Early this morning, while catheterizing Bob, I thought how blessed he and I are to have the things we need to live a somewhat normal life. There's that word "normal" again. Anyway, I thought of some things I take for granted. Like, having catheters at all. Then, my thoughts segued to readers of this blog who might want to know about where I get everything that we use--catheters, protective briefs, thickening for food and drinks, and whatever else we use to make our tasks go a little smoother.
Online shopping has saved my life!
Below gives only a sampling of items you can get through these online stores:
Lots of great and fairly inexpensive products for incontinence like protective briefs, pads & liners, swimming pants; for personal care like skin care (pressure sores) and examination gloves, and odor control; health & wellness like pain care, digestion, vision and hearing, and compression hosiery & socks; and for mobility from transport/wheelchairs to ramps; for daily living and items and ideas for bathroom, bedroom, mealtime, as well as ideas for comfort, mattresses, apparel, and books. However, as an author, I seem to have quite a healthy collection in our library. They also have safety ideas such as fall and motion monitoring, bathroom Safety, bedroom safety, and fall prevention.
I use Allegro mainly to purchase catheters but they have quite a plethora of other products and services from catheters to incontinence to wound care to patient care; from orthopedics to exam gloves, syringes, and ostomy
I get Thick-it, a thickening agent for drinks and food from Walmart and anything else I think they may have. Many dementia patients begin to lose their ability to swallow without choking. Bob has moved to that point in his progression. Thickening agents are water soluble and have no taste. They simply thicken whatever someone is drinking, like water or wine; or eating, like soup.
Astroglide (ask me how embarrassed I get each time I order this!). I need Astroglide for Bob's catheterizations. Otherwise, ouch.
But this list only nicks the top of resources out there for caring. There are so many other resources on what to get for any situation and where to get it. Plus, all these places ship directly and discreetly to your front door. We live on an island and it's difficult for us to do a lot of traveling so these online resources are a godsend. The only drawback are the recyclable boxes that products arrive in. We recycle. We promote recycling but all the items in boxes we get that are too expensive to purchase on the island, adds up. Still, I really couldn't do it without these online resources.
Anyway, I hope this post helps a bit. And, again, if you have questions you think I might know the answers to, just ask me.
God bless you all.