I recommend carrying antibacterial wipes and a squirt bottle of 60% SD alcohol (both). These items are readily available at most pharmacies and come in small sealed packages for travel. Before eating or touching your face or blowing your nose, you should take out a wipe, squirt it with alcohol, and cleanse your hands thoroughly. Take your time: its good for hand-eye coordination. Save the used wipes in a zip lock bag: they are good indefinitely until (even after) they become gray with dirt and squirt in an occasional dollop of SD alcohol to keep them wet. Be careful with the alcohol: it is flammable. Let it dry completely before lighting a cigarette, pipe, cigar, or going near an open flame.
Occasionally, a few people will get a rash on their hands from being "super clean." This effect is because you have killed off some friendly bacteria that were controlling yeasts and molds normally present on the hands. A few days of treatment with Clotrimazole ointment, available over the counter, will usually solve this problem. Unfortunately, if you are concerned about the cleanliness of your hands, you must still have the use of your hands.
Many do not.
David T. Killough, CIH CSP CHMM MSIH
Director of Environmental Hazards (ad hoc)
Stems?
Going out to lunch with a friend of mine several months ago was an experience in itself. As usual, the waitress brought me a glass that was large, heavy, and contained no straw. My friend giggled as she knew I could not pick up the glass and asked the waitress for a straw, and then of course, it was the problem of looking awkward with a glass sitting close enough to my plate so that I could easily slide it to sip from the straw. As my friend and I chatted over our lunch, she asked me what I had done with all the stem ware that I had when I moved into a smaller house. "Oh, I still have all that stuff," I replied.
"Well, why don't you use it?" she asked. "What do you think the stems are for, Dummy?"
It suddenly occurred to me that while I had lost a lot of strength in my fingers, she just resolved a problem, and I could hardly wait to get home to try it. Well, she was right! I seldom use regular drinking glasses anymore because I discover I could use stem ware by wrapping my pinky and ring finger around the stem and my other three fingers to control the bowl of the glass. Inexpensive stem ware is available at most department stores. (The lighter, the better!)
Racing Through Life
We heard from a member who felt she was having serious problems with an obsession of trying to accomplish too much at once. The thought occurred that she was not alone, as many of us tend to collect zillions of projects that we try to complete in an unrealistic period of time.
We race for different reasons: To keep busy, feel useful, filling empty time, and occupying our mind accomplishing what we feel we must. We go from one project to another, racing against the clock, leaping from one project to the next and then in the middle of the race, we start a new one. And, all before the clock strikes twelve. Why do we do this? Is it healthy?
It is probably a good idea to have a variety of projects to keep from getting bored, our minds alert and active, but how many of us tend to do the impossible? The line has to be drawn when we become tired and need to rest in order to move forward instead of backward. Allowing our bodies to rest fortifies them and provides better stability and stronger minds. If we allow ourselves to become too tired, we become forgetful and then wonder if we are losing our minds.
Seldom does it seem to dawn on us that we are possibly just overcome by exhaustion, from too much planning on how to keep busy, and trying to stay ahead of ourselves completing too many projects at once. Perhaps self-examination, by just sitting quietly for a few moments each day to consider tasks, would allow constructive production of eventually accomplishing everything. What is the rush?
Racing around in power wheelchairs also seems to be an addiction for many of us. The truth be known, a person using a power wheelchair will accomplish a mountain of errands faster than someone walking, even though we can't reach the greater percentage of items, and have to ask for assistance. When in hospitals that specialize with patients using wheelchairs, we challenge others by racing in corridors until yelled at by nurses or doctors. Let's face it... we have found a way to have a little fun! And, many of us are too old to join the younger wheelers that engage themselves in sporting activities across the nation.
We worry about what ails us and think if we hurry through the process; maybe we will get everything accomplished before we cannot do anything at all. This is perhaps, the basis for which many of us race, but it still will not stop the clock nor will our racing do anything more than just frustrate us because of creating an overload of projects and in many cases, a lack of energy. So we live in a circle instead of a box and no doubt will continue to run our wheels.
Seat belts Not Only for Bumps!
Having caused a hairline fracture in my spine by hitting a low one-inch curb too fast, (well, maybe it was two inches), spending several weeks laying prone, I've become an advocator of wearing a seat belt. The truth is, had I not had the seat belt on at the time, I could have landed on my head!
Of course I became more cautious, but after a few years without any incidents, the seat belt was usually fastened behind my back, squashed between the cushion and backrest. Being a rather energetic individual, at least in spirit and mind, any excuse was a good excuse to go as fast as possible, until I suddenly discovered going downhill could potentially throw me out of my seat. The realization is seat belts are there for a purpose and may not be intended just for a bump!
If your wheelchair is equipped with a seat belt...wear it!
And... What About Coke?
The following article was submitted to Wheel Me On by a reader in Kingwood, Texas. We thought it quite fitting as many of us race through live alone.
1. In many states the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.
3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl... Let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean.
4. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
5. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a crumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
6. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away corrosion.
7. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains.
It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
9. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days.
10. To carry Coca Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous material place cards reserved for Highly Corrosive materials.
11. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!
(We would be curious of results if any readers try some or all of the above Coke remedies.)
Parting Thoughts
Checking areas of pressure on your body where sores (pressure sores or ulcers) can develop is a daily routine that should never be omitted. If scaling or rash-like skin appear, it is pertinent that the area be examined by a physician or wound care center to prevent the development of a pressure ulcer. If they are not treated, you may be saying good-bye to any travel for a long, long, time.
