Over the weekend, I took my first shower since last May.
“Mark, what the hell? You haven’t showered in nine months?”
I’ll try to give the short version of the story.
When I broke my leg last year, I was stuck in bed for a couple of months. When I was finally able to get out of bed, I used my shower for a couple days before discovering that water was leaking through the floor and into the units below. So I had to get estimates from contractors who were already overbooked with other projects. And then when I realized the extent of the work needed to fix the problem, I decided to see if I would qualify for waiver funding to help cover the costs of the modifications. It took a few more months of navigating the bureaucracy before I finally received word that I would qualify for funds. And then the contractor had to order the parts and wait for them to arrive.
The workers still need to put a few finishing touches on the bathroom, but they told me that I could start using it over the weekend. After months of lukewarm bed baths, the sensation of hot water pouring over me…well, it was pretty damn amazing. I’m grateful for the assistance that I received to make my bathroom functional again; I just wish the process could have been faster.
Perhaps I’ll do a separate blog post on how people with disabilities must develop a mastery of bureaucratic arcanery in order to get the supports we need. But first, I’m going to take another shower.
