He lives alone with Hemiparesis -
security would be the main concern, of course, when people with hemiparesis live alone or are alone for long periods of time. Of course the first references are your doctor, physiotherapist and occupational therapists mainly. This being stated, I can offer insights on some important elements to consider in practical aspects of living alone after a traumatic brain injury or a stroke that result in severe muscle weakness along the left or right side of the body and is sometimes exposed slight damage to the nervous system, as with me. Maybe instead of living by themselves, it would be best to consider us live independently. In this paper, I will have reached almost thirty years of life with hemiparesis. Most of this time I lived alone and worked as an engineer and writer, author.
For us, the negative effects of hemiparesis are still prevalent, even after the initial rehabilitation and limited recovery. The effects can change extremely variability.
Effects when you are tired or Awoken
When the body is tired, the effects can be worse and certainly more dangerous when living alone . An example is if you woke up in the night, perhaps from thirst, a call, or other concern. Even a healthy person might stumble upon sleepy legs or eyes half open, but for those with the right or left hemiparesis, the negative effects are amplified. A misstep can turn into a fall and possibly a wound in the head by an arm he has little resistance, not quickly react and is not likely to stop a fall. If a foot drags a bit 'during the day with the shoes, then it can be much worse at night, even in an unsafe manner that the person you scroll your toes in order to bruise them and fall forward on the weak side. Lessons learned here emphasize the need to tidy floors and corridors. A stray shoe on the floor or even newspaper can prove disastrous. In both cases it might throw off the balance for a person suddenly waking especially in the dark.
This brings up a suggestion for low-level lighting in the house or apartment. Economic battery operated motion detector lights are available at many stores now or searching online. Even if a stick is not needed during the day; it would be wise to have a stick near the bed, also a quad cane to awaken late at night or early morning rising. In the morning, there are other issues such as tightened leg muscles which need stretching before safely moving.
Safety shower and bath
Morning stretching is important, especially as we age who are injured but more importantly, must be addressed shower safety. There is plenty of assistance available occupational therapists devices and can communicate effectively to the needs here, but I can give you my thoughts. These are that it can be quite scary at times, especially if you have had an accident and fell in the shower, bath or bath before. You will need to be able to have something to hand on the good side to cling to, pretty much at any time. Please note that if you can not use the screwed support rails and use the bars with suction cups, you really need at least two bars together. redundant support as these are known t slip and when you have water or soap in the eye and catch up with the scroll bar, can be devastating. Council having a bar at the entrance or exit, and on the other side. That way if a person with hemiparesis turn there is always a bar on the good side.
But it does not stop there. floors of bathrooms are usually smooth surfaces and with a foot that do not have or grab a minimum, so the water on a surface of tiles or marble is smooth as ice and can easily cause a fall when it dries. Rubber backed rugs are most often used but can cluster under foot. A work around solution for these carpets is of rubber strips with adhesive on both sides. The local hardware store will have some carpet grippers or a Web search
Dressing
This is still an area where an occupational therapist provides six prepared with all the assistive devices to get around the weak side or fixing on the back and neck. However, I can point out that the more time should be available, just in case. Although, there are assistive devices and there is ample training in this way usually available before you even leave the hospital.
Cooking Kitchen Kitchen Safety
One of the ability to prepare meals vary. I understand that it's nice to be independent, but in the kitchen just may be smarter to minimize the preparation with knives or stove. The oven can easily cause burns and fire. Having a cardboard pizza box fall on an iron hot meat can start a fire that is not too easy for a person with a disability to put out quickly. Sure there are now small fire extinguishers conveniently available but some often need two good hands to work properly and therefore also quickly found can be a problem for trauma, brain injury or stroke victims.
Fortunately, there was an improvement microwave dinners. This certainly would not be the first option in the past. However, I have been at this for almost thirty years and I have really seen a wide variety come on the market and costs go down. Good, healthy meals can be cooked in a minute. I still cook the chicken and pizzas plus a few others, but security really needs to bethe priorities Forst. Off balance and reach out to find how hot skillet to lean on can happen and I have no personal experience, it is not a quick recovery with a burn in the palm of your good hand. Agsin here as in the bathroom, you should be requested a carpet with rubber backing and grabber carpet.
Needs Mind body health
concentration and focus are key in most everything that the person with hemiparesis may have to overcome. That's why the formation of the brain being so important.
human interaction, relationships contribute significantly to the complex use of our brain and also help you stay young. Well living alone minimizes this ad benefit over time can have a negative effect. Of course, some will say the upside potential may be limited, but start with the goal of not losing capacity. Without regular exercise, the mind or the body can atrophy to borrow a term used to describe not use your muscles.
There are no free and paid sources on the web. Now we have to improve brain magazines at the supermarket and local brain games are popular and effective, most have to use a hand.
Geography Specific problems
Depending on the location, breaks current can occur during natural events mostly as snow or ice storms, hurricanes, tornadoes. When you live on the east coast, I lost power, even when their was a high wind storm. natural events such as this can have an impact on people living with hemiparesis just as they do for others with disabilities, elderly people or families in general. However, preparation is the key here, and living alone increases importance of having cordless lights, food, water, phone, radio, all available and easily accessible in possibly the dark.
The power loss can be worse in cold weather for this condition such harmful effects may disable some people with this extreme muscle weakness and nerve damage, possibly. This obviously varies depending on the person or injuries, but the arms and legs general may start uncontrollable shaking and a serious limitation to mobility. poor effects are also present to sudden weather changes. Each person can experience in a different way, but check with your doctor is the best thing.
To assist in times like these, warm clothes, even a generator where it can be safely installed in a home as a backup are available with heat packs available at sporting good stores or camping supply store.
Summary
Some of the tips and techniques described here may seem obvious to some, or simple, but they are not always thought ahead of time before be used. This is evident in the on-line support forum, knowing the individuals and my thirty years of life with hemiparesis. There are, of course, more, but in general, the consideration that the movement can be slow at times as you can think of. An important point is that if there is a loss of balance or tripping, you're likely to be on the weak side which of course does not react fast nor have resistance usually hand enough to hang on to something firmly. This is why safety is the first priority when you live alone with this injury.