[Blindtlk] Two questions about administerring medicine.

Sat Feb 6 07:55:54 UTC 2016

I see this is an older question, but will go ahead an answer anyway. I am a
mom (sighted) who has to give multiple medications, including sub-q
injections to my daughter daily. Sub-q injections are relatively easy to
give without needing visual cues. Another person is correct--- for sub-q
injections you use one hand to pinch up a fold of skin, and with the other
hand you push the needle all the way in to the fold of skin and press the
button down until you hear the click and then count to three to make sure
all the medication has time to be injected and then pull out. There are
various positions you can hold the child in order to ensure that squirming
is not an issue. My daughter is three and a half and doesn't appreciate
getting poked with a needle, so I typically hold her on my lap, facing
outward, stabilize her by throwing the arm that I am going to use to
grab/pinch her skin across her body, (so my left arm across her body and
grab skin on her upper right arm or thigh), my legs criss-cross across her
legs to stabilize her legs and then when you go to do the injection to do
so swiftly so there isn't a lot of time for kicking and screaming.

I do agree however, blind or sighted, I don't generall ask babysitters to
be responsible for giving my child's meds. Maybe I am a paranoid control
freak but she is very medically fragile and I don't want to put anyone  in
a position of having something go wrong. My daughter takes 21 doses of oral
medications, 1 sub-q injection, two doses of medication through her central
line (permanent IV in her chest) and is hooked up 24/7 to two continuous IV
infusions. You can have X-ray vision or none at all but only me and her
father touch her IV and her meds unless you are a registered nurse, period.
So, blindness has nothing to do with declining IMO--- if you were her
parent and had to do this, you absolutely could do so as a blind person but
the fact is you aren't her parent and therefore should not have to accept
this responsibility regardless of visual status
Rene

On Friday, February 5, 2016, Cheryl Echevarria via blindtlk <
blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:

