The doors could be changed to swinging, or the knobs changed to levers. The doorways widened. Bathrooms should have a 4-foot circle of empty space in the middle for easy turning, hand rails everywhere possible, and the best shower is one with just a little hump in the floor so the water doesn;t get out but the wheelchair can get in easy. We took the cabinet out from beneath the sinks so the chair could roll right up to it and covered the pipes so not to burn. The insurance company changed the flooring after just a few weeks of Jake's wheeling over the linoleum (the chair wrecked the floor) so they installed commercial carpet with no pad underneath. It's easiest to have a side by side frige-freezer cuz Jake can't reach our on-top freezer. And we lowered one of the main counters in the kitchen and have an electric griddle, toaster, microwave and stuff he uses the most down within easy reach. I rearranged my cupboards by taking everything out and sitting in his wheelchair and putting everything back in that you would use most often on the shelves that were easiest to reach. We do a lot of that...sit in his chair and then figure out how or where things go. We also put wheels on some of our furniture so he can push them out of his way if he needs to. There will be a lot of things you change as you go. Good Luck Judi
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> From: WREZN8R(AT)aol.com
> To: tmic-list(AT)eskimo.com
> Subject: help in apartment
> Date: Tuesday, November 24, 1998 7:38 PM
>
> Hopefully Greg will be moving out of the nursing home & into an apartment by
> Dec. 1st. He will have full time nursing care for a while but we want him to
> be as independent as possible. ("he doesn't want to be independent, he want to
> walk").
> Can you give me suggestions on how to prepare this apartment. The landlord is
> a friend & said she would help. Remember, Greg doesn't have finger movement or
> triceps. Also bladder & bowel need help. he is still in the wheelchair also.
> Any suggestions would be appreciated. Love, Christi. PS Happy Thanksgiving to
> you all.
>