I visited the ILC during one of their open days as I thought it would be a nice day out for my 90-year old dad (they had entertainment and refreshments as well as tours) and give me a chance to think about some of the things I might need for my future too. We had a lovely time – we both enjoyed the assistance dog demonstration, especially watching him take clothes out of the washing machine, and dad won a family ticket to the Larmer Tree Gardens in the raffle.

When it came to the tour of the centre, we joined a small group and the Occupational Therapist showed us around the building and gave a detailed talk about what happens during appointments, with plenty of examples of how different the pieces of equipment are, and how there are no “one size fits all” options.

I had been especially looking forward to seeing the walk-in bath, as I’d had my heart set on one of these as a “treat” for myself as I got older. I’m so glad I was able to see it demonstrated by the Occupational Therapist though before I’d actually wasted my money on buying one, as much to my surprise I found that it wouldn’t have been suitable for me at all. I’d completely neglected to think about the fact that you can’t open the door while you’re in the bath, so you have to sit inside and wait for it to fill up, and then stay seated getting cold as you wait for the water to drain away afterwards! I don’t know what would happen if there was an emergency and I needed to get out while it was full…

Since my visit I’ve “treated myself” to a lovely walk-in shower instead, and I definitely made the right decision. There’s always the option to add a chair which pulls down from the wall in the future as well, but hopefully I won’t need that for many years yet.

If I hadn’t come to the open day then I probably wouldn’t have considered making an appointment to look at the walk-in baths, as it didn’t even cross my mind that they wouldn’t be suitable. The visit was therefore a really valuable experience for me, and the ILC is now the first place I’d contact for any similar advice, even if I didn’t think I needed it!