Nancy May: 00:00:00

everybody.

Nancy May: 00:00:01

It's Nancy May with another episode of Doing it Best with Eldercare Success.

Nancy May: 00:00:06

Well, of course you're doing it best.

Nancy May: 00:00:07

Why would you want to do it any other way?

Nancy May: 00:00:10

Before I start this episode, I want to give a shout out to a gentleman

Nancy May: 00:00:15

who shared a comment in Apple podcast.

Nancy May: 00:00:19

I don't have his name.

Nancy May: 00:00:20

It was just a handle, but you'll know who it is if you're listening.

Nancy May: 00:00:25

And I want to say, thank you so much for your comments and for sharing

Nancy May: 00:00:29

with others that you know as well.

Nancy May: 00:00:31

His comment is, I'm a disabled middle aged man who is a caregiver

Nancy May: 00:00:36

to two aging relatives, one with a rare form of dementia.

Nancy May: 00:00:41

The host is gentle, kind, and encouraging, and knowledgeable,

Nancy May: 00:00:46

and the information presented makes a big difference in our lives.

Nancy May: 00:00:50

Thank you, and enjoy your day in paradise.

Nancy May: 00:00:53

Well, whoever you are, I want to say thank you so much for sharing

Nancy May: 00:00:57

your comments and your thoughts

Nancy May: 00:01:00

and for your enjoy your day in paradise.

Nancy May: 00:01:04

You know what, every day can be a good day, especially when we

Nancy May: 00:01:08

make it an Eldercare Success Day.

Nancy May: 00:01:11

On that note, if you do not have the book, How to Survive 9 1 1 Medical

Nancy May: 00:01:15

Emergencies, I recommend that you do.

Nancy May: 00:01:18

There are tips that will save you money, which every caregiving family is

Nancy May: 00:01:21

challenged with at some point, how to get better help in the ER, and even how to

Nancy May: 00:01:27

get discharged faster, and a lot more.

Nancy May: 00:01:31

It's not just about 9 1 1.

Nancy May: 00:01:33

It's about getting the care that your loved one deserves.

Nancy May: 00:01:36

And you do too, because peace of mind and peace of heart is

Nancy May: 00:01:41

something that we all deserve.

Nancy May: 00:01:43

Now let's jump into this episode.

Nancy May: 00:01:46

this week, I'm talking about how to be more creative in finding new

Nancy May: 00:01:50

tools to make your caregiving easier.

Nancy May: 00:01:53

And every day better for those that you love and care for, too.

Nancy May: 00:01:57

Over the years, I learned that shopping for things specifically marketed to

Nancy May: 00:02:01

caregiver needs can get expensive.

Nancy May: 00:02:04

Many are overpriced, break easily, or don't serve our purpose as well.

Nancy May: 00:02:09

So, somewhat out of desperation, I started thinking a little differently,

Nancy May: 00:02:14

with every store I entered, for whatever reason it might be, even Harbor Freight,

Nancy May: 00:02:19

Petco, or my favorite ice cream store, which, down in Florida, is Papa Clyde's.

Nancy May: 00:02:26

I just love their Everything Chocolate Chunky

Nancy May: 00:02:29

Moose Tracks.

Nancy May: 00:02:31

Yum.

Nancy May: 00:02:33

But I digress.

Nancy May: 00:02:35

Here's what I mean, and here's how you can start doing this too.

Nancy May: 00:02:39

Start by keeping a small notepad or using a note taking app on your phone

Nancy May: 00:02:43

of all the physical and emotional challenges that you're facing in

Nancy May: 00:02:46

caring for your folks or a loved one.

Nancy May: 00:02:49

This will build your, what I refer to as, aha mental note when

Nancy May: 00:02:54

you're walking into any particular facility, no matter what it is.

Nancy May: 00:02:58

Every shopping trip can be an adventure and create solutions

Nancy May: 00:03:02

to many of your problems.

