Snowflakes and Spoons

Solving Toileting needs at home It is one of our basic needs. When it becomes a difficult or impossible task it can play havoc with your independence, privacy and self-esteem.  Here are some tips that have helped me to keep the personal things personal. Having difficulty standing up from the toilet is often the first indications for me a flare is on its way. I sit down only to find that standing is now out of the question. The first time this happened I dissolved into a puddle of tears, calling my husband to come rescue me. Solutions: 1) The height of the toilet. While you are able to purchase toilets that are slightly higher off the ground than average, unless you're installing a new bathroom this may not be an option. Rather buy a raised toilet seat. This will limit the amount of effort required by the large muscles in your legs to stand. If you have children at home you can also remove the raised seat to allow them easy access. Make sure that it sits...

1)     Can you tell us a bit about Bailey? Bailey is now 6 years old (born 7 March 2011). She is a Saint Bernard. She is very sweet-natured, very protective and a very sensitive soul. She is very intuitive of emotion and can feel when one of us needs comforting. But just as with humans, the cortisone can make her a bit irritated. She LOVES cheese and plain yoghurt to the point of addiction, and of course any attention. 2)     When did you first notice her symptoms?  We noticed the first symptoms a few weeks after Bailey got spayed. She has Acquired MG that was triggered by the anesthetic used during the operation. She was 1 year old. Her hind legs just started to give way and she couldn't stand up anymore. This slowly escalated to her front legs also until she was paralysed in all four legs. By then we took her to the Vet a couple of times already to try and diagnose. They came up with anything from hip dysplasia to a broken pelvi...

A Tuff Pill To Swallow To follow this blog on Facebook click:  https://www.facebook.com/snowflakesandspoons/ Please note that this post has been split into swallowing and speech difficulties in order to allow for easy reading. Post 1: Learning how to swallow in times of autoimmune flare Before I was diagnosed, I had great difficulty swallowing. My diagnosing Dr. mentioned that it would start to improve once the medication started to take effect. After 6 months I could see improvement, however, I was still choking on a cup of tea and taking an hour eat half a sandwich which lead me to feel highly frustrated. My friend Stephanie was studying Speech Therapy at the time. After telling her my concerns she suggested a few practical steps which I still use today when I am having a bad day. Stephanie now owns her own private practice and was kind enough to answer some questions that I feel will be beneficial for MG warriors to know. My personal comments are added in i...