My Crappy Life

This is my last post of the week talking about things that have made my life as a special needs parent a little easier.

My life is full of crap...but that is not a bad thing. It means every child's digestive system is doing what it is supposed to do. Believe me, having a non-crappy life is much, much worse than a crappy one.

It seems I am constantly mixing Miralax, buying glycerine for 'bowel management', searching for the plunger, cleaning the bathroom, making sure the bidet toilet seat is functioning, shopping for the best price for incontinence products, and going through wipes and toilet tissue at an alarming rate. But again, this isn't a bad thing.

What is a bad thing is expensive, small baby wipes. I go through a lot of them, but I always wondered if there was a better solution. And there is!

I found this product called Certainty Adult Washcloths. They are just like baby wipes but bigger, softer and stronger. And the price is comparable. I can always find them at Walgreens, and they are almost always on sale.

I use them for my crappy life. I use them to wipe sticky faces and hands. I even use them to get spills out of clothes and carpet. I always have a pack with my in each child's backpack, as well as strategically placed around the house.

So, if you have a child that is not a baby but who still can benefit from wipes, I wholeheartedly recommend this product. And just for the record, Walgreens did not ask me to review their product, and provided no product or compensation to me. But I am more than willing to let them help out with my crappy life anytime they would like!

Dr. McYummy Day!

Today is Dr. McYummy day! Ashley and Ronnie will be visiting their neurosurgeon. I'm anxious to get the results of Ashley's MRI, and the handsome doctor will also be checking out Ronnie's shunt.

I'm very nervous about the MRI results, but figure if there was anything major, the film reader would have contacted the doctor and he would have contacted me. But still, I'm worried.

And Ronnie is worried also. The last thing he needs right now is problems with his shunt. He isn't exhibiting any symptoms that make me think there is something wrong. This appointment is just to establish a relationship with the doctor and Ronnie.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have good news to share with everyone. But until then, here's a little bit of good news. During a trip to the pharmacy this past weekend, I needed BandAids. Imagine my surprise when I found that the BandAid box had Braille on it!!! I'm very impressed....

Amazon Protest

Last February, Amazon unveiled its latest version of Kindle, an e-book reader. The new Kindle boasts some amazing features, even the ability to read the book aloud.

Unfortunately, authors of many of the e-books will not allow their books to be read aloud, and today, the Reading Rights Coalition is holding a protest in New York City outside the headquarters of The Authors Guild.

The protest will focus on the Guild's forcing of Amazon to place restrictions on the text-to-speech functions of its Kindle 2 device. The group claimed that Amazon's distribution rights did extend to the feature, and the company responded by allowing publishers to disable the text to speech feature on their books.

From the website of the Reading Rights Coalition, “We represent 15 million Americans who cannot read print because of blindness, dyslexia, spinal cord injury, and other print disabilities. We include school children, the elderly, professionals, college students, returning veterans, and your neighbors, family members and friends. We want to buy books. We have fought very hard for many years to have equal access to technology and information. For the first time, now that the Amazon Kindle 2 offers text-to-speech, which will read a book aloud, we can purchase and enjoy books like everybody else. Sadly, the Authors Guild does not support equal access for us.”

"This is blatant discrimination and we will not tolerate it." said Dr Marc Maurer, president of coalition member The National Organization for the Blind.

"Authors and publishers who elect to disable text-to-speech for their e-books on the Kindle 2 prevent people who are blind or have other print disabilities from reading these e-books."

Please take a moment to consider signing the petition in support of the protest.

A Family of Clean Butts!

A while back, I told you about the wonders of the new BidetSpa toilet seat that was installed as part of my bathroom remodeling. And then, the BidetSpa company so graciously agreed to provide one of its BidetSpa products for a giveaway contest on the other site where I write – 5 Minutes for Special Needs. We had a lot of really amazing entries for the contest, but the team at 5MFSN chose Sara as the winner. Here is a snippet from Sara’s prize winning comments:

I have a developmentally disabled daughter who will be fourteen at the end of October. Happily she has been using the toilet successfully for 7 years but has not been able to learn the complexities of properly wiping. Unless an adult is present to do it for her she "skips it" altogether. I'm always worried about my daughter's hygiene. It's difficult enough to be different than your peers when you are a teenager, but if you also smell it really has a negative impact!

