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Rayb

I anticipate my wife having a hip relacement during the next 6 months. I understand that the height of standard toilets has to be raised after this operation to stop the new joint dislocating.
Are there any motorhomers who have coped with this problem and been able to make an adaptor to fit on a standard cassette toilet. Not a usual forum subject but we have to look for a practical solution or give up motorhoming for at least another year.
Thanks for your help Thelma and Ray.

spykal · Moderator

Hi Ray

Knowing the amount of room that there is in the Executive's toilet area I would think that manovering oneself in or out of the toilet may be the biggest problem. I am sure that some sort of riser could be made....even if it did end up looking a bit like an old fashioned privy seat! Wink

...a plank of wood with a hole in it was good enough in the olden days ..why not now? Just make it a tight fit across the bench unit and rise it up on padded blocks at each side.

I understand from reading various advice sites that the need for a riser on the toilet is really only for the first 8 weeks or so after surgery.

see:

Grizzly

Contact your local Red Cross or county supplier of mobility aids ( Huntleigh ?) and aks them if the standard toilet height adapter could be made to fit. They can be had on loan for the period you need them.

Good luck with the op -all the people I know who have had it have had a new lease of life after and think it was the best thing that happened to them in years.

G.

Pusser

I do have one point to make which I suspect is irrelevant but important to me.

My mother had a hip replacement and after two years went into hospital for a minor investigation in her throat. They laid her flat on the operating table and pulled the hip out of the socket. The hospital told me it was their fault and an immediate further operation was offered but my mother 89 at the time said she could not go through all that again.

Bottom line is that patients with hip ops should not be layed flat on operating tables but layed in a manner which I don't know.

Perhaps there is a medical person on here that can explain this sensibly rather than live with my drivel.

badger

I know nothing of hip replacement and rehab after the op, but a quick search revealed the following. sonds as though the hieght thing is to stop you knees being higher than your hip when sitting, try contacting social services, there may be a larger type of childs loo seat that just fits in to the loo, may not need to be that high.

Do not bend forward to reach your feet. You must maintain a 90-degree angle between your torso and thigh.

Do not lift your knee higher than your hip on the operated side.

Do not cross your legs.

Do not allow your legs to internally rotate (feet turned in).

Do not twist while lying or standing.

Sleep on your back with a pillow between your knees to prevent crossing.

Rayb

Thanks to all for the immediate reponse to our anticipated problem, as all old boy scouts say "be prepared".
Thanks Mike "Spyal" for the very useful link to the web site that gives a lot of useful information about hip replacements the nice thing about this forum is that members will go out of their way to help relative strangers.
We will watch this item with great interest as we are sure that someone will have had practical experience.

Social services do supply an attatchment that clamps to a standard bowl, this might give us some ideas, don't think she would settle for a plank with a hole but might be able to fit a standard seat onto padded blocks with extensions to wedge between the side walls

Thanks all Ray.

Raisin · Last edited by Raisin on Mon Jan 23, 2006 8:39 pm; edited 1 time in total

Hello Rayb,

We hope your wifes hip operation goes well.

Kay had both hips replaced in 1983 and they both failed last year after 22 years. She had the revisions done in January and May this year and we continued to motor caravan from June. Kay is 5 ft 7 ins and 9 stone and we had to resolve the same problem with the toilet. The best height is 18 inches seat to floor.

Our Sundance has a Thetford swivel bowl type toilet and we modified a Days Medical Aids Ltd (Bridgend, Glamorgan) 501EL model portable toilet frame to provide support. We are not sure whether this would fit the Thetford bench type toilet.

We tried a childs toilet seat (too small for an adult) and the local council provided a portable toilet seat and frame with a removable seat. The seat fitted the Thetford but was not particularly stable and had to be removed to flush the toilet. A bit of ingenuity would probably have resolved the instability.

Kay felt that getting in and out was more of a problem with the steep and small electric steps. We resolved this by using a caravan double step with rubber non-slip inserts and this can be used at the habitation or cab doors. the only other mod was a Fiamma handle next to the habitation door and some extra grab handles inside.

Hope this is of assistance and we would be pleased to help further with any more information. Personal message or contact us via E-mail.
Kindest regards,

Kay and Mike

BarryandSue

Rayb, I know this isn't an immediate help to you, but I have seen a picture of raised toilet seat fitted to a Thetford, but I'm damned if I can think where (obviously when I've been trawling through various motorhome sites).
Persevere looking, and good luck.

Detourer

Hi Rayb

If you get in touch with easirent.com (my UK colleagues) and ask them about the spec of the Motorhome for the disabled we have for hire they may be able to help with your enquiry.........and possibly other points.

I must confess that other than admiring the chairlift from the outside, I have never been in the vehicle............and do not know to what extent the "specual conversion" was carried out.

Tell them that Ray from Malaga depot referred you.............

good luck

Ray

Baddow

Hi Ray,
Find the hip replacement thread on Healthboards.com. and you should find almost anything about hip replacement that is known - from those who have had one(or two). The downside is that most of the users are American but your query should be answered by them.
The site is as friendly as Motorhome Facts.
My daughter stayed in our van for three nights, using our facilities, within 4 weeks of her hip replacement. We have a Rapido 7087 and lack of space was th