Shower Chair Rental or Buy After Hip Surgery? Need Advice

[acgmedicalsupply]

Hi everyone,
I could use some advice from anyone who has been through this. My mom is having hip replacement surgery in a few weeks, and I’m trying to get her bathroom ready before she comes home. I’m in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I’m a little overwhelmed by all the options.

The first thing on my list is a shower chair rental. Her surgeon said she will need to sit while bathing for the first several weeks, and the tub in her house is fairly high, so standing is not an option. I assumed renting would be the cheapest and simplest route, since she should only need it for a short time.

While searching, I found ACG Medical Supply. They are based in Rowlett and have showrooms around DFW. What surprised me is that their Bathroom Safety Package is not a rental at all. It is a one-time $119 purchase, and you keep everything. It includes a shower chair with a rust-resistant aluminum frame, drainage holes, non-slip feet, and adjustable height, plus a 3-in-1 bedside commode. They also offer a clamp-on tub grab bar for $45 and delivery for $15.

That got me thinking about rent vs buy, and I have a few questions:

If you used a medical shower chair after surgery, did you rent or buy? Do you wish you had done it the other way?
Is it worth owning one, or does it just end up in a closet once recovery is over?

Does the height adjustment really matter? My mom is on the shorter side, and I want to make sure she is not sitting too low or too high.

Has anyone used a clamp-on grab bar on a tub? I’m nervous about anything that is not screwed into the wall.

The package also includes a bedside commode. Was that useful at night, or did you skip it?

I also like that ACG has a Bathroom Safety Display where you can see the equipment in person. I would rather have my mom sit in the chair and test it than order something online and hope it fits. Has anyone visited a showroom like this? Did the staff walk you through how everything works?

Another worry is timing. Her surgery date is close, and I don’t want to be scrambling the day she is discharged. The ACG page says they keep shower chairs in stock, which is reassuring, but I would love to hear whether anyone has had trouble finding equipment quickly after a hospital discharge.

If you have any tips for making the bathroom safer, such as non-slip mats, lighting, or handheld shower heads, I’d love to hear those too.

Thank you in advance. Any experience, good or bad, would really help me decide.