Here is a random collection of some of the things I’ve found
that can help me to live as much as I can …
General stuff …
- Cooking Extra
When you’re well enough to cook, make enough for two or
three meals and freeze the rest in individual portions.
Then on days when you can’t cook, you can just pull them
out of the freezer and heat them up. This works best with
things like soups, stews and rice dishes, but most
anything can be frozen if you don’t mind the texture
changing a bit. - Timetables
When I was a little better and a little more stable than I
am now, it helped a lot to have a timetable to follow, a
list of what I needed to do each day and when, and also -
importantly – when I would stop and rest. I found that
having a rhythm like that helped me not to “over-do it” and
crash. - Lists
Diary, lists, notebooks and post-it notes can all help
make up for brain-fogged thinking – keep a shopping list
stuck on the fridge where you’ll remember to add things to
it, write a note and put by the oven timer so you know why
it’s going off, things like that. - Holidays
It’s rather difficult to take a day off from being sick,
but even sick people can take a day off from ‘routine’.
Get a friend to take you to a movie, the beach, a local
park – anywhere you can sit or lie down when you need to.
Sometimes, a change really is as good as a holiday …
well, almost!
Gadgets …
- Electric toothbrush
This makes it about a hundred times easier to brush your
teeth! Instead of a million forward-back motions you just
have to move it around to touch every surface. - Crock-Pot
A crock-pot for cooking will let you just throw an
assortment of vegetables in and come back a few hours
later to a lovely stew. - Cordless phone
You can keep this by your bed or chair instead of having
to get up every time it rings. A really long extension
cord will have the same effect provided your house isn’t
too big! - Kitchen timer
A help with remembering things – the best way I found was
to buy the really small sort that you can carry around,
and leave it beside whatever it’s timing for. Or if
you’ll be too far away to hear it, write a note saying
what it’s for and stick it to the timer. And you can time
all sorts of things – one of the best uses I’ve found is
to set it for five minutes when I start running a bath,
otherwise I almost invariably let it run over. - Hand-held Shower
This lets you shower sitting down which can be a godsend
when you’re short on either energy or balance! - Shower Board
If you’re lucky enough to have – like I do – your shower
set over a bath, you can get or make a board that will fit
exactly over the edges of the bath and then sit on it.
This is a wonderful thing for me – let me have a
decent shower instead of a bath for the first time in a
year! - Sports Bottles
Yes, I know sports are the last thing on your
mind, but did you realize that a sports bottle will let
you drink without sitting up? For those of us bedridden
some or all of the time, this can be another thing to help
save a little bit of energy.
Outsider things that can help …
- Home-delivery
As well as mail-order catalogue that sell just about
everything, many food shops will deliver your groceries for
free, or for just a few dollars. - Electric Carts / Wheelchairs
Bigger shopping centers often have electric carts or
wheelchairs (for these, you’ll need a friend to push!)
available for disabled shoppers to borrow. If it works
well, consider buying one so you can go to places that
don’t have them for hire. - Books on Tape
Talking book libraries are often run by the blind
associations in each state, and are open to everybody who
has trouble reading – not just visually impaired people.
You’ll usually need a signature from your doctor, and people
with CFS can qualify either because of physical impairment
(when holding up the book is hard), or cognitive difficulty
(when you’re too brain-fogged to read properly). As an added
bonus they’re usually free and will mail you the tapes so
you don’t even need to go out for them. - Council Services
Local councils (at least in Australia) offer services such
as meals-on-wheels and home help services which can assist
you with house cleaning, cooking, shopping, etc.
I also have a list of things that I’ve found help me survive school on a separate
page in the form of a letter which I sent to the CFS-Y mailing
list last year.
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