Coronavirus ( COVID-19) and Caregivers

Let's talk about the coronavirus for just a moment as it relates to the family caregiver. Okay. Okay. Now, I saw on the press conference this weekend the CDC folks and all that kind of stuff talking about this. That was a big old press conference.

I accidentally caught that. Well, I watch the news so you don't have to, John. I watch the news so you don't have to. And bless you, I wish you every happiness for that.

Well, thank you very much. But they were talking about the coronavirus and they were talking about who it targets, okay? Who is more susceptible than others?

I think that they've got a pretty good handle on this. Well, I mean, people are equally susceptible, but just that who experiences the short end of the stick when they do catch it? Well, they actually went a little further and said that you will always have the anomaly of a healthy college student who gets it. But for the most part, you're going to be dealing with the elderly, overweight because they have a hard time breathing, their respiratory issues a little bit more compromised, diabetic and otherwise at risk individuals. Well, guess what? Those people have a caregiver in their orbit.

Yes. And sadly to say, it's sad to say, a lot of caregivers are themselves dealing with those issues. One of the landmines we talk about, seven caregiver landmines and how you can avoid in my book, the number one is number one, we fail to see our own doctor regularly. We don't see our own medical needs.

And then number three is excessive weight gain. And so many caregivers just put on the pounds. I mean, I see it all.

I did. I mean, stress is a thing. And if there's a thing that caregivers deal with, it's stress. And that has a lot of comorbid things. Well, and they call it comfort food for a reason.

And I have seen way too many caregivers who are obese pushing a wheelchair. So I'm just saying, here's some things that you might want to be aware of. Number one, let's start dealing with your health right away. Regardless of what's going on with the coronavirus, because I really do think that this thing is going to be managed well. Okay.

We got all hands on deck on this. Yeah. And you mentioned about the news conference earlier, they were speaking about the risks to, you know, like healthcare workers.

Caregivers are like that applies to them as well, simply because of their proximity to the vulnerable. Indeed. And so common sense is always going to be appropriate here. Okay.

Let's just use common sense. We wash up, you know, we watch for certain things, but I want to deal with a couple of things. One of them is stress.

Caregivers are dealing with an enormous amount of stress and stress does what to your immune system and your ability to fight off infections and viruses and so forth. You're worn down. We're going to have to reduce that stress and let's get on this right now, because if it's not the coronavirus this year, it's the flu next year, or it's something else. There's always going to be something lurking around the corner and let's not wait around. Let's start dealing with this.

Let's be a little bit more proactive. So what's the greatest way you can reduce some stress, both stress. The first thing you do is start breathing. I mean, just breathe, just slow down your breathing.

Four seconds in, eight seconds out. Let's deal with that. Hydrate.

Let's do all these kinds of things. Drink and not sodas. Not alcohol. Hydrate. We're trying to build up our body, not medicate our body or put more toxins into our body. So hydrate. Or calories for that matter.

Or calories, yes. And by the way, I was really quite proud of myself recently. I just had some lab work done. My sugars had gotten kind of high. I wasn't real happy about it.

I started watching it again. And then I also, I had lapsed off of this nutraceutical that I take. And I got back on it and darn if my sugars, my cholesterol and everything else just didn't start coming, because I really don't like to take cholesterol medicine.

And I've struggled in the past with cholesterol, but that's a behavior issue for me. I mean, Krispy Kreme is my kryptonite. That's why I moved to Montana. I am a long ways away from the nearest kryptonite. I was going to ask you, how close is the nearest Krispy Kreme and where's the nearest waffle home? All right. There is no waffle house anywhere near us. And we're 10 miles from the paved road. So if you're going to eat, you're going to cook it yourself for the most part.

But I was really disappointed myself. And I've been taking this thing for a while and I would recommend you all take a look at it. It's called, go down to HealthierLifeForYou.com. A HealthierLifeForYou.com and contact us. We'll be glad to see this for information.

