You at the threshold of your adult life – turning 22 in just 6 weeks, about to graduate and then to walk down the aisle with your fiance. You have dispatched all of your college courses and are just waiting for the commencement ceremonies. You have your entire life in front of you! Then the inconceivable happens, you are at a graduation bash and an individual jumps on you, snapping your head back. Consequently you are in the sick bay being told you are paralyzed with a spinal cord injury at C5 and 6. What do you do?
This is Jim’s chronicle. Jim was ‘that guy’. He spent 16 months in a rehabilitation hospital, and then went home to walk down the aisle with the soul mate he’d wanted to marry 16 months before. I asked Jim a question – what did you do? He said, he grieved a bit – then he got on with life. He sure did! I could scribble an entire story about all of Jim’s deeds – they are multifold, and they are valuable. But, his most important achievement (aside from a happy wife and a daughter in college, which are great feats in themselves) is the development of The PUMP, leg bag emptier.
As a person with spinal cord injuries, Jim knew that to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs) and hypotension, it was vital to drink plenty of water. But, as a tetraplegic, he couldn’t use the washroom by himself. He had to use an urinary leg bag to accumulate what his body couldn’t hold. This is where the problem arose. He needed to drink enough water, but he couldn’t purge his urine collection bag on his own. Can you conceptualize, or do you have intimate, of how uncomfortable it is to ask a caregiver (ex: spouse) to pour out your urine collection bag for you all the time?
Jim knew personally how inconvenient and shameful it was to have to rely on a caregiver (ex: paid caregiver) to remove the contents of his urine bag. It was very burdensome and expensive to find a professional caregiver who could come only when necessary to remove the contents of his urinary collection bag. When he was at home, and needed his urine leg bag unloaded, he’d have to ask his companion and she would have to leave her office to come manage his urine bag. When he was working, he had to rely on co-workers to empty his urine collection bag. Of course, it wasn’t just anyone who could empty it – they had to be shown how to do it. Jim think of those days with shame.
Jim and Robert, who are the co-founders of The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and at the time worked together for a major communications company, put their minds together to find an answer. They agreed there had to be an instrument realizable to give those with quadriplegia or other spinal cord injuries, the flexibility to handle that part of their hygiene with dignity. But there wasn’t. The only implements, instruments, mechanisms, machines then available were manual or electric implements, instruments, mechanisms, machines that poured out the urine from the urine bag directly onto the ground. Not sanitary or hygienic at all! So, the plan for The PUMP, leg bag emptier, was born.
In 2004, Jim and Robert assembled the prototype. As a person with a spinal cord injury, there was not a soul more able than Jim to test The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and put it through its paces. Well, no one more qualified than Jim and his bride. Jim told me that his helpmate played a critical part in the improvements that were made – because while Jim ascertained what betterments The PUMP, leg bag emptier, would require from an user’s perspective, his wife also envisioned enhancements that were essential for the caregiver (ex: family member) (to make night cleanings easier, etc.). Many versions of The PUMP, leg bag emptier, later, each more advantageous than the last – there is at long last an easy, santitary and civilized way for people with quadriplegia or other spinal cord injuries to remove the contents of a full urine leg bag.
Jim has been using The PUMP, leg bag emptier, now for 7 years – and it has given him freedom and independence – but most of all – it has given him the ability to down all the water he needs. When Jim first started using The PUMP, leg bag emptier, 7 years ago, he only had to empty his urine leg bag 2-3 times per day. Now, he empties his urinary bag 6-7 times per day – on his own schedule, when it suits him – and on his own.
What is The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and what does it do? The PUMP, leg bag emptier, is a cutting edge new power wheelchair accessory that enables an individual to empty their urinary leg bag smack dab into a toilet or urinal with just the press of a button. The PUMP attaches to the outlet of the leg bag and directs the flow of urine out through the tip of a flexible wand. A simple switch activated by the user turns the pumping unit on and off, and an ultra compact 12-volt Lithium Polymer Battery powers The PUMP for up to 5 days with an overnight charge. The PUMP installs easily and quickly on virtually any power wheelchair.
The PUMP, leg bag emptier, couldn’t be easier. When your urinary collection bag is full, maneuver your wheelchair within arm’s length of a toilet or urinal and extend the wand. Press the switch twice to activate the pumping unit and urine will flow from the urinary bag and exit from the tip of the wand. When the urine collection bag is empty, press the switch once to turn off the pumping unit and return the wand to its stowed position. That’s it. Simple, sanitary, and civilized.
It’s not just Jim who uses The PUMP, leg bag emptier. Others who have suffered paraplegia or other spinal cord injuries are finding its benefits as well. They treasure The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and how it has given them back their independence and allows them to sustain proper hydration which curtails the recurrence of urinary tract infections (UTIs) and the risks of hypotension.
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 at DryDiapersPlus,
Buy The PUMP wheelchair pump online at DryDiapersPlus.