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We have a standard old bath tub and my mom has been able to manage till now taking her weekly shower with the help of her live in aide along with the use of a long shower transfer bench and the long hose from the faucet. However now she is finding that procedure a bit more difficult cause she has to move her weakened legs over the tub wall. So her new aide of a few months shared with me that on a prior job she used a shower chair (It looks basically like a toilet commode but with a modest sized squarish shaped water basin under it instead of the usual round basin for urine, etc.) She used the shower chair on the bathroom floor, next to but outside of the conventional tub and used the shower hose to reach the patient. She used towels under the shower chair to catch the splashes from soaking the floor. Has anyone ever used a shower chair in such a manner? It would be great if it worked but I have concerns about the floor getting soaked despite the towels. Before I ordered it I was wondering if anyone on this forum has done the same. Of course the next step would be to look into installing a walk in shower with a low lip. I see lots of add for the Bath Fitter Co which would be step 2 if this doesn't work. Has anyone went that route and used that company?

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I really can't see this working, even the splashing water from when I don't tuck the shower curtain in properly can soak a towel or two. When my mom was still living in her own home and was in a similar position I had her sit on her shower chair with her feet outside the tub, I was able to soap up and then hose off the most of her with very minimal water on the floor. We would then do a foot soak and pedicure separately.
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Something else that I didn't intentionally plan when I remodelled the bathroom was using the hand held shower to wash her peri area when needed while she sat on the toilet, this can work wonderfully if the fixtures are close enough together.
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Consider putting a cutout in your tub. My mom lived in independent living and they took their normal tub and added a cutout with a lip. So she could step into the tub and sit on her shower chair. You can buy a kit for about $400. Google "bathtub saddle" or "bathtub cutout" for some examples. Good luck!
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I agree with others. I wouldn't wet the floor down like this very often. Water can do a lot of damage to the floor and subfloor. The cut-out to make a walk-in shower sounds like a good idea. Another possibility is you could have a bath aide come in who would be able to move her on the bench to get in the shower. I had one friend who had a bath aide come in twice a week to help.
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You could look at a hoyer lift for getting her in and out.
We used the same kind of chair as you for a couple years with Mom. When the disease progressed, she didn't like the shower and she didn't sit up as well. Then we used the bedside commode with the bucket removed and placed under to catch anything. We did kind if like your aide suggested. First we put a vinyl tablecloth them put some towels on it. We did it in her room...more space. We could easily give her a sponge bath and had access to clean her Peri area. We also bought a hair funnel and used it to wash her hair in the kitchen sink. You could use no rinse soaps if you didn't want to do as much rinsing with water.
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I would worry about damage to the flooring as well.

When we bought the house we're in now I was happy to see when the previous owners remodeled the bathroom there was no tub but a large walk-in shower with a built in seat and only about a four inch edge to step over to get in. Perfect for showering Rainman! And since I don't like baths - but love showers it worked for me as well.

Still - showering Rainman is a balancing act of one end of the shower curtain to the other - lather, rinse, repeat.

You'd think after doing this for twenty plus years I'd manage to shower him without soaking myself and the towels on the floor - but I can't. The caulking around the outer shower lip edge to the floor tile was the first casualty. Next it was the wood moulding at the bottom of the corner connecting wall...

So unless you're looking for a reason to replace your floor in the bathroom, I'd reconsider if I were you.

I've decided that when I win Powerball and have my custom dream home built - even though the shower will be huge - I'm still going to have a drain put into the bathroom floor.
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Great ideas everyone, thanks for sharing!
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