Displaying items by tag: sallycarescom

Giving up is not easy.  But when we have to “give up” on family members or friends, it is even harder.

If people in your life are not making good choices, and you find yourself getting dragged into their drama, ask yourself the following questions:

1.  Am I being affected by the drama that I agree to be involved in?

2.  Is the situation negatively affecting me and/or my family?

If the answer to either question is yes, then you need to back away.  Stop enabling a situation that is not changing with your involvement.  Spend your energy on more productive things. 

It’s time to take an inventory of your goals, your time and your life.  Work on establishing positive outcomes.  You will be better for it! “Now, let’s get going!”  xo Sally

Every time I sit down to write my Thought of The Day, I often wonder what you think when you read my comments. I know what I don’t want. I certainly don’t want to offend anyone. I would love for you all to feel like you could contribute to the Thought of The Day section on Sallycares.com. I am amazed by some of the thoughts and tips that patients and caregivers come up with to handle things that they have had to overcome.

Even though I have been an Occupational Therapist for 36 years, I still learn something new every day. I have learned so much by working with patients in their homes. The challenge of home health is that you have to modify what you want to do every time you are in a different home environment. Have I tried some things that didn’t work? Sure. Have I learned from each effort? Absolutely.

That is the fun of staying in touch and sharing ideas. If you have a question that you are struggling with, let us know what it is. Send us a message through Contact Us. We will be glad to give you some ideas.

So now it’s your turn. Have you solved a problem at home that used to cause you a lot of grief? Did you develop a technique to transfer a person out of the passenger side of the car? How about an easy way to put on an article of clothing? How about a funny or motivational thought that you would like to share? Send it to us through Contact Us!

If we use your “Thought” you will win a Free 3 month membership to Sallycares.com.  Anything you can share may help someone else. “Now, let’s get going!”  xo Sally

When it comes to modifying your home to make things easier, we have a lot of ideas on the web site. This picture is not necessarily one of the modifications that is suggested, but what an idea!

Put modifications of your home into perspective. It doesn't have to be horrible. When you have to bring someone into your home that is in a wheelchair, or that has to use a walker, you have to objectively look around and decide what needs to be moved to maximize safety. Certain things should be taken into consideration:

Doorway widths   - You can make a narrow doorway wider by removing the door and putting up a folding room divider in its place for privacy.

Throw rugs - Those extra rugs are just not safe. The ends curl up and get caught on the wheelchair wheels and often trip people. Roll them up and put them away.

Furniture placement-Move furniture pieces to allow sufficient width for the wheelchair to move between the bed and the dresser, the sofa and the coffee table, or whatever blocks the movement of the wheelchair.

Realize that you are not only making the living environment safer, you are enabling the person using the equipment to be more independent. You don’t want someone to add additional injuries to their current limitations, just because the living space was not adapted to be safer.

Now...go relax and have that glass of wine (if your medical professionals say that you can!)

If you have questions regarding a specific situation you are dealing with, send us a message through Contact Us or leave your question here. Let us help you figure out some solutions!  Have a great weekend!  “Now let’s get going!” xo Sally

What Is a Mistake? 

Do you make mistakes? What a crazy word that is. I have heard a saying that; “God doesn’t make any mistakes,” meaning that there must be a purpose behind what you are given to deal with during your lifetime. 

But instead of being so serious, let’s just think about mistakes we have made, which I think we could agree would mean an error in judgment, and what we learn from them. 

I can think of plenty of mistakes I have made, and if they have had life altering consequences, it is doubtful that I repeated them. (not on purpose anyway) But let’s look at how we choose to manage our health, and particularly the food choices we make. 

There is a reason that every year more people make a “resolution” to lose weight and go to the gym, around December 31^st, and by February of the following year those gyms have made a bundle on the folks that no longer show up. 

We easily fall back into those habits, I think we could even call them mistakes, that bring us back down that path that we are trying to avoid. 

So what we are going to do is develop teams of people that want to do one thing;  *Change the mistake of falling back into the trap of making poor food choices and ultimately not losing the weight that you want to lose, or if you have lost weight, how do you keep it off? 

We have all been there. Weight management is certainly one of my biggest “mistakes.” 

So I am joining this process myself. Who out there wants to join me? Let us know through Contact Us and we will be in touch with you. The holidays are coming… and we all want to enjoy them…so let’s start! 

Groups will be forming at the end of this month! Join us and let’s make this happen! 

“Now, let’s get going!” xo Sally

We can’t easily ignore the news of the day.  We are surrounded by events in real time when they occur.  Whether we catch the news on line, on television or via mobile phones, we clearly are consumed by technology.  It’s easy to fall into that trap.  We’ve all been there.  There are videos of people walking into poles, water fountains and into each other, while texting on their mobile devices.  They are not looking ahead and take too much for granted…assuming there is nothing in their pathway.

Yesterday a young man was killed in San Francisco, leaving a train.  All of the people in the train were staring at their mobile devices, and the only way the activity prior to the event was captured, was by the security cameras.  The man with the gun was seen on the camera, waving the gun around, and no one looked up and saw him.  That is a sign.  We are really too involved in avoiding what is happening around us.

Here is my request for today.  Look around you.  Take in the detail.  If someone asked you how many people were in the elevator with you, would you know?

It is important to be aware of your surroundings.  Things are happening around you all day long.  Do you see them?  Recognize how important it is to pay attention to things around you.  You may miss something important…like someone smiling at you!  You never know.  “Now let’s get going!” xo Sally