Safety Precautions Rocket Me to Independence

I am divorced, was not able to have children, and have one brother who lives 800 miles away so I am more likely to end up in a nursing home than some stroke survivors.  Fortunately, precautions that facilities use to keep people safe propelled me to independence.  In the rehab hospital I made the mistake of wheeling myself out to the patio when I was done with therapy for the day. The aide who was sent to find me said I could not sit outside alone.  When I pointed to people who were sitting alone she whirled my wheelchair around and took me back to my room.  The last time I was dragged inside I was probably three years old.  A psychologist said the staff were afraid I would wander off if they let me go outside, but he brokered a compromise.  I could sit outside if I came back upstairs and wrote down where I was going on a clipboard. 

Safety precautions are good.  The problem is staff who rigidly apply precautions to everyone. 
Did anyone read my chart to learn I had a stroke in the back of my brain (brainstem) instead of the cortex where cognitive functions are located?  I was treated like my roommate who was so confused she tried to use the TV remote as a telephone.  The staff attached a sensor to me at night to keep me from getting out of bed.  Every time I rolled onto my side I triggered a very loud alarm and had to wait for an aide to come shut it off.  When I finally complained, a nurse said they would stop using the sensor if I signed a release form saying they were not liable if I fell out of bed.  How long they would have used it if I had not objected? 

When I toured an assisted living facility I was upset again by procedures designed to keep people safe.  The director who gave me a tour said "elderly people prefer to have a nurse give them their medication."   If a nurse dispensed my pills, my day would revolve around visits to the nurse because I take pills three times a day.  I am not living in an apartment if the nurse can open my door with a master key to give me my pills if I sleep in.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Some People Invade My Personal Space

I snapped at a dear friend when she offered to retie my loose shoelace.  Even though I said I could do it, she insisted on helping.  This made me angry because every doctor I have seen since my stroke reaches down to untie my shoes during a physical exam.  They do it quickly because they know it is not appropriate for a male doctor to undress a female patient.  I do not know how old I was when I decided my clothing is a part of my personal space, but it was a long time ago.

Telling my friend I could do it as fast with one hand as she could do it with two hands was not a deterrent.  She said "I could tie your shoe at least once so you won't have to."  My strategy to handle this more gracefully next time will be to say "Can you tie a shoelace that has only one free end?"  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Writing Aids I Cannot Live Without

The long boring weekends in the rehab hospital drove me crazy.  When my recreational therapist gave me an opportunity to practice writing with my sound, non-dominant left hand I jumped at her offer.  My friend Arlene did not volunteer to write checks to pay my bills for the rest of her life.  Kathy helped by bringing me clear Dycem and crossword puzzles she had enlarged on a Xerox machine to make the spaces bigger.  Clear Dycem is thin and slightly sticky so it holds the paper still as I write.  Solving crossword puzzles was more fun than writing letters of the alphabet over and over like I did as a young child in school.

When I got home I found clear Dycem at www.pattersonmedical.com but was shocked at the price.   However, I splurge on a small roll of clear Dycem which costs $55 + shipping and handling because it is a writing aid I cannot live without.  I have pieces of it every where I sit down to take phone messages, pay bills, do crossword puzzles, write reminders on Post-It Notes, etc.  I make it last longer by washing it.  A small roll (8 inches x 2 yards) lasts almost two years. 

I also splurge on gel pens that cost $15 a box.  Gel pens are more forgiving that ball point pens that must be held at a precise angle to make the ink flow.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com 

Nails Do Not Stop Growing After a Stroke

         CAUTION: CLIPPING NAILS REQUIRES GOOD SENSATION AND COORDINATION

I live alone so I have to cut my nails.  I cut the nails on my sound hand by using an adapted nail clipper.  The end of the large nail clipper has a square handle which is comfortable for my palm to press on.  The long handle also gives me good leverage when I push down.      I returned the small nail clipper.  The V-shaped end dug into my palm when I pushed down.  The short handle meant I had to press hard to get enough force to cut my nail.

The large nail clipper has emery boards held by pegs that are tightened by hand.  I use these emery boards to remove sharp points at the corners of my nails. This is safer than trying to get the clipper into these tight spaces.  The clipper came with four emery boards, but replacing them is a challenge.  All the stores near my home sell only wide, thick boards (see pink board) that do not fit in the clipper.  The Internet sells long emery boards except for this link.

My sound hand uses a regular nail clipper to cut nails on my affected hand.  Spasticity in my affected hand makes my fingers curl.  To straighten them, I prop them one-at-a-time on a the edge of an opened drawer.  The open drawer allows my sound hand to get low enough to get a good cutting angle.  I put a piece of non-slip shelf liner under the finger to keep it from slipping, but the shelf liner got in the way when I photographed my hand.


Bottom Line: I cringed when I learned the large nail clipper costs $37.50, but nails do not stop growing so I do not have a choice.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com