Personal Pagers

[Guest guest]

__Re Marilyn's message below, I have a battery powered personal pager where

Terry wears a small pendant with a button. She hits the button and a

beeper in my pocket lets me know she needs me. Cost is about $50 and range

is a few hundred feet. More details on

request.______________________________________________________________________

Message: 9

Date: Tue, 23 Jul 2002 22:24:35 -0500

Subject: Re: , Annette, breathing problems

Louise,

I noticed your comment about not being able to move 48 steps away from your

husband.

Earlier, we had similar problems. If I did not stay in the room with

Speedy, he would get the feeling that I had just left. His voice is so soft

and weak that even though he would call for me, I could not hear him. We

have big time problems with bowels so sometimes he sits (with props) on the

commode for a lenghty time and I would get rather bored/tired of just

sitting when I could do at least one task while he is taking care of his

business.

Through one of the mail order companies, we found door bells that are

powered by pluging into a electric receptical. We have taped one of the

door bells to his hospital bed, one to his power wheel chair, and one to the

counter beside the commode. We plugged the ringers into three electric

outlets spread throughout the house. Now, I can go away for a few minutes

and he can ring for my help when he is ready. He feels less alone. I feel

less restricted.

This might be a suggestion for others. These ringers take very little

pressure so he does not have to put out lots of effort to get my attention.

the cost is low. We have reduced his level of frusrration when he would

begin calling almost the minute that I would walk out of the room.

Best wishes to you,

Marilyn in TN

Sennewald Charlottesville, Virginia

[Guest guest]

We also use a door bell as the way Ned calls me. Ours came from Lowes and is

simply a battery powered one. When I want to go outside I just slip the

" bell " part (small plastic receptacle about the size of a pack of cigarettes)

into my pocket. We live in a regular subdivision with a standard lot and

when we first went to the doorbell alarm, I walked to all four corners of our

lot and the bell still worked. Cost is less than $20 and we're only on our 3

rd one in over 2 years. I tape the " doorbell button " onto a strip of

Rubbermaid shelf liner which is attached to the bedrail. This allows Ned to

put it in different places on the bed and the Rubbermaid strip keeps it from

slipping away and if he drops it, etc., it will stay attached to the rail and

he can reel it in again.

We also have a visual/audio baby monitor. Originally we had the " camera "

focused on Ned's bed and I could plug in the TV type monitor into an outlet

in any room where I was going to be. I used this especially at night when I

wanted to read and Ned was " asleep " so I didn't have to get up every time he

made a sound or coughed etc. Then one day we were having an open house with

lots of family and friends over and I reversed the appliances. With the

camera in the family room and the " TV " monitor in the bedroom, Ned could see

and hear what was going on -- made him feel included in the fun. You have

the option on this monitor of being only audio too. This cost between $50-70

I think. Good Luck. Ned & Judy