I found it easier to help them in the shower to put them on a bath stool. He was wobbly and uncomfortable standing and the stool give him a measure of stability. Our walk in shower was more difficult then the tub.
My Mom's aid told me she has had to let a male patient leave his undershorts on in the shower. My dh won't even let his son see him naked and I don't see other help for him bathing until memory is worse and he loses his modesty in front of someone.
Those shampoos you can do without rinsing are helpful if you have a problem doing it in the shower. Just dampen hais and apply the shampoo and scrub with a dry towel. Does a decent job, better than nothing and you can do it in another room while he is sitting on a chair. I can't stand hair odor.
Avon makes a hyperallergenic bubble bath that is great if you are allergic to the perfumed kinds.
The disposable "warm up in the microwave" bath cloths come in handy as a alternate to shower difficulties.
You can buy transfer belts at your Home Medical Center to help with lifting.
A transfer chair is good to have on hand to take them places when they don't need to be pushing themselves. They are much lighter and easier to manouver. I purchased mine over the Internet and got the lightest one I could find that would support his weight. I can't manouver a regular wheelchair into the car because of their weight. Day to day situations he can still do minimum walking.
For us, a daily jaunt in the car keeps him out of his recliner a little. We generally go out to eat 1 meal a day. Someplace simple where he can wear his sweats. We have given up the regular pants. Too hard for him to manouver in the bathroom.
The cordless electric shavers are great. Some like the cordless electric toothbrushes but I can't get dh to use his. He still uses the regular one at least once a day.
I recently purchased an adjustable queen bed for myself. DH enjoys coming in when he wakes at 6, and I will help him in my bed and raise the top and bottom for another couple hours. He lays quietly and naps and doesn't move or talk. I use my laptop or read. Some of you have issues where this wouldn't work for you.
I appreciate this information so much. The time is getting nearer when I will be making good use of each suggestion. Especially the electric razor right now. DH has used one before then it stopped working for some reason..but that was BEFORE it was actually needed.
Thanks for reminding. DH is so modest I can't imagine how anyone will be 'allowed' to assist him with grooming. I can't imagine how we'll even get a home health person here to help. My great misunderstanding is that they will be 'unaware' of whats going on when they need this care.
Thank you for the hints. Maybe I should copy all the hints I receive here into a Word file and save it for when I need them--and hope I'll remember I have them, where to find them, and what it's all about down the road.
I heard about this company from another site and thought I would post it here in case anyone was interested. The company called Buck and Buck sells adaptive clothing that makes it easier for caregivers to dress their LO's.
Some of the residents in my husband's facility wear overalls that zip down the back so they can't strip in public. They come in pretty colors and have a jumper like top for the ladies
Yep, disinhibition is bad when it's exposing themselves in public, and good when they need someone other than yourself to bathe them.
I highly recommend the electric razor. Mine adores his (divvi's does his too, she encouraged me!); they like the buzzing. And it's a lot easier to clean up his cheeks and neck in places he misses, than having to use bics or whatever.
Our bathroom is upstairs. No microwave. And cold wet cloths are distressing to him.
its true, my DH put his utensils in the microwave that is attached to top of my oven :) and blew that one out. i have to buy a whole NEW oven/microwave combo if i want to repair. so i just got a simple 80dol one and works great. by the way, watch out of them pushing buttons in the kitchen unsupervised. my DH turned on the wall oven last nite during his hooliganisms and i didnt see it til this am! yipes. divvi
if you can make the investment i HIGHLY recommend the ROOMBA irobot vaccuums and floor scrubbers if you hate housework and have no time for housework!.. i now have 4 and adore them..2vacuums and 2 scoobas. i put one scooba to clean the marble hallways on the 2nd floor and one of the 1st fl..and my roomba vacuums on the carpets thruout the house. the vacuums- they are now programmable so when yo are out you come home to a vacuumed house..they are pricey but i wouldnt trade mine now and i have a dyson vaccum which works well but i had to do it! these work by themselves . well the scoobas for floors you push and button and walk away..love it, love it...did i say i love it?? haha. divvi
I can just see your house with the Roomba's, Scoobas, all going at once. I have a roomba, and just can't get it to work. Maybe I need to sit down for ten minutes with no disturbances, and I can figure it out...someday! I'm so happy for you and your Roombas, Divvi.... and how happy they make you feel. Ha ha ha.
keeping my DH on the couch and not trying to step on them while they are working- thats another story..and my dogs hate them! oh yes sit down and get it to work. itsgreat! i swear they pick up dog hair as well as the dyson.
I love that commercial (for dog food) of the little Jack Russell pup riding the vacuum. Maybe we could train the cats on the roomba? Not in a million days!
Divvi--what the heck is a Scooba? How does it work? Do you know there are message boards on those and Roombas? Once the Roomba picks up the dirt, where does it go? Do you have to empty it? I'm full of questions tonight. Too lazy to look at the website, maybe tomorrow.
