Craig's Newest Love: Come And Find Out Why

Yes Craig has a new love. Of course he always says his only loves are me And our Lord Jesus Christ. However, In recent weeks, Something entered his life That is changed him in ways I never imagined. Jealousy knocks on my door, But I refuse to let it in, especially because I can completely understand why. Over the course of my life, My dear mom has given me two of these devices, understandably, because she thought they would help my life. Unfortunately in my situation, you need two well functioning hands to make one work. My life wasn't complete, But I got bye :o)

If any of you out there have osteoarthritis Or any other kind of hand pain, You too will completely understand why my husband has a new love. It has been difficult seeing how much pain he is in, just completing simple tasks like opening jars or cans. Then one day our last manual can opener croaked again. Trying to figure out what to do, I became like my mom - That happens more often than you think- Thanks Mom! What could help my husband, even just a tiny bit? One of those electric can openers that mom used to try to give me!
On to Amazon I went. Never owning one before,  I asked Craig his opinion. Turns out he had one before, back when he was a bachelor. So it was time For him to have one again.

Below Is a fun And mildly informative video, About why An electric can opener may make your life easier. Hope you enjoy.
WATCH...

Please like -share and subscribe, If you want to of course.

HOW TO TRANSFER FROM YOUR WHEELCHAIR TO BED OR CAR....

Even though my husband has been using a wheelchair for about thirty years, he is still always learning how to do daily activities as his body faces aging issues such as osteoarthritis. For instance, up until about seven years ago, he would do a standing pivot transfer. Meaning he would stand up, hold on to his arm rests, carefully balance and pivot to drop down his backside onto whatever surface he wanted to transfer to.
Life Altering Injuries
One day as he was standing about to pivot, he noticed his wheelchair brake was releasing. Not wanting to come crashing down, he made a sudden twisting move to hit the bed surface, heard a wrenching, tearing sound in his shoulder. It was a memorable night, but ever since, he has not been able to transfer the way he always did. His rotator cuff was torn and mighty painful. In fact, it has never been restored completely. He has undergone physical therapy, has stretches and and exercises to do at home. Words of wisdom, if you have a routine your physio wants you to do, stay committed and do those exercises and stretches because if you slack off, as my husband has discovered, your muscles and joints, tendons and ligaments will suffer. The old adage, if you don't move it, you'll lose it, is true. Not to mention in his case, because he is sixty four, osteoarthritis has been impacting his physical mobility in his hands and fingers. Again, all the more reason to keep mobile no matter what it takes!
Not Confined to Our Wheelchairs, Just Using Them!
Like I said, if you are able to bear weight like Craig, you can stand holding onto your braked wheelchair and pivot onto your destination. Unless you end up with a a shoulder injury like he did,

Me and my older hoyer lift

then you need to find another way that doesn't involve standing.
As Life changes your abilities, it means coming up with new ways to make life happen.
The sliding transfer Craig does now, is the one I used before I broke my leg doing it back in the this photo when I was eighteen! It was only because of my motor neurone disorder, Spinal Muscular Atrophy. My arm collapsed while I was sliding from my bed onto my wheelchair. Plunk, I my knee hit the floor and I heard a devastating crunch. In my situation, I lost the muscles needed while healing my femur fracture. Mental note, when you live with progressive neuromuscular disorders, please remember to move your muscles as much as possible in order to maintain the strength you had prior to whatever it was that landed you in the hospital or cast.
But this is about transferring for persona who are able to do it on their own, without any devices such as a hoyer lift or even a transfer board.
Before I used a Hoyer hydraulic lift, I would transfer the same way Craig has been ever since the injury. I call it a sliding transfer. It can be done without any assistive devices. In Craig's case and others, it is often necessary to make sure the surface, be it the bed must be raised to a similar height as your wheelchair seat. Unless you are a pro, with great strength, sliding from surface to surface of equal height is the easiest.
Let's See How Other's Do IT!
Below are some very useful videos, the first one is from a cool dude, seriously he is :o) named Mad Martini! I love his Channel title, "Wheelchairs Rock!" So take a look at this to see the basic transferring skills that Marty shares as he enters and exits his car. And then we have added a few more useful videos on the same topic of sliding transfers.
Watch Martin Transfer Here:

How To Transfer From Wheelchair To Bed

From Wheelchair To Floor

A Variety Of Wheelchair Transfers

Wheelchair To Chair Transfer

Floor To Wheelchair Transfer

CRAIG FINISHES HIS DIP: Revlon's Wax Therapy Spa For Arthritis. Part #2

Okay, time for Craig to complete his dip in the wax therapy bath. (Watch the video above) If anyone else wants to try this great device, it does take some planning. It takes about two hours to completely let the paraffin wax melt down into liquid form. And then you definitely may want to reduce the heat slightly, prior to using. If you watched Part #1, (click here.) you will know that just as he was about to begin dipping his hand in, Craig noticed that a layer of cooled wax formed on the surface. Just like pudding skin! Make sure you test the wax prior to dunking your hand in. And then, as you will see in the video in part #1, how many times you should dip. When done, make sure you let the wax solidify before you slip your hand into the plastic baggie and then quickly into the insulated mitten. Revlon provides the wax, a pair of these cool mittens and a supply of baggies. Which is pretty good for the price.

Re-Using The Wax?
Remember to keep the wax from getting contaminated too fast, make sure you wash your hands well prior to dipping. And we chose to place the peeled off wax into a separate baggie and re-melt it all together in the future. The whole amount can be re-melted and used about ten times or more. We found a person in our research who said to keep using it. But, when it gets clouded and a bit smelly, clean it out. That is a whole other process.
We do not recommend letting it actually get cloudy and smelly first. That would not be sanitary and could cause infections.

The spa was Craig's birthday gift!
Did you see the sweet surprise in the video?

We Learned...
1. Heat therapy in any form is definitely beneficial to arthritis and some other pain.
2. Wax Baths definitely help provide comfort to osteoarthritis sufferers.
3. Plan at least two hours ahead and you won't be disappointed.
4. Make sure to have the baggies and mitt close by your therapy bath. Ot else it could get messy trying to reach everything.
5. It not only relieves pain in your hands for a while, it softens rough dry skin.
6. It can be used on feet as well. Remember to wash your feet meticulously PRIOR to dipping!

CRAIG TAKES A DIP! Part #1

Craig celebrated his 64th birthday this month. Not sure what to get him, I decided he might benefit from a hot wax bath device. It was easy to find one on Amazon.ca in Canada. It may be dusted rose in colour, but pink doesn't make him any less masculine than he already is :o)
We made a short two part video in case anyone else is interested in these products. Not so he can have pretty fingernails but to provide relief to his poor, bent up fingers. Osteoarthritis has been wreaking havoc on Craig's well worn hands. Not only does using a wheelchair for thirty or so years crack and dry out his skin, but it means arthritis doesn't help when he still needs to use his hands to propel his legs.

Did the wax bath work? 
Watch Part one Below....
There is a Nummy surprise, keep your eye peeled.