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I buy the big Stouffer and Marie Calendar frozen dinners for my Step Dad at Walmart. Stouffers Chicken,Rice and Vegetable dinner; Cheesy Chicken and Rice; Chicken Parmesan. Marie Calendars Meatloaf and Potatoes.

I am only caregiver for my bed-ridden mom who has a feeding tube and vascular dementia.

My Step Dad has Alzheimers Stage 4. I mow lawn. I made it simple for myself. I am getting things organized in each room again. I dont stress over things that have to get done. No family members come over to help. I had bad help in the past with housekeeping and caregiving. Had my own business. I have to take care of them. Not going on Medicaid. Would just be bad care all over again. Property is involved and not giving up the house. I do errands once a week. They have social security and pension. I have gotten much stronger going through this. Learning a lot. I have Visiting Physicians Association come to the house once a month for mom. I also have a pharmacy that delivers for free and is 5 minutes from my house. I have a beautician that comes to the house to cut hair. I go to Walgreens, Walnart and Jewel. And sometimes WholeFood and Tradef Joe's. I use to workout caregiving gives you a good workout. I drink protein powder.
I give my Step Dad Max Protein and Enlive to drink. He can still walk and do things for himself.
I do laundry everyday. Housekeeping not done as much.
I keep it as simple as possible now. I am going to sleep at midnight and getting up by 8:30am. I don't stress about anything any more.
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Ellaella Jul 2019
How do you help bedridden mom..any tips on how to give bath, change clothes etc. I have a bad back and I am finding this task difficult with my LO.
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When I started having to manage Mom’s meals, snacks, etc., I adopted the same strategies I used when raising 3 active boys while I worked FT. I created a monthly meal plan & a list of easy snacks for Mom’s night-time grazing. From that was a master list of ingredients & snacks. I would have everything delivered once a month. Then I would put snacks into snack-size baggies or containers & we would stick to the meal plan without fail.

Ditto for laundry — certain items on certain days, with hampers for each type of item. If I cleaned our house, I would have followed the same approach; however, I had someone do that every other week.
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My saving grace is my husband; he assists with taking my 93 and 94 yr old parents to appointments and insists we get away from time to time.
Also, making plans with a good home care agency for back up support in case one of them is hospitalized while we are away.
Having on line accounts for their medical providers so I can get test results, appointments, communicate with docs without having to be on the phone forever.
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My grocery stores have a salad and hot entree bar. The meals change daily. If I don't like what I see at one, I go to the other one(s).
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Please share online food company info.
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freqflyer Jul 2019
Check around with your local grocery stores and see if they offer this service. In my area, Washington DC, the on-line service is called Peapod which partners with Giant Grocery Store. Peapod also has services in some other city locations.

Other grocery stores in my area also offer a similar service, using their own website. Someone shops for you in that particular store.

I pay an extra $2.50 for curb-side pickup which is scheduled for a certain day and within a certain time frame. I need to buy $60 or more of groceries. The service also offers home delivery which is $10, but the order needs to be $100 or more. I also get gasoline points :)

I have been using this service for many years now, as I find grocery shopping B O R I N G since I hate to cook :P
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What an interesting topic...and helpful responses. Such a terrific community.
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A lot of seniors might enjoy having an Amazon Alexa device for music, turning lights on/off, ask questions, get news, etc. Note: It does not call 911.
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Gabbygirl Jul 2019
I use the Alexa with my mom. I set it up to remind her when to take medications, when to do breathing treatments, to make sure she is using her oxygen. She said it’s been helpful because she forgets. I can manage the reminders from my phone, and I have cameras in her place to check in without being intrusive. This was requested by several of her doctors as they felt she needed some supervision.
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Also BOOST, for you. Cold. Chocolate is great.
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BLTMom33 Jul 2019
I agree and purchase my mom Boost rich chocolate because she likes it. She is a picky eater so I had to limit meals or else she’ll waste or not eat it. The game changer for me has been pay online and pick up at store (curbside). It saves a lot of time, especially during holidays, etc.
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I am pretty much the crock pot queen and always make a ton and freeze. Fortunately I love things like Buffalo Hot Wing Chicken Pasta sauce and spaghetti and tons of beans, so I eat very inexpensively. So much depends on the food you enjoy.
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When it came to meals..
I made a lot of soup and or stew. Easy to portion into 2 cup serving sizes in the little Ball Jars and put in the freezer. Easily thawed in the microwave. (When it was necessary I would puree prior to freezing)
Because it was soups and stews I shopped a lot of the close out produce, little bruises don't show up in a soup! so meals were pretty inexpensive done that way.