I've been testing this on myself and darn if it doesn't really show results. So we don't argue with results on this show. All right. But here's where I want to get into today with caregivers. I don't want to get too far down the rabbit trails on these other things. Staying out of the hospital is imperative.

Okay. Let's just say that for us as caregivers. They're brick and mortar Petri dishes. I mean, they just are. And it's like going around the daycare and licking the bottom of the table. If that offends people in the healthcare industry, you know.

The numbers back it up unfortunately. It's not your fault. You're just going to have to be family with me because I have spent too much time in the hospital with Gracie. She's been inpatient now in 13 hospitals. Inpatient. Okay. And she's had 80 surgeries and this has all been going on since 83 and all of her major infections came from hospitals.

Where do people with infectious diseases end up? Exactly. Let me read you a stat. I know you like stats. Oh, I do. I'm a big fan of numbers. How many ER visits do you think happen every year across our great country due to falls? Falls.

Okay. There's 350 million people. Roughly 40% of them are over 60.

I don't know. More than, in 2015, they broke the record for the highest ones. I was doing some stat research on this.

I couldn't find anything closer than that. And it was over 9 million then. Every year going to the ER for falls. All right. Now, over 65 age group represents 69% of high hospitalizations caused by falls. The over 65 crowd.

Okay. Now, what happens when you fall and you're elderly or you're already at risk? You know, you run the risk. One of the things they talk about when you're stuck in bed, whatever, pneumonia.

I mean, that's a big issue. Because you're not like upright. Respiratory issues. And this virus is a respiratory agent.

It goes after you this way. So falls are something to be avoided if we don't want to have to go to the emergency room where we run the risk of, number one, getting infection from other people who are sick. We already got somebody who's an at risk individual. My wife, Gracie, has dealt with so many infections over the years. And keeping her out of hospitals is really important to us. One of the reasons we moved out to Montana is because the air is so clean out here.

It feels like your lungs have been assaulted. But mold and mildew are not her friend. Nor are they Montana's friend. Montana is not a friend to mold and mildew. And that's why we moved to a dry, colder area. Because it helps with their arthritis.

It helps with a lot of things with their respiratory wise and everything else. And so that's why we're here. We're products of the South. And both of us are.

And we have great, great many roots back there. But at the same time, we had to make some hard decisions on our health. But if you fall, and Gracie's a bilateral amputee.

Yeah, we haven't talked about that. My wife has lost both of her legs. Amputees fall. If you're going to try to walk on two prosthetic legs, I promise you, you're going to have a fall. I fall. I mean, I live in a place where there's a lot of snow and ice. I fell on the snow and ice. And you aren't even trying to do it on stilts, you know?

No, or a unicycle like you. And so we want to talk about a few things that you can do to kind of minimize it. You cannot eliminate the fall. But what you can do is you can minimize the risk associated with said falls.

And that's so important. I mean, I'm a second degree black belt. And one of the things we learn in martial arts and the art I take is how to fall and to slap out. And I did the other day when I slid on the ice. But at the same time, I still popped my head a little bit. And every now and then, it still kind of hurts. And I heard something kind of crack. And I thought, wait a minute, what's this? So I may need to go get that checked out, John. I don't mind seeing flying unicorns on a regular basis. But something about this doesn't seem like it's normal for me.

You know, I'm thinking not. But I try to stay out of hospital. Gracie tries to stay out of hospital. But you're going to fall. You have aging parents, they're going to fall. You have a parent with Parkinson's, guess what? Falling is the big risk. As a family member of mine has Parkinson's, I have two family members with Parkinson's. And I was talking to the doc about it.

And the doc said, you know, Parkinson's is not going to kill you. It's the falls. It's the falls that get you. I thought it was the stop at the end of the fall.

Well, it's the abrupt halt to the fall. And so that's why balance is a big key and things such as that. So you don't want to put yourself in a situation where you can have a high risk event. And so let's go through the house and let's keep ourselves. This may sound silly with the whole coronavirus. Everybody's kind of freaking out and going to get mask and everything else and so forth. I understand that. Which by the way, does not protect you against the coronavirus. It's for other people.

