This time last year I wrote about all the stroke-related
clutter I’ve collected in my house. So I recognize the irony now of writing a
post advocating the acquisition of still more stuff. But a couple purchases I
made recently have really improved my quality of life.
I was making multiple trips to carry all my meal items
one-at-a-time from the kitchen and back. While multiple trips meant more
exercise, it wasn’t quality exercise. I was focused on not spilling my coffee
instead of posture and mechanics. I’d rather wheel my breakfast to the table in
one fell swoop and save my energy for quality exercise at the gym.
Since buying the food trolley, I have found multiple other
uses – i.e., unloading the dishwasher onto the trolley and rolling it around the
kitchen to put things away – same goes for laundry once it’s folded.
Vacuuming is even harder after a stroke: moving the cord and
furniture out of the way, wrapping up the cord at the finish – it is frustrating
and hard on my back. Sweeping can be good therapy, but it doesn’t work on
carpets and it’s exhausting. Enter my Roomba 630 – a relatively inexpensive robotic
vacuum. Last weekend, we had a dinner party. After being on my feet all morning preparing food, I was able to turn on my Roomba to clean my floors while I took a nap. I awoke to a clean house – rested and ready to greet my guests.
