My new gadgets to give me some independence

Throughout this journey, the one thing that has constant - a reminder of how blessed I am. That is evident in those in my cheering squad. During my stay at Foothills unit 58, acute rehabilitation unit - the recreational therapists helped me reconnecting to the outside world on my own by telling my mom I would need an iPad. Mom was awesome and bought the latest on the market - 12.9” iPad. One of my occupational therapists made me a mouthpiece stick that could use on my touchscreen iPad. It was an amazing feeling to text one of my friends. Beginning stages of feeling normal, getting a sliver of independence as I didn’t have to rely on my mom to text someone for me. 

Knowing my mom had to head back to her home in Thunder Bay, my friend Bev came with us in August to get myself an iPhone. It was like another world opened up again for me. At my 6 week admission meeting with the Skypointe staff, my GP Dr. Bhatia, Jenny, and a few of friends - we had talked about gaining more independence for me. What great team I have, such a blessing indeed. Bev (my techie lady) and Dr. Bhatia have been tremendous in “getting me hooked up” with apps and gadgets. My doctor was shopping at Costco one weekend and saw they were selling wifi plugs  - he bought 2 sets of 2 plugs for me. Once I was hooked up, I was able turn my fan on and off through an app on my iPad. Don’t know of too many doctors who would do that for their patients. What can I say about my friend Bev, she has been on a mission to find things to enhance my life. She found an app for my Roku Smart TV so now I have a virtual remote control to allow me to control the volume levels, navigate through the Netflix program, go between the tv cable, DVD and Netflix systems. The latest thing she showed me was the Shaw cable app - Free Range app. Basically if you are a Shaw customer, you can watch the shows you would have watched on television but on the iPad. Having this app has help me get over the hurdle of changing the tv channels on my own without assistance by the nursing staff. 

My other friend Marilyn along with Bev and her husband Danny have helped me get different gadgets to make things easier for me. Foothills had made a homemade version of a mouth stick holder, but my friends found a website, Loc-line, which made assisted devices. I found a device to hold my cellphone, a stronger mouth stick holder and a water bottle holder to attach to my wheelchair.  As it is an American company, we were able to send the devices to Kara who lived in Minneapolis and who Marilyn would be visiting over the Christmas holidays. 

Below is the photos of my hospital bed table (another great find on Amazon) decked out with my helpful gadgets. So blessed to have so many great friends who are helping me find a better quality of life. 










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