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Coping tips!
I have been dealing with MS for over 20 years, though I wasn't DX'ed until about a year ago. So today I thought I would tell you all about my newest things for helping get through the day.
1)
One my my worst problems is memory related. I use to have Post It notes all over the place. When I discovered that I was out of something I would write myself a note and stick it on the fridge. The only problem with that besides the large number of notes to sort through, was quite often I would have variations of the same note because I forgot I already made a note for something.
So next I tried keeping notes on my computer using a word processor. But it also presented me with some problems. While it did get rid of the duplicates sometimes I could not remember what I wanted to make a note of by the time I got onto my computer. Then when I was ready to go shopping or something I would print out my notes to take with me, Of course you have to remember to take the list with also. :) And even when I remembered the list it had stuff not related to the shopping ( Doctor Appts. etc) and I also had to remember to remove the items from the master list when I got home. This didn't alway happen as by the time I would get home I was too tired to update my list. Often I would pick up the same thing several times because it remained on my list.
Time to try something else! I picked up an Ipod so that I could take it with me to the store. I tired using the notes application but it was a pain deleting entires in the store. So I started trying out the various shopping list apps. While they made it easier to delete item as I pick them up in the store, they were harder to work with. If I wanted bread I didn't want to specify whole wheat vs Italian in order to get an entry in my shopping list.
A couple of weeks ago I found an app that actually works the way I need it. It is called Errands ( very good name). That paired with my Ipod touch works like magic.
I keep the Ipod on a belt clip so it is with me all of the time ( less chance of forgetting what I wanted to enter before I can enter it). I can keep in separate lists in the app my doctor appts, shopping lists, or any other list I need. It has alarms so that I am reminded of things like take out the trash or I have a doctor appt. And I can enter items in plain English. If I need bread I just enter bread. As I bonus I also have a tip calculator so I don't have to spend forever trying to figure out tips when I go out to eat.
One other good point about this. I can get a sense of accomplishment every day. I can put tasks such as mop the bathroom floor into it and be able to check it off at some point in the day. It feels so good to be able to say you got something done when most of the time you struggle just to get through the day.
2)
I use to be a big coffee drinker ( not much else to do while on watch in the Navy). But with the MS came some problems with drinking coffee for me. I don't know how many coffee makers I have ruined over the years because I forgot to turn off the pot. I also would quite often forget how many scoops of coffee I had out in the basket as I was filling it. Many pots of coffee were either so strong I could not drink it or so weak it was like having hot water to drink. As a result I stopped drinking coffee years ago and instead started drinking a lot of soda. Not that great of a health choice!
With my recent DX of diabetes I knew that would have to change. So what to drink instead of all that soda? At first I thought of ice tea, but I can't stand that without a lot of sugar in it. Might as well drink the soda in that case at least then I would have all of the caffeine. Hot teas as a better choice, but it take forever to make a decent cup of tea. Coffee? Well I could get decaf coffee but then there were all of the problems I was having before. I also never could stand instant coffee. So I started looking for a way to have coffee without all of those problems.
I came across the Keurig coffee maker and decided to try that out. I don't have to measure out coffee ground so no strength issue. It makes a single cup of coffee so I don't have to remember to turn the opt off. If you get the My K-Cup for it it only takes one scoop of grounds so I don't lose track of how much ground I have used. It takes very little time (less than a minute) to make a cup of coffee so I don't forget that I started brewing a cup. This plus Truvia makes for a zero calorie and zero carbs drink. I now drink lots of coffee again.
Dennis
1)
One my my worst problems is memory related. I use to have Post It notes all over the place. When I discovered that I was out of something I would write myself a note and stick it on the fridge. The only problem with that besides the large number of notes to sort through, was quite often I would have variations of the same note because I forgot I already made a note for something.
So next I tried keeping notes on my computer using a word processor. But it also presented me with some problems. While it did get rid of the duplicates sometimes I could not remember what I wanted to make a note of by the time I got onto my computer. Then when I was ready to go shopping or something I would print out my notes to take with me, Of course you have to remember to take the list with also. :) And even when I remembered the list it had stuff not related to the shopping ( Doctor Appts. etc) and I also had to remember to remove the items from the master list when I got home. This didn't alway happen as by the time I would get home I was too tired to update my list. Often I would pick up the same thing several times because it remained on my list.