scooba is the robot that scrubs your tiles and marble floors!! man i love these. i could sell them well:) you put a really good smelling clorox cleaner used for them esp (this is where they make their money i suppose but it lasts a long time) in it mix with water til full and push a button. it travels over all your floors 4times! scrubs your floors and leaves them smelling really good and pretty dang clean. better than mopping! it charges on a jack like phones do. on one charge i get about an hrs cleaning. i have LOTSSSS of marble..the vacuum roomba picks up the dirt and has a small bin and you empty it. it fills up usually in its hr run. i am amazed at all the dog hair it gets. just as good as my dyson! and leaves vacuumed carpet marks that look good:)it also cleans each room 4times per cleaning. the technology is amazing. i have 3floors around an atrium and it goes to the edge and stops and turns around. my grandaughters squeal when they watch hoping it will go over the edge to its doom..haha..super smart. i love them. home shopping just had the newer version on for 259dol on TV. reg price is 318 i think from them is always where i get mine-their prices are better than the irobot website. ask grannywhiskers she has one too and loves hers too.. i would NEVER be without them now..haha..too practical for me with a large house. divvi
We thought about the medic alert bracelet for Andrea, but I knew she wouldn't wear it. She had long since stopped wearing any jewelry, and had started becoming annoyed at necklaces and stuff. Although we agreed the Medic alert was a great idea, we just didn't see how we were going to convince her to wear it. Every twenty minutes! So what can you do instead?
There is a website called Safety Tat. They took the idea of those little kids washable tattoos and turned it into a thing to keep track of your kids if they wander off. It's visible, and the LO can't get it off. One of them lasts about two weeks. You just put your phone number on it.
I know it's not the most perfect solution, either. It has disadvantages, just like anything. But I thought I'd toss it out there.
My DH didn't like the idea of the bracelet either. When it came he didn't have a problem though. I got the Safe Return/Medic alert and a caregiver one also. I focused on how they were "the same" for each of us. The clasp is very difficult to undo. They recommend putting it on the dominant hand so it is easier to see and harder to remove. I had planned on putting it on while he slept if necessary. PatB
I, also, got the Safe Return/Medic Alert bracelets for each of us. Whenever DW comments about hers, I point out that I have one also. Then she is satisfied. We both have it on the dominant hand.
Mine refused the bracelet also, so I ordered iron on ID labels and am ironing them in the shirts of his clothes. Since I have to help dress him, he hasnt noticed yet that they are there, and they have name address and phone number
Yes, that was the problem I thought about. There are some Medic Alert things that are very inconspicuous, like watches and such. Problem with that is that if you are having a diabetic moment or are a lot AD, you want something that jumps out and screams HELP!!!!!!!!! The tattoo is very easy to see, but not to remove.
Do y'all know you can buy iron on tape that works in PTouch Label Makers? (Office Depot, etc) I have had toooo much fun putting iron on labels on sheets (KING/QUEEN etc.) and your idea will allow me to make more for his shirts and jackets. I have labeled his walking stick, because it's was his brother's). Any more ideas? I love to "label".
decblu, we just had someone post over on the Alz Assoc, asking where to get labels, and what to have on them ... Where'd you get yours? (I will, of course, also pass on Nancy's suggestion. Sounds like good stuff.)
Son in Laws worked most of the day today cleaning trash and "things" out of a couple buildings I have rented. I made the humongous mistake of mentioning the deed to my dh a couple days ago and he told me he was going with me. Well, I had to backpedal out of that and tell him they couldn't do it then because they had some other things to do. So, they did it without me today and dh has no idea it is done. They hauled most of it to the dump. If dh would have been there the junk would still be there. As it is, he won't miss it.
I am so happy to have it done. One of them is not working because of disability with back and the other is in business for himself (and business is down) so I am happy to pay them to do odds and ends things for me. With all the people out of work it is really hard to get someone to do odds and ends.
You didn't miss it before ... I didn't have it showing. I only let it show when someone wants to email me.
...and now that you've emailed me, it's gone again. Poof! Magic!
Joan used to try to courier, but she just has waaaaaaaay too much to do. That's why she started that "sticky" thread, "Use this discussion to contact each other", so we'd be sure to see it if someone needed a private contact.
OK, just so you got your iron on label info. They are just toooooooooo much fun.
As an aside, somehow, I posted the same discussion twice. The first time, I got a red letter note saying something was wrong, so I set up another. Then both appeared. How do I delete a message I started when that happens. I don't see a delete..I clicked on Edit.. but there was not a delete. I just erased it and called it "oops". I need to get it out of the way. stup Nancy.
A suggestion for crusty/irritated eyes. I use a small covered bowl and put some clear water in it and add a couple drops of baby shampoo and mix it with my finger. Add a small stack of cosmetic cotton round pads to soak up the water and we use them at least once a day to wipe our elelashes of the crusty accumalation. You but them at any pharmacy/dollar store etc. and they are inexpensive.
DH now uses a shower chair and often needs some assistance in the shower. I dug out my "water shoes" I had bought for a pool exercise class, When DH is in the shower, I put those on. If he needs help, I am ready to go and have good traction.
If anyone is using a walkin shower with the drain in the middle, I use a large shower mat that I cut out a hole to fit the drain. It really has worked well.
Has anyone figured out how to keep the pads in place on the bed and under the spouse? My husband sleeps in a hospital bed for which I recently got a new "eggcrate" foam topping, which slides on the mattress under the sheet, then the quilted pad slips off and on top of that the disposable one gets all wound up... aargh!
I gave up trying to keep the hosp. bed "made", so I just put a sheet, folded in half, across the middle of the bed, no tucking in anywhere, then the pad on top of that, then a disposable pad on top of that. Any top sheet and blanket are just put over them (us) with no tucking in anywhere. Works for me; easy to maintain.
By the way, it is easy to adjust their position by just pulling on the bottom sheet up, down, or sideways. That is assuming you have a slippery enough mattress.
Clair, this month's BigTree Murphy site has a great deal of information on bed pads, how to use them and how to "fit" them to the bed. You might want to check over there.