You at the beginning of your adult life – turning 22 in just 6 weeks, about to graduate and then to join with your fiance. You have fulfilled all of your college curriculum and are just waiting for the graduation ceremonies. You have your complete life before of you! Then the inconceivable happens, you are at a graduation blowout and a person jumps on you, snapping your head back. Afterward you are in the hospital hearing you are paralyzed with a spinal cord injury at C5 and 6. Where do you go next?
This is Jim’s epic. Jim was ‘that guy’. He spent 16 months in a rehabilitation hospital, and then went home to marry the fiance he’d wanted to join in wedlock 16 months before. I asked Jim the question – what did you do? He said, he grieved a bit – then he got on with life. He sure did! I could type an entire allegory about all of Jim’s successes – they are numerous, and they are substantial. But, his most influential accomplishment (exclusive of a happy wife and a daughter in college, which are magnificent achievements in themselves) is the development of The PUMP, leg bag emptier.
As a person with a spinal cord injury, Jim knew that to fight urinary tract infections (UTIs) and hypotension, he needed to drink an abundance of water. But, as a person with spinal cord injuries, he couldn’t use the bathroom on his own. He had to use an urinary collection bag to hold what his body couldn’t accommodate. This is where the conundrum arose. He needed to drink plenty of water, but he couldn’t empty his urine bag on his own. Can you envision, or do you have first hand knowledge, of how embarrassing it is to call upon a caregiver (ex: family member) to unload your urinary collection bag for you all the time?
Jim knew intimately how bothersome and uncomfortable it was to have to depend on a caregiver (ex: spouse) to dump his urinary bag. It was very troublesome and pricey to find a paid caregiver who could come as required to drain his urinary collection bag. When he was at home, and needed his urine collection bag emptied, he’d have to contact his wife and she would have to leave her office to come look after his urine bag. When he was at work, he had to count on fellow emplyees to unload his urine bag. Of course, it wasn’t just any fellow emplyee who could empty it – they had to be taught to do it. Jim think back to those days with uneasiness.
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 heads together to find a solution. They agreed there had to be an electric wheelchair accessory purchasable to give those people with quadriplegia or other spinal cord injuries, the ability to handle that part of their hygiene with dignity. But there wasn’t. The only wheelchair accessories then available were manual or electric wheelchair accessories that cleared, removed the contents of 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 built the prototype. As a person with spinal cord injuries, there was not one more qualified than Jim to test The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and put it through its paces. Well, not a soul more qualified than Jim and his helpmate. Jim informed me that his partner played a valuable part in the enhancements that were made – because while Jim apprised what advancements The PUMP, leg bag emptier, would require from an user’s perspective, his wife also ascertained enhancements that were wanted for the caregiver (ex: family member) (to make night cleanings easier, etc.). Several 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 clear a full urinary collection 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 drink all the water he needs. When Jim first started using The PUMP, leg bag emptier, 7 years ago, he only had to empty his urinary leg bag 2-3 times per day. Now, he empties his urine leg 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 an advanced new power wheelchair accessory that enables people to empty their urine leg bag precisely 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 individual 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 leg bag and exit from the tip of the wand. When the urinary 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 discovering its benefits as well. They treasure The PUMP, leg bag emptier, and how it has given them back their freedom and allows them to retain proper hydration which abates 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.