My Accident - Part XI

There is another frustration that happened. I would be either leaving a room or back at my chair and I said oh no I forgot this or that. Hobbling around on one leg is no joke and it is tiring. So before you leave an area look around to make sure you are not forgetting anything because you don’t want to have to go back and get an essential item you left behind.

You need to keep setting yourself up each day. As you think of things that would make your situation easier keep making adjustments. For example, I just happen to have brought on sale toilet paper and paper towels. But they do you no good if you can’t get at them. Make sure that a few rolls of toilet paper are right there at your reach. I had one roll of paper towels in a plastic bag right by me because just in case I spill something I have it especially when I was eating.

That’s another thing you want to set up. Where are you going to eat and what are you going to use? My kitchen table was part of my command central. Well for me it also has my printer on it which takes up space. So looking around your house and asking whoever will be coming over to set you up with things that will make it easy for you to be in your house by yourself.

I used two things: one was a glass bowl with a good lid top on it for my cereal and plastic containers with a tight lid to put my soups in. It worked for me because it was a good size to be able to put it in my pouch bag on my walker so that I could get to my seat. It worked great.

My Accident - Part X

The million dollar question was who was going to help me. As I had mentioned in a post that I was helping my aunt as she recovered from her fall so she couldn’t come where I live to help me. And my other aunts are not spring chickens so they wouldn’t be able to come. So who would do it? Don’t get the idea that it is this person’s responsibility or that friend’s responsibility or your family’s responsibility unless it is a husband, wife or children then in my opinion that is different. Because the bottom line is anyone else are volunteers to your cause if they want to help at all. If you feel certain people should step up to help you will be very disappointed. I was very pleasantly surprised and found out that the extension of friendship came out and I have help from places I didn’t expect. I have been very fortunate. Because I am independent I don’t need a lot of help all the time. But there are those things that are a must as I have mentioned.

There were those that came forward to help and I am forever grateful. For food I have had a variety for four months. Different homemade soups filled my freezer and they are great for the winter especially the kind that I have had. I’ve had baked ziti, fried chicken to mention a few foods that freeze well. Keep it simple. I also had a plastic container that had three separate sections with a secure lid that worked well to carry in my walker bag. Any food items that might leak put them in a plastic bag first before putting it in your walker bag.

When I first came home from the hospital I was not hungry or should I say I didn’t eat as I had before. But the apatite has grown to a normal rate That’s just part of the healing process because it is a process.

My Accident - Part IX

Generally when your family, friends or even co-workers say that they want to help they do. So to make it easier on them and you keep a continuous grocery list going. Time is precious and you don’t want anyone that is helping you to have to wait around until you figure out what you need. When you run out of something then put it down on the list. I suggest that your notebook be used for those different reasons: grocery list, to do list (like phone calls and such), doctor list with telephone numbers, friends that you don’t remember their telephone numbers and you don’t have their numbers in your cell phone.

When it comes to grocery shopping everyone shops differently. Some people are into brands only and others mix and still others only get non-brands. Don’t assume that the person is going to know what brand you use or what brand you think is the best. You want shopping for you as easy and clear as you can. Be specific in your list of items. When you are making your ongoing list of groceries put next to it the brand so that if you are on the phone giving the list to the person then you can also give them the brand. You could also send an email with the items and brand of each to make it easier if this will be the person that will do you’re shopping. If you can’t remember a particular brand use one of the supermarket online stores and do a search to find that brand name. if you still have the packaging of your favorite products you can show them that for quicker viewing on the store shelf. Also, I look at the sale circular and I circle which items I want to get for that week that is on sale and they could bring that with them to the store. You also want to tell them the size because that could be confusing also.

There are a few items that I don’t like in the store brand so I told my friends and this way they are not frustrated in the store trying to figure out what you want or calling you every few minutes trying to figure it out. This way they won’t mind going back to the store for you instead of looking at it as a nightmare experience. And don’t be upset if they brought a couple of items in the wrong brand or wrong size. Remember that getting anyone to help you is not always easy so cherish the helpers or they could disappear leaving you to fend for yourself.

I had a girlfriend that came over and she wanted to stop and pick me up dinner. I knew she was going to pass the supermarket so I asked her to pick up a couple of things. If you do that when ones are coming over or if you say when you are going to the store for yourself if you could pick up a couple of things for me then it is not going out of their way. And if you ask a couple of friends then it won’t be like one friend is doing this huge shopping with all these bags. That’s why it is so important to have that pad with you and make that shopping list. Also you want to cross off the items from your list so that you don’t get double of the same item.

My Accident - Part VIII

Another thing is write down a list of things you need people to get or do for you around the house when they come over. I remember my aunts physical therapist saying just ask people to do one thing so they won’t feel burdened if someone happens to stop by. People want to help but sometimes time is limited or they don’t know what to do when they visit you. Make it easy for them by having a list then when they come they can feel like they helped you but was not overwhelmed with tasks to do that would make them think twice about coming over again.

The most important things for me was garbage and recyclables taken out, mail brought up, water plants and one load of clothes taken away to be washed. If you have a washer and dryer that is golden. I can’t begin to tell you that you should be so thankful for that. Even if it is in a place like the basement that you can’t get to at least someone can throw a load of clothes in while they are there and once it is in the dryer it can stay a bit until the next person comes. In the situation that we are in we can’t worry about wrinkles in clothes. I always have to think twice when using too many clothes items because when will they get washed and they pile up. Make sure that you have a couple of large plastic garbage bags and a couple of medium garbage bags for easy access near the garbage container. There is nothing worse than smelly garbage that you can’t get out of the house. My aunt brought these scented garbage bags and they worked out great.

Both a cousin and a friend said they would take all my clothes and I avoided that one and I told them I wanted to spread the task of helping me around. This again lets them help you without regretting that they have all this extra stuff they have to do along with their own stuff. You don’t want anyone to feel overwhelmed and overburdened.

I also needed some of my craft supplies closer to me and that was a huge help. Or getting things up high and you can’t reach it. When the aid was here the most important things was washing my hair and changing the bedding. This one did the dishes for me, took out the garbage and brought up the mail. But personal care is needed to keep the aid. They are not housekeepers but some don’t mind helping out. Another essential thing that I would not think of was pants with wider legs. For me being in a cast I needed a few pants that I could slip over the cast. I cut a couple of exercising pants but you don’t want to have to cut up your pants. So one of my friends went to a second hand shop and got a couple of pants that I could use with wider bottoms. She got one man jogging pants that worked really well.