Nancy May: 00:03:04

Every time I went grocery shopping, not just for milk or bread or things that I

Nancy May: 00:03:09

needed at home, But even thinking about the things that mom and dad might need

Nancy May: 00:03:14

to make their life a little easier, I walked down the aisles thinking, hmm,

Nancy May: 00:03:18

can I use this for something else?

Nancy May: 00:03:22

For example, ice cream store or grocery store.

Nancy May: 00:03:26

If mom and dad are just not eating or wanting to eat because it's

Nancy May: 00:03:31

boring, you're sitting there, you're watching television or they're

Nancy May: 00:03:34

sitting there and watching television and every day is kind of the same.

Nancy May: 00:03:39

It's hard to get excited about a meal that just doesn't excite you, right?

Nancy May: 00:03:46

So, ice cream cones might be a way to actually spice things up.

Nancy May: 00:03:51

You know, you don't have to have spaghetti on a plate.

Nancy May: 00:03:54

You could have it in an ice cream cone, top it with a

Nancy May: 00:03:57

little cheese, and munch away.

Nancy May: 00:04:00

All right, it might get a little sloppy, but who cares?

Nancy May: 00:04:03

That's what a sponge is for.

Nancy May: 00:04:05

Or a napkin, even better yet, garbage bags that smell good.

Nancy May: 00:04:11

Now, all right, garbage doesn't smell so good.

Nancy May: 00:04:15

And Lysol smells even yuckier, in my opinion.

Nancy May: 00:04:19

but garbage bags that smell like lavender, that's kind of interesting.

Nancy May: 00:04:24

And especially if you're disposing of incontinent products.

Nancy May: 00:04:29

Now back to food, palates change with age and sometimes our parents will prefer

Nancy May: 00:04:34

things that are sweet, sugar is not always the best thing, especially if you're

Nancy May: 00:04:38

diabetic, But sometimes they actually prefer spicy things over sweet things.

Nancy May: 00:04:43

You can figure that out pretty easily by just testing a few changes on

Nancy May: 00:04:46

their dinner plate or breakfast plate.

Nancy May: 00:04:49

They might like jalapeno Cheerios.

Nancy May: 00:04:52

You never know.

Nancy May: 00:04:53

Now if you're in Lowe's or Home Depot or even Harbor Freight, here are a

Nancy May: 00:04:59

couple of things to think about too.

Nancy May: 00:05:01

Walk down the aisles and think about grab bars.

Nancy May: 00:05:04

Yeah, they have grab bars.

Nancy May: 00:05:05

Some of them are not actually particularly safe.

Nancy May: 00:05:08

So make sure that the ones that you have at some kind of grip mechanism

Nancy May: 00:05:12

in the back, usually a little texture, the slippery things don't

Nancy May: 00:05:15

work so well, or the bars that don't have texture on them may not work

Nancy May: 00:05:19

so well, especially in the shower.

Nancy May: 00:05:24

pleasing, putting hands on a slippery bar that have no texture

Nancy May: 00:05:28

with soap on them can be dangerous.

Nancy May: 00:05:31

Just be careful.

Nancy May: 00:05:32

Remember that when you go into Home Depot and look for grab bars.

Nancy May: 00:05:37

Getting up and down stairs can be tough, especially just that

Nancy May: 00:05:41

little lip from the garage into the kitchen or into a pantry area.

Nancy May: 00:05:45

You can get ramps at Home Depot or Lowe's that are designed for mechanical devices.

Nancy May: 00:05:52

Ideally, you want those ramps to have some sort of cushion Or something

Nancy May: 00:05:56

that your feet or your parents feet are not going to slip on.

Nancy May: 00:05:59

The metal ramps are not so good, but if all else fails, get a piece

Nancy May: 00:06:04

of carpet, glue it down to that ramp and make sure that they don't

Nancy May: 00:06:09

slide off or you don't slide off.