This sounds real strange but it worked.
When he started using tab briefs rather than the pull up type i would have him stand by the sink after toileting and put the brief on "backwards" so I was using his body to get the tabs fastened as tight as I could. Then another oddity..In the morning after his shower when dressing him I would put a pair of regular boxer brief on him OVER the tab brief. This held it in place better and he was less likely to have the tabs pop open. (It did help that the tabs were in the back though.)

Another strange thing I discovered.
When he sat on the toilet the barrier cream I used would sort of make him stick to the seat. I replaced the oblong toilet seat with one of the U shaped ones. I then placed a Tube sock on each side. He would sit down,. the sock would prevent the sticking and I could pull off the sock when he was done and wash it, I no longer had to scrub waterproof cream off the toilet seat.!

Pool noodles made great bumpers at the edge of the table so he would not bump his knees into the table if I pushed him in too close. The also padded the back bar on the wheelchair so it was not as hard. They also added padding on the arm and edge of the wheelchair so when he started leaning to one side I could prop him easily.
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anonymous828521 Jul 2019
You're a genius! 😅 Grandma1954
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I was a senior helping my very senior parents [90's] and grocery shopping was exhausting. I was still working full time, and doing volunteer work.

Just didn't want to take a whole Sunday being in grocery stores... yes, plural, because Mom would read the grocery ads and this store had a sale on can soup, another store a sale on bread, another on cereal. Target had the best price on cookies, etc. Mom was just use to doing that with my Dad once he had retired decades ago... it kept them busy.

Along came on-line grocery shopping. YES !! I set up an account for my parents, and a separate account for me. I could shop in my pj's. I could shop at midnight.

I had a choice of curb-side pick-up at the grocery store, or home delivery.

Of course, my Mom could claim the "food taste funny" even though it was the same identical product she would buy in the brick & mortar store. And heaven forbid if a brand name changed their packaging.... [rolling eyes].
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Eloise1943 Jul 2019
Online shopping has been so great. Now I have everything I need to put meals together
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Rather than pre-packaged meals, I purchased an Instant Pot, the large, 8qt version. I can control what goes into the food for my husband who is on a cardiac, low-salt meal plan. I make enough different meals to freeze and we eat well for a week. Cooking in the Instant Pot is very quick and I can usually make all my meals in a few hours.
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shb1964 Jul 2019
Ahmijoy, do you have website or cookbook info on low-salt meals for the Instant Pot you could share. Thank you.
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I'm still in the 'at a distance' stage as the person I'm helping lives alone and manages fairly well. To monitor things without being intrusive, I use a SmartThings hub in their house with motion sensors -- I can tell if they're up and about, and I get an alarm if there is no activity for too long. In addition, they wear a Fitbit, and I can log in and see their heart rate and number of steps.

KaiulaniK which company are you using for meals? We have some of the PlantPure entree types at the local grocery store, and I would totally have crates full of those shipped in if necessary -- whole food, no added oil, and delicious.
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anonymous930694 Jul 2019
I am using Trifecta Nutrition and do the ala carte ordering. It works very well for my situation, after reading more about other caregivers' situations, it might not make sense.

The funniest thing about not having time to shop is I work AT A GROCERY STORE!
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