When patient is not mobile and can barely ... - PSP Association
When patient is not mobile and can barely stand do you cloth them each day and if so what?
Dear Jim,
I tended to work on the keep it simple principle with my sister. Gathered skirts, generous sized tops and shawls.With great costume jewellery to feel good. Susan also loved bright nail polish and designs (which is now fully back in vogue).
Regards,
Alana - Western Australia
Sharyn gets manicure and pedicure this week with bright polish. Thanks for responding. Jimbo
When dressing in ordinary clothes became a problem one of the carers took some of my wife/s more generous sized skirts and altered them by cutting them at the back so they were similar to a hospital gown in function but not appearance. Loose stretchy tops and button down the back blouses worked well, supplemented with blankets and shoulder wraps when necessary. We dressed Margaret every day for as long as possible but there were two of us and Margaret had lost quite a lot of weight. Circumstances dictate what is practical/possible and as has been frequently said there is no 'one size fits all' with this disease.
Regards, Jerry
Jerry, Thanks for the help and ideas.
Hi Jim
I did get my Dad up and dressed every day. I think my reasons for this were that Dad wasn't the type of person to not be dressed first thing. I never in my life saw him come down for coffee or whatever in pajamas and slippers, he didn't even own such things for the majority of his life. Therefore I just tried to stick to that our of respect for the man he was. It's an individual choice for the people involved. If there are much more important things that you need the strength for, then skipping getting fully dressed would not be a bad thing. Also, if the person liked to be in other garb at other times, then that's great. A lot of my friends used to put their night wear on as soon as dinner was over and sit around watching tv, all dressed for bed. I also, when on holiday for work, would pick one day when my husband would walk the dogs himself and deal with anything that needed to be outside and I wouldn't even get dressed that day! It was great fun, I loved my pajama days as they were a novelty. Maybe you could have a few days each week where you make it like a fun day, and neither of you bother getting dressed! When my Mum was terminal with cancer she spent a lot of time in bed but when she did get up, it was usually loose shorts with elasticated waist and a big baggy t shirt over the top. I found it quite easy to dress her in these but once she couldn't stand up at all, she preferred just to be in a big baggy t shirt. She hated nightgowns, even the shorter ones as they would get tangled up and twisted around her legs. I would never have thought of cutting skirts up the back and it's a brilliant idea. I hope you find solutions. Love to you both.
Sharon, I can relate to not getting dressed. I have many days where my shower is 3 or 4 in the afternoon. It just seems that being caregiver and doing all the other chores takes so much time. If it's late I shower then just put on another pair of PJs for the rest of the evening. LOL