Sara’s name and contact information was sent to the Bidetspa company, and they immediately shipped out Sara’s prize. Here is the email she sent me upon receiving the product:

I just wanted to let you know I received the BidetSpa on Thursday. Here's the story of its arrival: Jamie had just come in from her school bus, the respite worker had just arrived and then the phone rang. It was my neighbor. "Hi Sara, I just wanted to see if you were home because I have a package here for you, (giggle, giggle)" "What could that be?" I answered. Her reply was muffled, probably because she was trying to hold back her giggles, but it sounded like: mmmrrfflspa from ffrflbutts.

"What?!??" I asked. She said she'd bring it right over leaving me puzzled as to what she was talking about. When I opened the door and saw her with the box I burst out laughing. "It's my toilet seat!!!"

We all gathered around and opened the box and I told her the story of how I'd won this prize. The box contained a lovely note from Paul J. Sochacki of the CleanButt Company.

My 19 year old respite person wasn't sure about the name CleanButt but she was very impressed with all the functions of the toilet seat. She thought we might have trouble getting people to leave the bathroom! My neighbor, who also has a special needs child, took one of the promotional DVD's with her to watch with her husband.

It is going to take us several weeks to get the bathroom ready to install the seat. We have to get the new toilet and linoleum installed as well as an outlet put in that will be closer to the toilet. I'm very motivated to get this work done so I can try that seat out!!! I'm hoping to have it working before Thanksgiving when my extended family (14 of them) is coming over.

Thanksgiving at Sara’s house sounds like it is going to be a blast!!

Where Have You Been All My Life?

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about my bathroom renovation that the new bidet toilet seat deserved a post of its own. I admit I was a little squeamish about using it the first time, but after one try, I’m sold on the concept, and wonder where this thing has been all my life.

If you’ve traveled to Europe, you are probably familiar with bidets. They usually sit beside the toilet and provide cleansing to the privates. Of course, as Americans, we often have no clue what a bidet is when we first see one. I have heard stories of young travelers believing the appliance was meant for hand washing or to substitute as a water fountain (yech!). But when the concept is finally explained, you will notice an imaginary light bulb above the head of most people and hear the ‘oh yea’ come out of their mouths.

In America, bidets never really caught on. More often than not, there is not enough room in our bathrooms for a second ‘throne’. That was definitely the case in my bathroom. My house is 48 years old. When it was built, emphasis was placed on large living areas and bathrooms remained small. So when I was reviewing options for our bathroom renovation, I was quite excited to find something called a bidet toilet seat. In September 2007, the New York Times ran this article on the subject of bidet toilet seats.

The one I settled on for our bathroom is manufactured by a company called CleanButt. Really. I’m not kidding. But setting aside the giggle-inducing name, this thing is incredible! I can adjust the temperature of the toilet seat. I can adjust the temperature of the water. I can change the position of the spray and can even have the spray pulse. The adjustments can be made to make sure every part of one’s privates are cleansed. And then after the warm water spray, I can turn on the air dryer – yes, I can blow dry my butt! And the best thing – I can do all those things with a remote control!! My toilet has a remote control!

Seriously, I sought out this solution because Ashley’s lack of fine motor control means she doesn’t always get as clean as she should after toileting. That problem is now solved and she also loves the bidet seat. After sharing this information with some of my friends, they immediately began brainstorming about others for whom this seat would be beneficial – one friend’s mother with rheumatoid arthritis who requires assistance in the bathroom, another friend’s young child who is working on toilet training, and another friend’s family member who has lost an arm.

I urge you to visit the CleanButt (giggle, giggle) website and take a look for yourself. They even have a video you can view, but don’t worry, they don’t have a real person using the bidet in the video.

