Around the House
"Sometimes I find it harder to do things that I used to take for granted like housework and preparing meals. It just means I have to plan chores in advance and my husband has to help more around the house."
No-one likes doing housework. How many times have you put off hoovering until you have to do it just so that you can see the carpet! But living with MS can mean the everyday stuff we take for granted, like cleaning, DIY, shopping and cooking takes longer and needs more careful planning.
But the good news is that help is at hand. There are ways to make household chores more manageable and lots of time and energy saving gadgets on the market that can make your life easier.
If you have difficulties managing everyday tasks, think about the following:
- Is the task really essential and how often do you need to do it? Are there easier ways of getting it done? Doing your shopping online is just one example.
- Are there times during the day when you feel more up to the physical stuff? Maybe you're less tired in the morning or maybe the afternoon?
- Try to balance what you do on a daily basis, so that you combine tasks that take more effort with ones that are easier.
Housework
Keeping your house in order sometimes feels like a full time job even if you don't have MS. Things are much easier if you plan them in advance. Make sure you fit in plenty of opportunities to rest, and be realistic about what you can get done in a day. If you can, delegate. Don't struggle with household chores if you don't have to. You don’t need to do everything yourself just to prove something.
If you have difficulty bending or reaching, store items you use regularly in accessible places and use carousels and pull-out or pull-down drawers to improve access to places that are difficult to reach.
If you have a reduced or painful grip, look into getting appliances that have specially designed handgrips or add an enlarged grip to existing appliances.
De-clutter your house, less clutter means less things to keep clean. If you need to move heavy objects, consider a walking trolley. Grab rails in strategic places can also help you if you are unsteady on your feet.
There are also some gadgets specially designed to make your life easier. Such as jar and ring-pull openers, tap turners, knob turner - adaptable gadget that fits many different shapes and sizes to help with fiddly controls, or kettle tippers which lets you pour a kettle without lifting it. Organisations like the Disabled Living Foundation, Ricability and the RNIB can provide further information on energy saving gadgets.
An occupational therapist can suggest energy saving tips and helpful equipment. They can also advise on grants that may be available for adaptations to your house to make things easier. Local Social Services and also Disabled Employment Advisors (DEA) at local Job Centres, are also a good source of advise on equipment and adaptations in order to conserve energy.
Shopping
The Internet shopping revolution means that you can buy pretty much anything and have it delivered to your house. Everything from food shopping, to books, clothes and holidays can now be purchased online. In terms of groceries, most supermarket chains have home delivery services, which is especially useful for heavier items.
Services such as Ocado promise to deliver your groceries within your pre selected one-hour slot and carry it to your kitchen, which cuts out the waiting around time. All your previously bought items are then stored on their website which also saves you time when you come to re-order.
You don't have to buy online to take advantage of home delivery. In some of their branches Waitrose offer a trolley drop service where you can dump your groceries at the Delivery Service Desk or Fast track collection points and they will deliver them to your home for a small fee. Alternatively Safeways offers an "order online and pick up in the store" option on their website.