I think, yeah. And I think what we can do is instead, let's just be a little bit safer. Let's just be a little bit safer at home. Let's avoid going to the hospital. And so I'm going to give you, I have one, two, three, four, five, six, six very easy things that you can do at home to help keep you and your loved ones safer from falls so that you don't have to go to the doctor in the emergency room and be around a bunch of sick people. As Frank Burns on mass used to say, I wouldn't mind being a doctor so much if I didn't have to be around sick people.

Frank Burns. All right, this is Peter Rosenberg and this is Hope for the Caregiver. This is the nation's number one show for you as a caregiver. 877-655-6755.

Give us your tips as well. We'll be right back. We've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people. On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies.

And with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up.

That's standingwithhope.com. I'm Gracie and I am standing with hope. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on the Family Talk channel, Sirius XM 131. I am Peter Rosenberger.

I am your host. This is your time for you as a caregiver. How are you feeling? How are you holding up?

What's going on in your head space? And by the way, that was my wife, Gracie Singh, and boy, she can sing. If you want to see more about her, you can go out to hopeforthecaregiver.com, hopeforthecaregiver.com, and you can look at our music tab and just see all the things she's done and we've done together. I've done a CD out called Songs for the Caregiver. It's available to download wherever you are. This will be available to download on all the dot coms and so forth here in the next couple of weeks, but we've been running a special to help support what this work is doing and this show, and you can be a part of that at hopeforthecaregiver.com. Just go out there on the tab that says giving, be a part of it. Whatever's on your heart, we'll send you a copy of the CD.

877-655-6755, 877-655-6755 if you want to be a part of the show. We're talking about things you can do to keep your loved one out of the hospital, particularly now that this virus is going around. Everybody's a little bit nervous about it.

I get it. I think that all hands are on deck. I think the CDC, the President, Vice President Pence, all the others doing a marvelous job. However, we still have some things that we can do to be a little bit more safer and a little bit more prudent, I think, in our daily journey as a caregiver.

Even if it's just giving us peace of mind. Well, that's true, and it's not just for just the virus. It's for just in general, but falls are a big part, and as I said in the last segment, over nine million ER visits every year in this great country by falls because of falls. I mean, and then if you're going to be hospitalized during the fall, guess what? The over 65 group represents almost 70% of the ones that are hospitalized for that.

So if you're taking care of an aging parent, or you are an aging parent, or you're a caregiving spouse, and you're in that, it doesn't matter. There's so many different ways that you can get hurt, and you can fall, and here's some things that we can do right now that you do. And none of these things, one of these things may cost money. I'll let you figure it out what it is, John. Oh, good. I love the test.

I don't have any kind of music for this to do, but that's okay. Number one, well-lit rooms. Well-lit rooms. Make sure that the rooms are well-lit, that everybody can see clearly, because- Yeah, I got the short end of the stick genetically in a lot of ways, but vision was one that I came out on top. And I often have the whole house rather dimly lit, and then a friend will come over and say, what are you doing? You live in a cave.

Yeah, it's like, no. Well-lit rooms, particularly with seniors whose visions may indeed be fading. So you want to make sure that the lights are brightly scattered around the room so everybody can see everything. One of the things, as somebody who lives with somebody who has a mobility impairment, my wife has two prosthetic legs and is often in a wheelchair, but she has her prosthetic legs. I hate carpet. I hate carpet. I hate it, John. I just hate it. Oh, yeah, yeah.

Hardwood all the way. I don't like it. And for all you carpet manufacturers out there, I'm sorry. God bless you for what you do. I hate it. And there is a market for you.

There is a market for you, and it's just not at my house. And when you're dealing with wheelchairs and prosthetic legs, carpet is just not your friend. I mean, I'm sorry. And people say, well, yeah, but my feet get cold.

And I'm like, you know what? Well, Gracie's feet don't get cold. Well, they do, but she just doesn't, yeah.

