The setting: this Søciety6 Penguin Snuggles design by KiraKiraDoodles on a bathroom shower curtain (71″ by 74″) — found for me by Kim Darnell:
(#1) The fancifully named designer KiraKiraDoodles (whose actual identity I do not know): “I like cute stuff so I make cute stuff” — in this case, really cute rainbow penguins
There are, of course, other cute KiraKiraDoodles designs. And also of course, the Penguin Snuggles design in almost every conceivable form — starting with the inevitable:
(#1) The Penguin Snuggles coffee mug
and going on through, at least: t shirt, pillow, bath mat, carryall pouch, laptop sleeve, hand and bath towels, beach banket, wall clock, backpack, leggings, socks
You could become a Total Penguin Snuggles Person, if you were so inclined.
The new bathing arrangements. From Facebook on 12/6/20, one piece in a series of creature comforts that became available to me on returning home from the rehab center, where these were generally unavailable to me: fresh socks (I’d been in the same non-slip Christmas socks — the only style available for my big feet — through my entire time at Stanford Hospital and the Palo Alto rehab center; my giant toenails clipped; my sad feet and lower legs massaged with coconut oil; my fingernails clipped; and then:
A moment of outrageous creature pleasure: I got a shampoo and shower today, using the new safe bathing arrangements in the bathroom. (Earlier in the day I trimmed my crazily fuzzy gone-wild-in-a-dark-cave face down to neatness.) No way to shave, shampoo, or shower for a very long time. My armpits and crotch had gotten quite appallingly ripe with stink, but now they are fresh with the slight scent of sandalwood soap (from Bangalore, where they know their sandalwood). This makes me absurdly happy.
The old bathtub arrangements were obvious disasters-in-wait for the disabled. You had to step over the side of the tub, and then the shower stall was behind — oh my god — sliding glass doors. The glass doors are gone, replaced by an inside protective plastic sheet and a decorative outside curtain (the rainbow penguins above, now posted after I had slowly recovered how to insert photos in my postings). There’s a chair arrangement over the side of the tub, so you can sit down on the outside, then gently pivot to getting your body inside the tub. It’s easy to use — you can wash yourself while sitting on the chair or stand up and shower that way. We already had sturdy grab bars installed in the shower stall, for support while moving your body. So it all works together, quite safely.
(Approving comments from many FB readers — for transfer chairs, grab bars, and the absurd pleasure that can come from getting a shampoo or a shower after a long time away.)
An occupational therapist came by yesterday and thoroughly approved of all of this, and of the tray insert for my walker, illustrated in my 12/9/20 posting “Welcome back gifts”:
My therapists made me promise to get around using a walker, not just my own two feet, so as not to risk a fall. But then there’s a lot that is very difficult to manage. I go to the kitchen and prepare a plate of food; how, then, to get that plate to the table? (The real-life answer is that I cheat, nervously holding the plate of food in my right hand while steering the walker one-handed, with my left hand.) And, of course, there’s more: how do I get a urinal full of urine from the bedroom to the bathroom to empty it? Immensely awkward.
There is, however, a solution, illustrated [in the posting]: a tray that fits over the handles of the walker and provides a surface for transporting things. An excellent invention, a simple pleasure.
The occupational therapist was fun to talk to, but in the end she decided we had it all in hand and really didn’t need her any more. Next up: the physical therapist, appearing at 9 this morning.
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