Nancy May: 00:06:11

If you don't want to spend money on a ramp because they can get expensive, There's

Nancy May: 00:06:16

nothing like a couple of 2x4s to give support, especially one down the middle,

Nancy May: 00:06:21

And a big flat piece of particle board.

Nancy May: 00:06:23

You can paint it to look pretty, or like I said, tack down carpet.

Nancy May: 00:06:28

It works perfectly.

Nancy May: 00:06:30

And don't forget microwaves and other devices in Home Depot or Lowe's.

Nancy May: 00:06:35

The reason why I mentioned that is because if you have a gas stove or an electric

Nancy May: 00:06:40

stove in your parents home, and they're just having problems with neuropathy or

Nancy May: 00:06:46

forgetfulness, The best thing you can do is to make sure that those are unplugged

Nancy May: 00:06:50

if mom or dad are there by themselves.

Nancy May: 00:06:54

give them a small microwave and show them how to use it.

Nancy May: 00:06:57

let me tell you a quick story about an electric oven that my mom

Nancy May: 00:07:01

and dad had in a care facility.

Nancy May: 00:07:03

One day, I go visit Mom and Dad.

Nancy May: 00:07:05

I came down from the north to the south, and yes, I called myself the

Nancy May: 00:07:09

Wicked Witch from the north, because I would fly down, visit Mom and Dad,

Nancy May: 00:07:13

always smiling, and usually stir up a little trouble for the caregivers,

Nancy May: 00:07:17

or I wouldn't say the caregivers, but the facility management, who tended

Nancy May: 00:07:22

not to think too much about safety.

Nancy May: 00:07:25

I don't think they even thought about ramifications of a lot of things, although

Nancy May: 00:07:30

they were one of the better places in this area where Mom and Dad lived.

Nancy May: 00:07:34

Pretty doesn't always mean good.

Nancy May: 00:07:37

In any case, what was happening on this trip, I learned, is that Dad was storing

Nancy May: 00:07:41

straw baskets on top of an electric stove in Mom and Dad's apartment.

Nancy May: 00:07:46

Now that's fine if Dad didn't bump into the buttons that were on the

Nancy May: 00:07:50

front, not on the back of the stove.

Nancy May: 00:07:52

By the way, if you do have an electric appliance, please make sure that you buy

Nancy May: 00:07:57

one or have one with the buttons in the back, so that they don't accidentally bump

Nancy May: 00:08:01

into them if they're going to use them.

Nancy May: 00:08:04

So, I see that Dad stored these drawer baskets, collecting creamers and sugars

Nancy May: 00:08:09

and anything else he could find, including little crackers for Mom, Who really

Nancy May: 00:08:13

didn't feel like going down to the dining room to have a meal three times a day.

Nancy May: 00:08:17

I get it.

Nancy May: 00:08:19

It's alright.

Nancy May: 00:08:20

But, my concern was that Dad didn't really know his way around a kitchen.

Nancy May: 00:08:24

So, a small efficiency kitchen.

Nancy May: 00:08:28

He would bump into things, turn around, not even knowing that he

Nancy May: 00:08:32

had twisted a knob, or bumped his hip on a corner and got in a bruise.

Nancy May: 00:08:37

That's okay.

Nancy May: 00:08:38

I loved it anyway, Dad, and I still do.

Nancy May: 00:08:40

But my concern was what would happen if he bumped into those

Nancy May: 00:08:43

knobs and the stove turned on.

Nancy May: 00:08:47

Oof, Could You Imagine, Cooked Mom and Dad, Alright, so

Nancy May: 00:08:51

that's a little too graphic.

Nancy May: 00:08:53

On that afternoon, I marched down to the general manager's office and just

Nancy May: 00:08:57

inquired about their liability insurance.

Nancy May: 00:09:01

and then proceeded to explain what had happened.

Nancy May: 00:09:05

Within seconds, the maintenance, I have to laugh here about this one, but truly,

Nancy May: 00:09:09

within seconds, the maintenance department was down there unplugging that stovetop.