And I'll wear slippers, okay? I always wear shoes because she is not as careful about sharp things that she drops on the floor. Why should she be? So she's not as careful about that. Ask me how I know.

And in the nigh on a decade, I've known you. I have never thought about that. Well, all I can say is if she drops something sharp on the floor, I promise you I will find it. So anyway, well-lit rooms. Move the fall hazards such as throw rugs. Throw rugs are very nice, but if they're going to be there, make sure they are incredibly secure and that, you know, that they're not a fall hazard. They're not in a place where there's just going to be a propensity for somebody to fall or slip or whatever. Yeah, one of those non-stick things that you can put underneath them is like five bucks at Walmart, you know?

I mean, just, if you can't do that, just get rid of them, you know? Yeah, they're movable for a reason, especially if your parents are visiting or something like that. If you've got carpet, there's no shame. There's therefore now no condemnation for people who have carpet. I'm not saying that, but I just personally don't because we deal with wheelchairs and prosthetic legs.

That's not easy with carpet for us, and it's also hardwood and tile and linoleum and vinyl and all those things are much easier to clean, let me just say. Grab bars in the bathrooms. This is where your falls happen. Grab bars in the bathroom are a huge help, and if you don't know how to properly install them, there are plenty of people out there that can help you. There's services that do that, and there's codes of what you can do to make it for disability.

You know, access, but try them out. Make sure that they're in the right place. Don't put them, you know, grab bars for John, for example, would be much different than grab bars for a normal size human being. Right, I'm 5'17 for those of you who are just tuning in.

John is rather tall. If you have a pedestal sink in the bathroom, number one, it would be advisable to remove it because people tend to lean on the pedestal sink, and they're not as secure as a cabinet sink. They're not as, yeah, they lend themselves to, there's deception there, you know. I've seen, I have a story from a guy in college who just, he ripped it right off the wall. It was terrible, and it was, yeah, yeah, yeah. And guess what? That becomes a plumbing nightmare as well. Yeah. But when you've got a- No, he flooded the floor.

That's why it's a story. Well, but if you've got a loved one who is leaning on said sink and using it on a regular basis, just to lean on it, you run the risk of something. So secure that sucker. I mean, really get it secure. And if you can replace it with a cabinet sink, they're not very expensive, but that's the one that may cost you a little bit of money, but that and the grab bars, but they're still very affordable.

And flooding is not. Wear comfortable shoes and avoid heels. Avoid heels if at all possible. And then make multiple trips to the car. Instead of carrying too much into the house, we're often in a hurry and that's when accidents happen.

Okay? That's when accidents happen, when we're in a hurry. Slow down.

Slow down. Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger. This is Hope for the Caregiver.

Those are ways you can protect you and your loved one from a fall that would maybe require you go into the emergency room and that would be bad. There's a virus going around. Perhaps you've heard of it. 877-655-6755. 877-655-6755. Don't go away. We'll be right back.

Hey, this is Peter Rosenberger. Have you ever helped somebody walk for the first time? I've had that privilege many times through our organization, Standing with Hope, when my wife Gracie gave up both of her legs following this horrible wreck that she had as a teenager. And she tried to save them for years and it just wouldn't work out. And finally she relinquished them and thought, wow, this is it. I mean, I don't have any legs anymore.

What can God do with that? And then she had this vision for using prosthetic limbs as a means of sharing the gospel, to put legs on her fellow amputees. And that's what we've been doing now since 2005 with Standing with Hope. We work in the West African country of Ghana and you can be a part of that through supplies, through supporting team members, through supporting the work that we're doing over there.

You could designate a limb. There's all kinds of ways that you could be a part of giving the gift that keeps on walking at standingwithhope.com. Would you take a moment to go out to standingwithhope.com and see how you can give.

