Converting our Front Room to a Bedroom

The first change we had to make was to convert our front room into a bedroom. We accomplished this by moving the coach and our big screen TV into the dining room. With all the furniture moved, we acquired a hospital bed and a wheelchair from a local Medical Equipment provider. These items were covered by Medicare. There are some down sides to the equipment that Medicare will cover. I will go into more detail about this in a future post.

I started looking into outside entrance options several months ahead of Diana coming home. Since I was spending most of my time with Diana at the rehabilitation center, I really didn't have the time to build a large elaborate ramp.

I searched around on the internet and was able to find a ten foot folding aluminum ramp. We had to remove the storm door in order to make it work. After securing it to the threshold with wood screws we placed automotive jack stands underneath for support. This has worked out quite well and we have been using it for more than a year now.

Converting a bedroom to a bathroom

We had a small bedroom on the main floor which we were using as a laundry room. I had been thinking about converting it into a bathroom ever since the kids left home. I now wish I had of done it a long time ago.

The first order of business was to decide where to put what. I needed to install a shower, commode, and a sink. I also had to figure out where and how to relocate the washer and dryer. Once I figured out how to make things fit, I had to figure out all the electrical hook ups and plumbing.

I can do electrical and basic plumbing but connecting a commode drain into the main stack was a little more than I wanted to do on my own. I hired a local plumbing company to come in and do this work. I am so glad that I didn't have to pay them to do all the plumbing!

Our middle daughter was kind enough to hire a guy to do the basic shower installation. We left the glass doors off. Using shower curtains will work must better with a shower chair. I came up with a way to split the shower curtain to fit around the chair and actually keep the water in the shower.

We are using two shower curtains but you may be able to get away with one. I cut one of the shower curtains to fit down around the shower chair frame. Once Diana is in the shower, I use a couple of binder clips to hold the slots shut.

One problem that I ran into was with the standard shower chair. Diana was very limited on mobility when she first came home. Getting her from her wheelchair onto the shower chair was difficult and trying to do so just didn't feel safe.

My solution for this was to purchase a shower chair with a seat that could pivot. I found just what we needed on Amazon. We have been using this for over a year now. It is well made and I expect that it will last for as long as we need it.

Rearranging Everything

There is nothing more frightening than giving a woman free run of the house in an powered wheelchair. I'm kidding of course but in order for Diana to move about the house, it was necessary to move nearly everything. This was also important because of the physical therapy that we do at home. She often practices walking with a walker and a cane from room to room. It is important that she has room to move around without obstacles to trip over.