temperature before venturing into the shower. A shower curtain has to be part of this scenario of course.

With bathrooms that have only a shower (no tub), the shower curtain might not help much, come to think of it.

[Prot]

Tim, you don't get into the shower when the water is still cold, do you? I'm so fussy about temperature that I would wait until the water was just the right temperature before venturing into the shower. A shower curtain has to be part of this scenario of course.

With bathrooms that have only a shower (no tub), the shower curtain might not help much, come to think of it.

The shower area is small.There's a grab rail and a shower curtain. I switch the shower on and stand as far away as I can, while the water's warming up.Even so some of the cold water splashes on me.

[Prot]

Agate,Jingle,Virginia, how does ms affect you cognitively?

[jingle]

Prot - Thank goodness, I don't have MS, I crash into this forum because the epilepsy forum I used to almost live in is now empty and I really miss the Internet chat.

[Virginia]

Jingle, I have to confess I had thought you had something like MS lite because you are so active. Epilepsy is not a fun disease. I used to have a male cousin who had a type of epilepsy, but the biggest problem he had was fatigue from the medication he was on.

Tim, cognitively I mostly have forgetfulness and some brain fog. I think the brain fog is usually due to not getting enough sleep.

[agate]

Ditto on the forgetfulness and brain fog, particularly as I've grown older. So it's hard to tell how much of the cognitive problem is due to MS and how much is aging.

When I was renting out rooms in a house years ago, one of my roomers had epilepsy. He was a young man who did all kinds of things in spite of being on dilantin. He was active in scouting and enjoyed being outdoors.

[Prot]

Jingle- I have been tested for epilepsy. The result was negative. I was tested due to 'zoning out'(for want of better description). I can experience what's best described as a 'shortened version of an absence seizure' .

Virginia- I struggle when it comes to sleep.That goes back to pre toddler age

In the + column cognitively: verbal,numerical, pattern recognition, reaction time (consistency)

In the minus column: mental rotation,planning,visual memory, spatial perception

Average: Non-verbal memory,working memory,processing speed
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