They go walking and leaping and praising God. You can be a part of that at standingwithhope.com. As a caregiver, think about all the legal documents you need. Power of attorney, a will, living wills, and so many more. Then think about such things as disputes about medical bills. What if instead of shelling out hefty fees for a few days of legal help, you paid a monthly membership and got a law firm for life? Well, we're taking legal representation and making some revisions in the form of accessible, affordable, full service coverage.

Finally, you can live life knowing you have a lawyer in your back pocket who at the same time isn't emptying it. It's called Legal Shield and it's practical, affordable, and a must for the family caregiver. Visit caregiverlegal.com. That's caregiverlegal.com. Isn't it about time someone started advocating for you? www.caregiverlegal.com.

An independent associate. Have you ever struggled to trust God when lousy things happen to you? I'm Gracie Rosenberger and in 1983 I experienced a horrific car accident leading to 80 surgeries and both legs amputated.

I questioned why God allowed something so brutal to happen to me, but over time my questions changed and I discovered courage to trust God. That understanding along with an appreciation for quality prosthetic limbs led me to establish Standing with Hope. For more than a dozen years we've been working with the government of Ghana and West Africa, equipping and training local workers to build and maintain quality prosthetic limbs for their own people.

On a regular basis, we purchase and ship equipment and supplies and with the help of inmates in a Tennessee prison, we also recycle parts from donated limbs. All of this is to point others to Christ, the source of my hope and strength. Please visit standingwithhope.com to learn more and participate in lifting others up. That's standingwithhope.com. I'm Gracie and I am standing with Hope. Welcome back to Hope for the Caregiver here on the Family Talk channel, Sirius XM 131. I am Peter Rosenberger. This is your show for you as a family caregiver. 877-655-6755. This is the nation's number one show for the family caregiver and we're committed to helping strengthen you as you care for someone who is dealing with a chronic impairment of some kind.

It doesn't matter what it is. As long as there's a chronic impairment, there's going to be a caregiver. It's just the way it works and we want to make sure you're doing okay. That was my wife Gracie singing from her new record, Resilient. That is she and Rust Half, a gospel recording artist Rust Half. You want to copy that record?

Here's how you do it. Go out to Standing With Hope. You've heard her story. You've heard her share her journey with this thing, 80 surgeries, both legs amputated. All this has been going on since 1983 and she decided she wanted to go out and create a way of helping her fellow amputees literally rise and walk and we've been doing that for 15 years and we're going back to Ghana this summer.

We've been working in the West African country of Ghana. We've got patients that come from as far as Nigeria to be treated there and we send regular supplies and so forth. We've got a shipment that's going out, being picked up Tuesday of prosthetic supplies and parts and recycled prosthetic limbs.

Did you know you could recycle them? They go to a prison in Tennessee run by CoreCivic and we have a, we're one of the faith-based programs that CoreCivic does and it goes to this workshop where all these guys come in. They volunteer to do this in the prison. These are inmates and they disassemble the used prosthetic limbs that come in. It's very cool and we can recycle the foot, the knee, the pylon, the adapters, the connectors, the screws, the prosthetic socks, the belts, the liners, the sleeves if they're in good shape, the shoes. Please send the other shoe. Don't just send a leg with one shoe on it.

Do you want to see more about that? Standingwithhope.com. Standingwithhope.com. Be a part of this show. Be a part of that. You could sponsor the prosthetic limb outreach. You could sponsor this show. Whatever's on your heart to do, we'll send you a copy of Gracie's CD and I think you'll like it.

It's called Resilient and she is indeed resilient and I think you'll be very, very pleased with this. Be a part of what we're doing, okay? It's for the wounded and those who care for them.

Standingwithhope.com. We talked a lot today about some of the things that we can do as caregivers to minimize the risk of us or our loved one going into the hospital and you know there's a virus going around. We're all talking about it. Everybody's kind of freaked out a little bit about it. At least the news media are. I don't know if everybody else is but the news media are and so we want to make sure we help the news media and other people that are. Yeah, we got to supplement their incomes a little bit, you know.

Yeah and so that's them. Well, God love them and their panic mode is on high alert. I showed them they get paid for their panic mode.

