Hi OldMtwoman, I feel for you! I spent 9 years as the primary caregiver for my elderly parents (4 for my Dad then 5 for my Mom) but I never had to take care of them both at once. No wonder you needed a respite! Your excellent list of the items you used caring for your infirm, elderly relatives got me remembering what I used. Here are some other things peppers might want to add to that list: a lightweight transport wheelchair, a gait belt, a transfer bench, removable bed rails, (a hand-cranked hospital bed would be useful too – but costly), small foam bed wedges, a waterproof mattress protector, an eggcrate foam or manually inflatable air mattress topper to help prevent bedsores, eggcrate foam and/or inflatable ring chair cushions to help prevent pressure sores from long periods of sitting, Tegaderm or similar dressings to treat early stage pressure sores, bedclothes that are easy to open so the caregiver can change adult diapers and wash a bedridden patient without having to undress them (what worked well for my Mom was light, cotton, Summer-weight robes that had a full-length front zipper that completely opened. She wore them instead of nightgowns), No Rinse shampoo “caps”, lots of Bath-sized body wipes, over-the-counter test kits to check for urinary tract infections, over-the-counter Azo urinary pain relief tablets, a blender (electric or hand-cranked) for making high calorie, nutritious smoothies for patients who can’t chew or swallow well or who have to be tempted to eat enough calories each day, high calorie formula Boost or Ensure or Jevity to supplement the diets of patients who have “lost their appetite”. I’m sure there were a lot of other things I used when caring for my elderly parents but those are the ones that readily spring to mind.
