How to Empty a Bedside Commode One-handed

One problem I worried about before my knee surgery was stress incontinence.  While waiting for surgery I learned sudden knee pain can start a small urinary leak that turns into a flood after about 60 seconds.  This set off alarm bells.  I regularly get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and was worried about losing bladder control if I felt sharp knee pain.  I was freaked out about having to clean urine from my carpet.  A bedside commode would solve my problem but I live alone so who is going to empty it??

I cannot carry the bucket in my sound hand because I need that hand to hold a cane.  I was saved by serendipity.  Before surgery I put a laundry basket where it was easy for me to put dirty clothes in it.  The bottom of this basket is so smooth that it slides over carpeting like it is on ice.  This gave me an idea.  I asked a friend to put some water in the bucket and put it on top of the dirty clothes.  Instead of the liquid sloshing, the bucket was cradled by the clothes as I slid the basket into my bathroom.  My sound hand carried the empty bucket to the shower for cleaning.  For safety, I slid the heel** of my affected hand along my bathroom counter to keep my balance.  I put the bucket on my shower chair and used the shower hose to rinse it rather than risking a fall by leaning down to put the bucket under the water spout.

I never needed the bedside commode.  Yet I felt triumphant because so many health professionals have told me to get a bedside commode.  I also felt humbled because I arrived at the solution through sheer dumb luck instead of my OT degree and clinical experience.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

** heel of hand = palm of hand near the wrist