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Just as my husband and I got a handle on the happy, messy,
emotional ride that is raising teen daughters, along came another family
situation we weren’t quite prepared for: helping take care of our senior loved
one. My mother in law started turning
down invitations from friends, she started missing doctor’s appointments, she
even stopped wanting to come to our home for holidays and the main cause, we
later learned, was occasional incontinence.
She
never wanted to tell us she was struggling with this, so she remained silent until
one day a few months ago, she fell. While she was recovering, she asked us to
go shopping for her. She asked for overnight underwear and the look on her face
as she did ‒ full of embarrassment ‒ stayed with me. I vowed to find
ways to help this wonderful senior remain active and not let incontinence leave
her sitting on the sidelines of her life.
The first way to help a senior loved one is the easiest ‒
simply observe their behavior. Do they seem happy when you visit them or do
they look uncomfortable? My mother in law shared with me that when she had to
start using pads for unexpected leakage, she feared she may have an odor when
we hugged her, or that her home might smell unpleasant because she had placed
used product in the trash.
Thankfully, she had discovered TENA® pads and liners which helped eliminate odor and I suggested she get a slightly larger
waste basket for her bathroom and line it with a scented liner.
Second, take in their home. Do they have a towel or a pad on
their favorite chair or part of the couch? That is a red flag to light bladder
leakage or stress incontinence. If you asked to use their bathroom, do they say
sure, or do they ask if they can grab something out of there first? I learned
that my mother in law didn’t want us to see her pads and overnight underwear,
but had to leave them out near the toilet some days. I found an easy solution to this situation by
making her a cute personal hygiene bag that could sit on the back of her toilet, on
the side, or on the counter without advertising the contents.
The third way to help your senior remain active is to make
sure they always have enough pads, liners and overnight underwear on hand. Our local CVS carries the full line of TENA® products, so I can just pop in and purchase what my mother in law needs for the
week.
TENA® is also available online
at CVS.com . You can have them shipped directly to your loved ones’ home. There are rebates available through Ibotta
for pads/liners here and their overnight underwear here. These will be welcome
savings since most seniors are living on
a fixed income.
Bonus tips for all women 35 and over:
I've learned several helpful things from watching my mother in law's decline in health and I'd love to share her wisdom (and that of her doctors) with you so that we can strive to live life without compromise well into our senior years.
1. Strengthen your core. All movement comes from your core and light bladder leakage may be prevented by having a stronger core.
2. Do Kegal exercises, but do them correctly. Pelvic floor muscles can be easy to isolate once you know how to do a proper Kegal. The best way to isolate the right muscles is to clench or stop your urine the next time you go. The muscles you use to do this are the very muscles you need to use to do Kegals. Hold those muscles for 3 seconds and release. Do several times a day anywhere. You can learn more from WebMD here.
3. Walk more, sit less. It sounds easy enough, but just standing more often through out the day and taking short 10 to 15 minute walks helps strengthen your muscles, including your core muscles. And it helps with number 4.
4. Lose weight. Losing just 5 pounds of excess weight can help alleviate light bladder issues such as leakage and stress incontinence.
5. Last, but certainly not least, take the time to fully empty your bladder each time you go to the bathroom. Conversely, don't go to the bathroom at the very first hint of needing to go when at home. Allow your bladder to fill up and use the core and pelvic floor muscles. We all know that a muscle at rest tends to weaken, so use them, don't lose them!
It is my hope that this post will help you take that first important step to talk to your parents or grandparents on this delicate topic and let them know that there are great products to help them. I hope the bonus tips for the 35 and over will help serve as a reminder for all of us women to take better care of ourselves today for a healthier tomorrow.
With a little love, discretion and TENA® products, you can help a senior in your life remain active and enjoy their golden years happily doing the things they love and living life without compromise!
Please share in comments: Do you have a senior in your life that may benefit from this post?
Rare is the time when I post on a Sunday, but this awesome giveaway is just too cool to wait until Monday so I'm making an exception. As a member if their awesome affiliate blogger team, I've written about Groovy Labs subscription boxes in the past, like this cool Moon box and now they are hosting a great giveaway now through June 30th!
The links in this blog post are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking on these links, I will receive a small commission from Groovy Lab in a Box.
About Groovy Labs:
Groovy Lab in a Box, the award-winning educational kits for kids ages eight and up that teach about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), recently announced a new partnership with Popular Mechanics.
Each month, they send out a themed box filled with investigations that are fun and hands on. The investigations culminate into an Engineering Design Challenge, where your STEMists must apply what they've learned from the investigations (and use their critical thinking skills) to complete the challenge. The boxes contain everything you need to complete all of the activities, including a groovy retro-themed lab notebook. The box activities are supplemented with their Beyond...in a Box web portal where your children will find videos, interactives and additional activities. Head over to Groovy Lab in a Box's website to learn more about this great service!
About the Giveaway:
Our friends at Groovy Lab in a Box are hosting a sweepstakes where you can win a one-year subscription (valued at more than $250!) All you have to do is type in your email address, and you are entered. Hurry! This giveaway ends on June 30th!
Click here to enter to win a one-year subscription from Groovy Lab in a Box!
Good luck! I hope you win! Please stop by and let me know if you do.
Please share in comments: Do you enjoy Stem learning activities with your family?
The photos I'm sharing today were taken from my front porch a few days ago when a unexpected rain shower blessed us with some much needed rain.
This pop shower started with these big, beautiful raindrops.
Then quickly turned into a downpour.
And just as quickly as the rain started, it stopped and left everything refreshed and beautiful in its wake.
Happy Wednesday everyone.
Please share in comments: Do you enjoy watching summer showers like this one?
June means weddings and endless summer days. June means crisp Ivory white walls and dresses and linens. This color of the month was inspired by my love of Benjamin Moore's Ivory White, which to me looks just like my white lilacs that bloom in spring.
Here's my Pinterest board for June. Enjoy it and this amazing season!
Please share in comments: Do you decorate with Ivory White?
Wordless Wednesday: Summer food and drink
in avocados, cherry tomatoes, lime, Wordless Wednesday: Summer food and drink. iced tea, by Linda A Kinsman, Wednesday, June 01, 2016