Nancy May: 00:09:14

Honestly, I hope they checked in every other apartment too, because

Nancy May: 00:09:17

it wasn't just my folks that were dealing with that, I know.

Nancy May: 00:09:20

I'm pretty sure that there were others in their facility that were

Nancy May: 00:09:24

dealing with similar challenges.

Nancy May: 00:09:26

so other things that you can find either at Lowe's, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight,

Nancy May: 00:09:30

or any other kind of fix it store, are wall outlets, now I'm not talking about

Nancy May: 00:09:36

the 3D wall outlets that you might put a light in, or something like that,

Nancy May: 00:09:41

But I'm actually talking about the physical plate that goes onto the outlet.

Nancy May: 00:09:46

There are some that actually have little tiny lights that are light sensitive,

Nancy May: 00:09:50

and there's no need for a nightlight.

Nancy May: 00:09:52

There are three little lights on the bottom, and when the lights are off, they

Nancy May: 00:09:56

light up and show your way down the hall.

Nancy May: 00:09:59

I love those because there's nothing to bump into, nothing to fall off the wall,

Nancy May: 00:10:04

you know, like a nightlight or something like that, and could get broken because.

Nancy May: 00:10:08

You never know, wheelie walkers smash into things, glass lights can shatter

Nancy May: 00:10:15

and cause all sorts of problems.

Nancy May: 00:10:17

But those little light plates are a gem.

Nancy May: 00:10:20

I love each and every one of them.

Nancy May: 00:10:22

And then finally, well, not finally, but it's just another

Nancy May: 00:10:26

way to think about things,

Nancy May: 00:10:27

Is the no hands needed waste basket.

Nancy May: 00:10:30

I love those.

Nancy May: 00:10:31

You just wave your hand over them, the lid goes up, and pop, in your garbage goes.

Nancy May: 00:10:37

Whatever that might be, We as caregivers rarely have a free hand.

Nancy May: 00:10:43

so I love those no hands needed waste baskets.

Nancy May: 00:10:47

These are just a few things to get you thinking differently the

Nancy May: 00:10:51

next time you walk into your next neighborhood retail establishment.

Nancy May: 00:10:55

It doesn't matter what it is.

Nancy May: 00:10:57

Like I said, Lowe's, Home Depot, The Grocery Store, Or even

Nancy May: 00:11:01

your favorite ice cream store.

Nancy May: 00:11:04

There are lots of ways to think differently about solving problems

Nancy May: 00:11:06

that you're dealing with every day.

Nancy May: 00:11:08

and my guess is that you might even come up with a few brilliant ideas

Nancy May: 00:11:13

that can be shared here with others.

Nancy May: 00:11:15

If you do go to EldercareSuccess.

Nancy May: 00:11:18

live and leave a message for me.

Nancy May: 00:11:20

There's a little button on the side that says leave Nancy a voicemail message.

Nancy May: 00:11:24

You can leave a voicemail or just leave me an email and say, Hey Nance, here's a

Nancy May: 00:11:29

tip that I found blah, blah, blah store.

Nancy May: 00:11:33

It might help others.

Nancy May: 00:11:34

I'll share it here on the show and I'll mention your name too.

Nancy May: 00:11:39

Why do we do this?

Nancy May: 00:11:40

Because, I'm pretty sure that you want to be in Eldercare Success.

Nancy May: 00:11:44

I do too.

Nancy May: 00:11:46

And finally, If you like the show, please let me know.

Nancy May: 00:11:50

You can do it on any of your podcast listening platforms,

Nancy May: 00:11:53

and on eldercaresuccess.

Nancy May: 00:11:57

live.

Nancy May: 00:11:59

Sharing is caring.

Nancy May: 00:12:01

It can be your gift to somebody that you know, a friend, a family member, or even

Nancy May: 00:12:05

a stranger, because it's my gift to you.

Nancy May: 00:12:08

Be well, stay well, and we'll see you soon and hear you soon.

Nancy May: 00:12:13

Bye bye.