Time to try something else! I picked up an Ipod so that I could take it with me to the store. I tired using the notes application but it was a pain deleting entires in the store. So I started trying out the various shopping list apps. While they made it easier to delete item as I pick them up in the store, they were harder to work with. If I wanted bread I didn't want to specify whole wheat vs Italian in order to get an entry in my shopping list.
A couple of weeks ago I found an app that actually works the way I need it. It is called Errands ( very good name). That paired with my Ipod touch works like magic.
I keep the Ipod on a belt clip so it is with me all of the time ( less chance of forgetting what I wanted to enter before I can enter it). I can keep in separate lists in the app my doctor appts, shopping lists, or any other list I need. It has alarms so that I am reminded of things like take out the trash or I have a doctor appt. And I can enter items in plain English. If I need bread I just enter bread. As I bonus I also have a tip calculator so I don't have to spend forever trying to figure out tips when I go out to eat.
One other good point about this. I can get a sense of accomplishment every day. I can put tasks such as mop the bathroom floor into it and be able to check it off at some point in the day. It feels so good to be able to say you got something done when most of the time you struggle just to get through the day.
2)
I use to be a big coffee drinker ( not much else to do while on watch in the Navy). But with the MS came some problems with drinking coffee for me. I don't know how many coffee makers I have ruined over the years because I forgot to turn off the pot. I also would quite often forget how many scoops of coffee I had out in the basket as I was filling it. Many pots of coffee were either so strong I could not drink it or so weak it was like having hot water to drink. As a result I stopped drinking coffee years ago and instead started drinking a lot of soda. Not that great of a health choice!
With my recent DX of diabetes I knew that would have to change. So what to drink instead of all that soda? At first I thought of ice tea, but I can't stand that without a lot of sugar in it. Might as well drink the soda in that case at least then I would have all of the caffeine. Hot teas as a better choice, but it take forever to make a decent cup of tea. Coffee? Well I could get decaf coffee but then there were all of the problems I was having before. I also never could stand instant coffee. So I started looking for a way to have coffee without all of those problems.
I came across the Keurig coffee maker and decided to try that out. I don't have to measure out coffee ground so no strength issue. It makes a single cup of coffee so I don't have to remember to turn the opt off. If you get the My K-Cup for it it only takes one scoop of grounds so I don't lose track of how much ground I have used. It takes very little time (less than a minute) to make a cup of coffee so I don't forget that I started brewing a cup. This plus Truvia makes for a zero calorie and zero carbs drink. I now drink lots of coffee again.
Dennis
I also have a staple list in the app. but mine is set to repeat every 2 weeks as I live alone and don't go through them as quickly as you do. That is the area where I quite often had the repeat of items as I would forget if it was a staples week or not.
You did throw me with the pink lady though. Here a pink lady is a a drink made with gin. How do you get that at a grocery store? :) I had to do a search for Australia pink lady to find out what you were talking about.
The Keurig coffee maker seems to work on the same principle as your Italian Plugger pot. It forces hot water through the ground under pressure. It probably take under 15 seconds as I can barely open a packet of sweetener and pour into the cup before the cup is filled, My version of it makes 6, 8, or 10 ounce cups. You can also get all kind of different strengths and flavors of coffee, tea, hot coco, and I think even apple cider. I recently tried a blueberry muffin flavored one and it really did taste like that.
Dennis
You did throw me with the pink lady though. Here a pink lady is a a drink made with gin. How do you get that at a grocery store? :) I had to do a search for Australia pink lady to find out what you were talking about.
The Keurig coffee maker seems to work on the same principle as your Italian Plugger pot. It forces hot water through the ground under pressure. It probably take under 15 seconds as I can barely open a packet of sweetener and pour into the cup before the cup is filled, My version of it makes 6, 8, or 10 ounce cups. You can also get all kind of different strengths and flavors of coffee, tea, hot coco, and I think even apple cider. I recently tried a blueberry muffin flavored one and it really did taste like that.
Dennis
COMMUNITY LEADER
They are good tips, not sure if mine are easier or just what i've been doing that seems to work for me but here they are none the less....
List making tips:
I have a magnetic holder on the fridge, this holds note pad & pen and its our shopping list. Its always on the fridge so when ever something runs out or is needed, its not a mental brain strain getting needed items together on the one place.
I also created a 'staples' list, staples being all those things that need replacing weekly, eg 6 bananas, 12 pink ladies, 1/4 water melon etc This staples list is perminantly in our phones, laptops and its in hard copy too, I can't loose this one anymore.
