The Gym Added A Right Side Grab Bar To The Accessible Toilet
[ Thursday September 17th 2026 at 10:53 am ]
I have made a pleasant surprise at the gym. An accessibility suggestion I made shortly after I started using the warm water therapy pool to rehabilitate my artificial right knee joint has been implemented.
At the gym the family change room has been designated for the accessibility needs of customers with a physical disability. This makes perfect sense to me. There have been times in my life where I have had a female personal support worker. But you can't have a female personal support worker in the men's change room. This is the as me as a man not being allowed to use the female change room with a female personal support worker. The family change room is what is used.
The accessible washroom is a separate room contained within the family change room. They had a grab bar on the left wall beside the toilet. They also had a grab bar on the wall behind the toilet. But there was no grab bar on the right side of the toilet. Just after I started using the warm water therapy pool I nearly got myself stuck on their toilet on account of not having a grab bar on the right side of the toilet. With my right knee joint bent I didn't have the leverage to stand up unassisted. I needed to use both arms. Without a grab bar on the right side I had to use my power wheelchair for support in order to stand up. I made the suggestion that a grab bar be added to the right side as well. I have just discovered that the facility has implemented this as part of the annual preventative maintenance of the aquatic center.
I find the explanation about why this is necessary. When you start recovering from knee replacement surgery the knee joint that was replaced is bent. As you do the physiotherapy the ligaments and tendon in that knee joint slowly lengthen by applying gentle sustained pressure several times a day. The knee replacement surgery physiotherapy is designed for this. This hurts. But now it is healing pain and not the brutal pain that justified the knee replacement surgery. This is the same idea as a woman's belly getting larger during pregnancy. As the ligaments and tendon lengthen the ability to straighten out the knee joint occurs. Our bodies are simply fascinating.