They Asked - I Answered

A company called Pinhole Glasses Direct contacted me and asked if I would do a review of their product. Pinhole glasses, they claim (incorrect spelling and grammar is directly from their website):

Are effective and helpful in restoring vision for a number of eye disorders like myopia, hyperopia, cataract and astigmatism.

It is also useful over all distances. Whether it is for reading, for watching TV, or for working on the computer, one pair suits all purposes.

Allows only direct and coherent light rays to pass through. It does not allow indirect rays from distorting the true images formed by the direct rays entering in your eyes. Find out more about how pinholes work and the science behind its working here...

Do not employ concave lenses in correcting your vision. This prevents your eyesight from weakening due to wearing lenses, a common opthalmologic phenomenon called Acquired Myopia.

Increase brightness of image of objects. This allows you to see better in norma circumstances.

Are made with laser technology. They are highly effective, quality tools.

Are sturdy and long lasting. You need not worry as its performance does not get affected by scratches and marks on the lenses.

Unlike prescription eyeglasses, are a one-time investment. It saves you trouble and the money you would otherwise spend on changing your eyeglasses every now and then.

At $14.99 a pair, they are highly affordable. They are much cheaper than your prescription eyeglasses.

Although their claims reminded me of snake oil salesmen from the past, I decided to consent to the review, and so they sent me a pair of their glasses. And, while waiting for the glasses to arrive, I did a little research.

According to the website of one of their competitors (I assumed), was this explanation of how pinhole glasses work:

Pinhole glasses (also known as stenopeic glasses from the Greek words for "little opening") are not made of glass at all but of an opaque substance such as metal or plastic. The user looks through any of the many small holes in the material. These holes have the effect of reducing the width of the bundle of diverging rays (called a "pencil of light") coming from each point on the viewed object. Normally, the full opening of the pupil admits light. It is the improper bending of the outermost rays in that pencil of light which causes refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia (farsightedness), presbyopia (diminished focusing range with age) and astigmatism to be noticeable. Pinholes can bring about clearer vision in all these conditions. By blocking these peripheral rays, and only letting into the eye those rays which pass through the central portion of the pupil, any refractive error in the lens or cornea is not noticed as much. The pupil may be wide open, but only the central portion is receiving light. The improvement in visual acuity can be striking.

Okay, still sounding a little snake-oilish to me, I checked Wikipedia. Here is what I found:

Pinhole glasses, also known as stenopeic glasses, are eyeglasses with a series of pinhole-sized perforations filling an opaque sheet of plastic in place of each lens. Similar to the workings of a pinhole camera, each perforation allows only a very narrow beam of light to enter the eye which reduces the size of the circle of confusion on the retina and increases depth of field. In eyes with refractive error, the result is often a clearer image. Unlike conventional prescription glasses, pinhole glasses produce a clear image without the pincushion effect around the edges (which makes straight lines appear curved). While pinhole glasses are useful for people who are both near- and far-sighted, they are not recommended for people with over 6 diopters of myopia. It should also be noted that pinhole glasses reduce brightness and peripheral vision, and thus should not be used for driving or when operating machinery.

Pinhole glasses have been marketed by various companies on the claim that - combined with certain eye exercises - they could permanently improve eyesight. These claims have been analyzed, but no scientific evidence has been found to support them, and they are no longer allowed to be made in the United States under the terms of a legal settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Well, that would explain why the glasses were mailed to me from Europe.
The glasses finally arrived, and they were very much like the company’s website described. They are made out of plastic with plastic inserts where the lenses usually are, and there are lots of little pinholes on those inserts.

I tried them with several activities – eating dinner, watching TV, using the computer. My family members, all of whom have a vision impairment, also tried them. I brought them to my office and several of my co-workers tried them.

And I’m sorry to say that the unanimous decision was ‘snake oil’.

I’ve provided some links for the company’s website below. Personally though, I wouldn’t waste my time.

This may be the last time I am asked to do a product review, eh? Unless…the company really wants an honest review…

Company Main Page

Ordering page

Frequently Asked Questions

And Alternative to Prescription Eyeglasses