I tried online/delivered grocery shopping but i didn't always like their choices but thats an available option too. One bonus though is that they have printable shopping lists that you can keep adding to before you place your order, some even give you pictures of the products too. Thats come in handy when you just can't remember, the pictures can make it easier.
Drinking options:
Over here we are big coffee drinkers but i dont think its the same at all, American TV shows always have drip filter coffee makers going in the back ground or super huge cups of star bucks in someones hand, seriously our large drinks are the size of the US small, and they cost the same lol I think we're more european, we commonly have compact capocino machines in our homes.
I have a nice expensive stainless steel one that looks good but i so can't use it anymore, i'd have more success navigating the space shuttle back into orbit. lol My cheat is an Italian plungger coffee maker, put 1 scoop ground coffee in top, poor boiling water to level on side, wait 1 minute and push down plungger and its ready, oh so easy.
I've got my eye on a coffee maker that has it all, push the button and out comes your desire, capacino, latte etc it grinds the beans, keeps the milk fresh etc though it doesn't boil an egg and i'd have to mortgage the house to get one, that or sell my left kidney, again lol
Cheers.............JJ
btw - If someone offered you a coffee over here, you'd be getting instant.
List making tips:
I have a magnetic holder on the fridge, this holds note pad & pen and its our shopping list. Its always on the fridge so when ever something runs out or is needed, its not a mental brain strain getting needed items together on the one place.
I also created a 'staples' list, staples being all those things that need replacing weekly, eg 6 bananas, 12 pink ladies, 1/4 water melon etc This staples list is perminantly in our phones, laptops and its in hard copy too, I can't loose this one anymore.
I tried online/delivered grocery shopping but i didn't always like their choices but thats an available option too. One bonus though is that they have printable shopping lists that you can keep adding to before you place your order, some even give you pictures of the products too. Thats come in handy when you just can't remember, the pictures can make it easier.
Drinking options:
Over here we are big coffee drinkers but i dont think its the same at all, American TV shows always have drip filter coffee makers going in the back ground or super huge cups of star bucks in someones hand, seriously our large drinks are the size of the US small, and they cost the same lol I think we're more european, we commonly have compact capocino machines in our homes.
I have a nice expensive stainless steel one that looks good but i so can't use it anymore, i'd have more success navigating the space shuttle back into orbit. lol My cheat is an Italian plungger coffee maker, put 1 scoop ground coffee in top, poor boiling water to level on side, wait 1 minute and push down plungger and its ready, oh so easy.
I've got my eye on a coffee maker that has it all, push the button and out comes your desire, capacino, latte etc it grinds the beans, keeps the milk fresh etc though it doesn't boil an egg and i'd have to mortgage the house to get one, that or sell my left kidney, again lol
Cheers.............JJ
btw - If someone offered you a coffee over here, you'd be getting instant.
Your post made me laugh! I can relate to so much of it. My memory is shot too! I have notes and journals and alarms (set to tell me when to do something), and I still forget what I am doing.
The funniest time was when my sister-in-law was visiting, and I asked her to call my house phone so I could program the number, and she did- but as my house phone was ringing- I forgot she was calling me-(she was standing in front of me, calling my house phone from her mobile)- and wondered who could be calling!
The most irritating time I lost my memory was when I was trying to check my balance online, and I could not remember what the white box (to input your password) was for. I finally just shut down the computer- until I was able to think a little better.
The scariest time was a few years ago: I was driving home from Costco- it's only a 10 minute drive, and I didn't know where I was. I knew I should know, but I didn't. No more driving for me...
I'm glad you found a solution to the things that were irritating you.
Cheers!
Tammy
The funniest time was when my sister-in-law was visiting, and I asked her to call my house phone so I could program the number, and she did- but as my house phone was ringing- I forgot she was calling me-(she was standing in front of me, calling my house phone from her mobile)- and wondered who could be calling!
The most irritating time I lost my memory was when I was trying to check my balance online, and I could not remember what the white box (to input your password) was for. I finally just shut down the computer- until I was able to think a little better.
The scariest time was a few years ago: I was driving home from Costco- it's only a 10 minute drive, and I didn't know where I was. I knew I should know, but I didn't. No more driving for me...
I'm glad you found a solution to the things that were irritating you.
Cheers!
Tammy
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