Reheating Food Safely

Warning: Using a microwave requires safety awareness

The problem with family or friends leaving a dish for a stroke survivor to heat up in the microwave is that the thumb knocks the lid off when you pick up a dish one-handed.  Heating uncovered food in the microwave makes a mess. 

When I take a hot dish out of the microwave my sound hand is protected by a hot mitt and my hot mitt is protected by plastic wrap on the contaner.  You might wonder why a stroke survivor would use plastic wrap when it gives people with two good hands a run for their money.  Before I started using plastic wrap I had to wash my hot mitts repeatedly.  The mitt would get dirty when I slid my thumb into the dish so I could get a firm grip on the edge.

Go on-line to see the  "food wrap box."  It cuts the plastic wrap in one blow when I shut the lid.  Stretching the wrap over the dish is easy too.  I place the box next to the dish.  As I pull the plastic wrap out, the weight of the dish holds the food wrap box still.

Using plastic wrap also means I do not need a food strainer.
I use a hot mitt on my sound hand to hold he dish over the sink to let the water drain out.  The arrow is pointing at a flap of plastic wrap that is open.  I did not do this.  The water did it for me.
I lose a couple of pieces of small food now and then, but keeping my sound hand safe while handling hot dishes is priceless.
homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

I Am Angry

An article in Stroke magazine made me angry.  The authors said they could predict independent walking three months after a stroke based on early status after the stroke (1).  These predictors included younger age, good leg strength, good sitting, continence, no cognitive impairment, no neglect, and independence in activities of daily living. 

What made me angry is that the authors recommended these data be used to decide who should get rehab and who should go straight to residential care (1).  Data that describe groups of people cannot accurately predict which group a specific individual will end up in.  For example, data that says a chemotherapy treatment is 80% effective does not tell you if a client if will be in the 80% that will be cured or in the 20% that will die.  

There is no such thing as a perfect prediction because unaccounted for variables can change an outcome.  For example, years ago I went to the nursing floor and found two nurses transferring my client from a wheelchair to the bed.  When I asked why I could transfer him with minimum assistance but he needed two nurses to do it he said "therapists make you do things for yourself and nurses do things for you".  He did not show the least bit of embarassment when he said this.    I wondered which rationale he applied to his wife.  

To withhold care because of early status is *****!   It it fairer and more accurate to make decisions based on the amount, speed, and consistency of improvement.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

1. Preston E, Ada L, Stanton R, Mahendran N, Dean C.  Prediction of independent walking in people who are nonambulatory early after stroke: A systematic review.  Stroke. 2021 July. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.120.03245.

Staying Safe When I Do Laundry

I do laundry with the help of 2 cheap pieces of equipment I bought at Walmart.  My washing machine is so deep that to reach all the clean clothes, I have to dive into the machine with my hips resting on the rim and my feet dangling in the air.  So I use tongs designed to handle food to reach the bottom while I keep my feet on the floor.  To keep frustration from ruining my success, I keep these tongs in the laundry room where I can grab them without hunting for them.

My dryer is so deep I have to lean down and stick my head in the dryer to reach all the dry clothes.  To prevent a fall I put a cheap folding metal chair in front of the dryer.  Sitting an a chair when I reach for clothes in the back eliminates a fall hazard.  I keep this chair folded and propped against the laundry wall.  

I try not to feel smug because I did not buy high-priced adaptive equipment from a medical catalogue.  homeafterstroke.blogspot.com

Teach Us to Turn in the Kitchen

Having PTs walk me in straight lines in the PT gym and walk around the block after I went home did not prepare me for the problem solving I need do while walking.  In the hospital I was in a wheelchair, but after I got home I had to teach myself to safely turn 180 degrees while standing with the support of a cane to shut the bathroom door and turn again to flush the toilet.  

Here is another example.  The photo shows the turns I take to prepare a glass of iced tea and a bowl of cereal with a sliced banana for breakfast.  Turning away from a counter is a fall hazard because it is done by stepping backwards.  I have impaired balance so my inner ear does not tell me how far away from vertical I have stepped.  After I fell and broke my forearm while turning I got scared.  Now I use itsy bitsy baby steps to backup and turn before taking normal size steps in the new forward direction.

Research on this topic is emerging.  Chen trained stroke survivors on a straight OR a turning-based treadmill (1). Subjects walked on a round treadmill that turned underneath them as they walked in one place while holding onto parallel bars.  Subjects who learned to to accommodate the constant change created by the round treadmill were significantly better at turning while walking on level ground.  Not being able to sahomeafterstroke.blogspot.comfely turn while being distracted by a purposeful activity has serious implications. 

1. Chen, I, Yang, Y, Chan, R, Wang, R. Turning-based treadmill training improves turning
    performance and gait symmetry after stroke. Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair. 2014;28
    (1):45-55.