They get paid to panic. Yeah. You know, we ought to figure out how to get a piece of that action, John. All right, so we talked about six things that you can do to avoid fall risk. Fall risks are real important. I'm gonna wrap this up real quickly because before we get to the end of the show, but I just want to remind you, falls are bad. Falls send you to the hospital. There are over nine million falls a year in our country and that are going to the hospital and of the hospitalizations resulting from a fall, guess what? Sixty-nine percent of those hospitalizations are that 65 and age group and up. So, if you're taking care of aging parents or you yourself are in that group, be aware you fall into that category, no pun intended, John, and you or your loved ones are at risk if they're in that category.

Just think through this. So, let's make sure we have number one, well-lit rooms. Remove the fall hazards such as throw rugs. Install grab bars in bathrooms.

Make sure that get somebody who knows how to do it with codes to properly anchor those things in. If you don't know someone, you know, reach out to me. We'll find somebody in your area, someone.

We'll recommend their services. Don't wing that one. Yeah, don't wing it. Do not wing that. Ask me how I know that.

Oh, no. I'm going to ask you later after the show. Ask Gracie how she knows. If you have a pedestal sink in your bathroom, make sure that thing is secured and consider replacing it with a cabinet sink because that's where people lean on when they're moving around the bathroom and those things are just not as tight. We did that for my parents, got rid of it. And dad has Parkinson's, so we got rid of that. Bonus, storage space.

Yes, it is. Wear comfortable shoes and avoid heels. I know that a lot of people like to wear high heels.

They're not really good for being a caregiver, let me just say. Don't ask me how I know it, John. Just, I'm just going to put it out there. Louis XVI had a thing, okay.

Louis XVI. You're in Montana, cowboy boots are a thing. I don't wear cowboy boots.

Right, but you're in Montana. I'm in Montana, but I do not wear cowboy boots and I cannot lie. I wear hiking boots and I have muck boots. I have muck boots when I go out and feed the horses with and they go up to my knees and they're on a boot warmer that I put on every morning and I have warm boots that I put on and I go out and feed the horses.

I have never had a need for that sort of thing, but I immediately understand how warm that is for your life. Oh, there's nothing like slipping on a pair of warm muck boots and they're good to 40 below, which is helpful out here where I am because it's... Is that centigrade or Fahrenheit? That's just cold, John. That's just cold.

No, 40 below is where they cross. It's either. I don't care. They said there'd be no math on this. I don't care.

It's just cold. Make multiple trips to the car instead of trying to carry too much into the house. We're often in a hurry and that's when accidents happen, okay? Now, here's some health tips. Keep those bathrooms and kitchen areas clean. Watch for mold and mildew buildup. From what I've been told by the CDC when I was listening... They didn't tell me this.

They didn't call me up, hey Peter, this is CDC. What I've understood from these people that are giving these press conferences and so forth, it's a respiratory type of thing that we're dealing with here. So mold and mildew are not your friend with respiratory issues, okay?

And so watch for that. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate, and here's the last little... Well, not... Well, here's the last little health tip. Make sure to thoroughly clean your CPAP and other breathing assisted devices for both caregivers and patients. So if you use a CPAP, make sure it's clean.

You've seen William Shatner come on and talk about how to clean them. He does. No kidding. Oh, by the way... I thought that was a joke, but no, you're right.

No, no, he does. By the way, and there's all sorts of stuff at Hope for the Caregiver. You know what, I'll put this out at hopeforthecaregiver.com.

Our podcast is free. It's the number one podcast for caregivers in the world. You can see that at Hope for the Caregiver. And try this out and see, I ordered these for my parents and it works. Go to mypillow.com and order stuff and use the promo code caregiver. Just, I did it.

I ordered sheets for my parents and they really liked them and I got a discount for it. So hey, try it out. Hopeforthecaregiver.com. This is Peter Rosenberger. Healthy caregivers make better caregivers. Today's a great day to start. Okay. We'll see you next week.