Paralyzed? Drink Lots of Water & Empty Your Own Urine Collection Bag with The PUMP Wheelchair Pump
Posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2011
by Tammy Chamberlain
DryDiapersPlus.com
If you have a spinal cord injury - you know how embarrassing it is to ask for help to empty your urinary leg bag.
If you or a loved one lives with a spinal cord injury, such as tetraplegia, quadriplegia or paraplegia - then you know first hand drinking enough water is the key to reduced risk of hypotention and urinary tract infections (UTI's). However, staying hydrated is a quandry. If you enough water, then you need a caregiver (ex: or a co-worker, a neighbor, a friend,a family member or your spouse) to empty your urinary leg bag. How humiliating! So, just like most people with spinal cord injuries, you just don't drink enough water. But now there's a solution to this problem!
You at the threshold to your adult life - you turn 22 in just 6 weeks, about to graduate and then you are going to walk down the aisle with your betrothed. All of your college classes have been completed and you are just waiting for the the commencement ceremonies. Your entire life is in front of you! Then the unbelievable happens at a pre-graduation party - someone jumps on you, snapping your head back. The next thing you know, you're in the hospital hearing you're paralyzed with a spinal cord injury at C5 and 6. What do you do?
Jim was 'that guy'. Jim spent 16 months in a rehabilitation hospital, and then went home to walk down the aisle with the woman he'd wanted to marry 16 months before. "What did you do?", I asked Jim, meaning 'How did you cope?" Jim shared with me that he grieved a bit - then he got on with his life. Boy did he ever! I could write an entire book about all of Jim's accomplishments which are numerous and significant. But, his most important accomplishment (apart from having a happy wife and a daughter in college, which are extraordinary achievements in themselves) is the development of The PUMP.
The problem: How do you maintain your dignity - and still drink enough water to prevent UTIs and hypotension?
As a tetraplegic, Jim knew all about urinary tract infections and that in order to battle those urinary tract infections (UTIs) and reduce his chances of hypotension, it was imperative to drink a lot of water. But, because he had a spinal cord injury, he couldn't use bathroom on his own ( just like just about everyone else with a spinal cord injury who's has to wear a urinary collection bag). The problem? To fight urinary tract infections and hypotention, he needed to drink a lot of water. The hurdle? He couldn't empty his urinary collection bag leg bag on his own. Can you imagine, or do know you, how humiliating it is to have to ask someone to drain your urinary collection bag leg bag for you?
Jim knew how inconvenient and embarrassing it was to have to rely on another person to empty his urinary collection bag leg bag. He also knew how difficult and costly it was to find a paid caregiver who could come when he needed him or her to empty his urinary collection bag leg bag. When at home and needed his urinary bag emptied, he'd have to call his spouse who was at work, and she'd have to leave work to come tend to his urine bag. When he was at the office, he had to rely on colleagues to empty his urinary bag. It goes without saying that it wasn't just anyone who could empty the urinary bag. Each person had to be trained to do it. Jim recalls those days with humiliation.
Something had to be available that allowed him to handle 'that part' of his personal hygiene with dignity -
But there wasn't....so they formulated a plan and The PUMP was born.
Jim and Robert, worked together during that time period. They agreed there had to be a product that would give those with spinal cord injuries the ability to handle that part of their personal care with dignity. There wasn't. The only devices available were manual or electric devices that dumped the urine from the urinary collection bag leg bag directly onto the ground. Talk about disgusting! That wasn't hygienic or sanitary at all!
So, with that collaboration of like minds, the plan for The PUMP wheelchair pump was born. In 2004, Jim and Robert (the co-founders of The PUMP) built the prototype. There was no one more qualified than Jim, as a tetraplegic, to test The PUMP wheelchair pump and put it through its paces. Correction, no one more qualified than Jim and his wife. Jim shared with me that his wife was instrumental in improvements that were made - because while Jim determined what improvements The PUMP needed from an end-user's view, his wife also determined the developments that were needed for the caregiver's benefit.
After several versions of The PUMP, each more successful than the previous - there is finally a simple, sanitary and civilized way for people with tetraplegia, quadriplegia or other spinal cord injuries to empty a full urinary leg bag without help from anyone. Jim has been using The PUMP now for 7 years - and it has given him freedom and independence - but most of all - it has given him the ability to drink all the water he requires to avoid hypotention and urintary tract infections (UTIs) and hypotension. When Jim started using The PUMP 7 years ago, he emptied his urinary bag 2-3 times per day (because he wasn't drinking enough water). Now, that he's drinking the water he needs, he empties his leg bag 6-7 times per day. He does this on his own schedule, when it suits him and without any assistance from a anyone else.
What is The PUMP ... How does it work?
With the PUMP wheelchair pump, when your urine collection bag is full (or whenever you want to empty it), you position your wheelchair within arm's length of a toilet or urinal and extend the wand. You then press the switch 2x to activate the pumping unit and urine will flow from the urinary leg bag and exit from the tip of the wand. When urinary bag is empty, press the switch 1x to turn off the pumping unit and return the wand to its stowed position. That's it. It's simple, sanitary, and it's civilized.
The PUMP wheelchair pump is an innovative new power wheelchair accessory that enables you (or your loved one who has a spinal cord injury) to empty the urine collection bag directly into a toilet or urinal with the press of a button. The PUMP attaches to the outlet of the urinary leg bag and directs the flow of urine out through the tip of a flexible wand. A simple switch activated by the person turns the unit on and off. A single overnight charge of the ultra compact 12-volt Lithium Polymer Battery powers The PUMP for up to 5 days. The PUMP installs on virtually any power wheelchair, quickly and easily.
It gives back freedom and independence to those with spinal cord injuries.
It's Simple, It's Civilized -
It's not just Jim who uses The PUMP wheelchair pump. Others who have suffered quadriplegia or other spinal cord injuries are discovering its benefits as well. They sing the praises of The PUMP wheelchair pump and how it has given them back their freedom and allows them to maintain proper hydration which reduces the number of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and the risks of hypotension.
They say out of necessity inventions are born.....
To get The PUMP wheelchair pump for you, or someone you know and love, buy The PUMP wheelchair pump now at DryDiapersPlus.com or DryDiapersPlus.ca. If you need 1 for your primary wheelchair and 1 for your back up - buy both at the same time and you will save $75.
Tammy Chamberlain is an incontinence products specialist with DryDiapersPlus.
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