The Saga of the Shower Chair

Here’s a funny thing about life with a disability: Even something as simple as activities of daily living can easily become blog-worthy topics! Take our newest shenanigans, or, as I’ve affectionately dubbed it…The Saga of the Shower Chair!

It all started last week. It was the morning. A Saturday morning, to be exact. My mom was on a mission to get to Zumba, as she is every week — she’s a little obsessed, if you ask me, but that’s another topic for another blog post. Suffice it to say, she wanted to dance and the only thing standing in her way was, well, me. Not directly, of course, because I’ve never been much of an imposing figure (what can I say, it’s just my charm, I suppose), but there was the matter of helping me get showered and dressed for the day. Oh, and did I mention that she gets up at 7:30 a.m. ON A SATURDAY?? Because she does…and she woke me up at 7:30 a.m. precisely.

“Get in the tub,” I heard her booming voice as my eyes were still adjusting to the morning light. I was still toasty warm under the covers, too, and prefer to lounge and ease into my day on the weekends. But, seeing as how my mom always means business, there was really no time to waste, so up I jumped out of bed.

As I sat in the shower, still groggy with sleep and my eyes feeling so heavy that they could shut at any moment (hey, at least the water was warm!), I leaned back in my shower chair — just a little bit, mind you — and felt one of the legs wobble. That’s weird, I thought, so what did I do? Yup, I leaned forward and back again. Now, I’m no scientist or anything, but that was enough to me: There was something wrong with this chair!

*Cue creepy horror movie music*

Like any good mother, my mom inspected the chair once I was safely on land (read: out of the shower!) and she confirmed it. After years and years of use, one of the legs was, indeed, falling off.

It was in a sad, sorry state. We needed a new one. But where could we find one? We’d had this one for years, since before my father died, and it fit me perfectly. We scoured Amazon and our heads began to spin as we read the product specifications of bath chairs — who knew your tub needed to be at least 19 inches wide? And did you know that some have backs and some don’t? It almost felt like shopping for a new car, only this chair wouldn’t be leaving the house.

We ended up walking to the home medical store close to our house to see these spectacularly complicated gems in person. And boy, did they have a variety. We bought a $50 model and prayed it would fit in our tub. It does, but here’s the movie plot twist: The chair isn’t exactly level with the side of the tub, making for quite the acrobatics to transfer into it from my wheelchair — it’s quite the sight to behold, let me tell you!!! So now, as my mom says, we’re determined to figure out just how to modify it. I’ll definitely keep you posted on how that pans out.

I won’t put on a brave face and pretend I’m OK because I am sort of mourning the demise of this chair. It’s seen me through many a bath, at many an early hour, sometime TWICE in one day. It’s supported me — literally! I miss it already, but, as always, I shall persist. After all, what choice do I have in the end??

Blog-related news: My mom finished her last day of school today, so you know what that means…MY EASY, BREEZY SUMMER kicks off today too!!!! And since she doesn’t start teaching summer school until next week, I’m taking the rest of the week off!!! I’m super pumped for this mini vacation. I’m excited to chill, read magazines, take walks and sip lemonade on the patio!!! I’ll still be poking around social media and working on some essays I’ve been putting off, so I won’t be gone completely. Feel free to connect with me on Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Bloglovin! See you there, friends! xoxo