Today is Super Bowl Sunday. As I get dressed to go to go hang out with the family, it helps me to realize my next topic. Struggling to get dressed and lack of proper handicap clothing. I don’t have much issues wearing normal shirts, although I do wear a size bigger so that they are longer in the back, as I am always sitting. I also wear cowboy boots so that I don’t have to lean over to tie and untie shoes. The main issue I have is that I wear normal jeans. Now I know that you can buy handicap pants. I have looked them up online and have done a lot of research on them. However, at this point, I don’t own any of them. The reason, as I am sure you are wondering now, is 2 part. The first is the financial aspect of it. Handicap pants are usually around $100 bucks a pair. Maybe I am just cheap, but I don’t like the thought of paying that much for pants, but it is also because of the second part. I am just not sure that the handicap pants will work for me. Every handicap person is different, and as such, everyone of us require something different. I can see where the different types would aid in helping making it easier but I honestly feel that most pants are made for a caregiver, which makes sense as that is what most people require. However, since I still do everything myself, I haven’t found any yet that actually seem like they would make it easier for me. Therefore, paying that much for pants, that don’t seem like they are going to work very good for me and may not make it any easier, just doesn’t make any sense to me.
I pay attention when I am out as to what other handicap people wear as far as pants goes. I feel the typical attire is usually some type of sweat pants or pajama pants. I understand the reason for this as it would make it easier for the caregiver to help the person into them, as well as prevent pressure sores that the jeans might produce. For me, since I still consider myself younger (even though I am almost 36), I can’t bring myself to wear that style of pants out in public. These type of pants also have always made it harder to use the bathroom, in my experience, for me when I have tried to use them around the house. As such, I still wear normal jeans that I buy at Walmart. I have learned that I have to buy a size bigger than what I would wear if I could still stand up. I got pressure sores pretty bad on the front of my hips when I wore the size that actually fit me best.
Buying jeans like this has a few drawbacks for me. First thing is I absolutely cannot try on jeans before I buy them. Here is one of my extremely personal details, but I cannot put on pants unless I am either laying in bed or sitting on the toilet. In both cases, I shift my weight back and forth and slowly raise them until they are in the needed position. Sometimes it is difficult to button them, especially if they are right out of the dryer. I can’t do this in a normal chair as to much of my bottom is on the seat, putting to much weight on it so I can’t seem to gain anything when I go from side to side. The result of not trying on my pants before I buy them, means I am not going to know how long they are or how big the leg holes actually are. I also am not going to know how low the crotch area of the jeans are. I like a little bit of a baggy jean as it makes it so that it can ride up a little or be a little down and not make me uncomfortable. However, if it is too low, it makes it hard to be able to go to the bathroom. The issue I have with all jeans is that the zipper is never long enough, as they are made to use with the person standing, not sitting.
If I could make the perfect jeans for me, they would have a few things to help me. First thing is they would have a longer zipper. My thought has always been that it should go to the center of the pants to make it easier (I don’t like the button type as they take to long to button and unbutton when I need to use the bathroom and I am nervous about the magnet type not being strong enough that I basically have an unzipped fly in public). The next thing is I would replace the button at the top and make it more like a belt situation where you can run a piece of fabric through a ring and pull it back and fasten it down with velcro or something. I would also probably replace the upper band with a more sweatband type material so it wouldn’t be so hard on the skin. I also wear boxers so I feel like I would probably need a better solution as far as how they are made as well, but I haven’t completely worked that one out yet. I also have issues with the way my clothes act while I try to transfer but I plan on covering that in a future post where I cover transferring in greater detail.