> There are plenty of ways you can give her medications, the same way we do
> it, there are measuring spoons that are marked for the blind you can use,
> or
> measuring cups etc.
>
> It all depends on the dosages. If they are pills, every pill feels
> differently. If you are giving her pills, have her use the Scripttalk
> program, where you can get them almost free at the pharmacy, we have a link
> to in on the www.nfb.org. If you are not aware. Script Talk is a
> prescription bottle with a tiny microchip in it, that you the patient gets
> the little reader and when you are ready to take the pills and I take a lot
> do to my kidney transplant 10 years ago, plus diabetic medications etc. You
> take the prescription bottle and place it on the reader, and it reads what
> the drug is how many times a day to take it, etc.
>
> You don't have to be blind to get it, but it was invented for the blind, so
> we can take our medications independently.
>
> Cheryl Echevarria, President
> National Federation of the Blind - Travel & Tourism Division
> Vice President
> National Federation of the Blind of New York State - Greater Long Island
> Chapter
> 631-236-5138
> cherylandmaxx at hotmail.com <javascript:;>
> "Live the Life You Want"
>
> The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the
> characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the
> expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles
> between blind people and our dreams. You can have the life you want;
> blindness is not what holds you back.
>
>
> Cheryl Echevarria was awarded by Governor Cuomo in 2012, New York State
> Disabled Entrepreneur or the year, and is the owner of Echevarria Travel
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>] On
> Behalf Of Carly
> Mihalakis via blindtlk
> Sent: Friday, February 5, 2016 3:49 AM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List <blindtlk at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>>; Blind
> Talk Mailing List
> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org <javascript:;>>
> Cc: Carly Mihalakis <carlymih at comcast.net <javascript:;>>;
> Christopher-Mark Gilland
> <clgilland07 at gmail.com <javascript:;>>
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Two questions about administerring medicine.
>
> Evening, Chris,
>
> Just now seeing this. Ask Mom to show you some tricks, have you ever
> thought
> of that? If she says it's so easy, perhaps if she were there she might
> appreciate what showstoppers you are dealing with?
> Keep us posted! Car 04:19 PM 5/21/2015, Christopher-Mark Gilland via
> blindtlk wrote:
> >I have two questions.  Again, now, I'm the one who probably is askking
> >admittedly a very valid question, but yet a somewhat awquard question.
> >
> >I often have to babysit a little girl.  She's the  sweetest little
> >thing at 4 years old, but blesser heart, she has two medications she
> >has to take on a regular basis.  Usually, her mom gives them to her
> >before leaving her for the evening in my care, but the mom has
> >expressed that she really would like for me to learn to do this myself
> >for her.  It's not a matter of her being lazy and not wanting to take
> >care of her child.  Don't even go there!  It's just she is in her
> >words, trying to prove to me that I can! do this, and that just because
> >I am blind, doesn't mean anything in context of the action at hand.
> >
> >So, here's more specifically the deal.  She has to be given a kitchen
> >spoon sized doce of liquid medicine.  I know it's usually the same
> >principle as putting liquid on a spoon when cooking then putting it in
> >your mixing bowl or whatever, but I cannot for the life of me find an
> >easy way to do this. I'm always so frightened that I'm gonna miss and
> >hit her eye, or bopper on the nose or worse when trying to get it in
> >her mouth.  She usually does open up, which is a plus.  I don't think
> >she really minds the taste, but it's just very hard for me, as I get
> >really nurvous, and my hands start trembling.  I'm not so much scared
> >of getting it in her mouth, as I am of spilling it off the spoon.
> >Yeah, I could pour it in a little cup then just have her drink it that
> >way, but then it makes it really really hard to measure out the correct
> >amount, and I'd be scared I'd give her too much, or too little.
> >
> >The other med she has to take is much, and I do mean much much much
> >much! more difficult.  I do want some hints on the above, but here's
> >the one I'm r'r'r'r'really! struggling with that I desperetly! could
> >use some blind tips on.  She also has to take a medication which is
> >injected as a shot.  Poor baby!  And what makes it worse is, she's not
> >exactly a very good sport about it either.  To say she's really brave
> >is bigger than the state of Texas of a lie.  LOL!  Let's just say,
> >you'd better be wearing ear plugs or cotton balls if you have sensitive
> >ears, as it's ear screeching!  Anyway, the thing is, I don't just get
> >scared the few times I've been asked to give it to her, but I just
> >about pannick myself.  I know, one would say to me, there's my first
> >problem right there!  Don't? pannick!  The first time I start that,
> >I'll make it more scarey for her, plus, I'll start doing dumb things.
> >The mom has said for me to start by just taking a deep breath before I
> >do it, but my biggest concern is, I can't feel  the point of the needle
> >when it goes in.  Oh yeah, she screams bloody murder, which is usually
> >an indication that I'm in, at which point, I push the plunger until it
> >clicks, but my thing is, I can't see it go in, and being it's so sharp,
> >I have naturally a really really heavy hand.  I'm scared I'll jabber!
> >Actually, a few times, I have made about a half inch cut on her arm
> >where she wenced back flinching in pain, and therefore my hand slipped.
> >I don't wanna grab her little arm too hard, as it's gonna hurt her
> >already escrutiatingly as is, but then, you add my tight grip on top a
> >that?  No? thank you!  We've tried having her lie down on her bed on
> >her back, so that she can only resist but so much, but it still is very
> >difficult.  Further, I'm even just as much scared that if I feel where
> >I'm about to stick her, for one, it won't be staril, and for 2, I'm
> >just as much, if not more, frightened that I'll wind up accidentally
> >sticking myself.  Granted, I've not hit the plunger, so it's not like
> >I'd get any of the medication, God forbid, but it still would hurt like
> >a son of a gun!
> >
> >So, if any of you who're blind with absolutely no vision at all like
> >shapes, colors, etc. have given an injection, especially even more so
> >if it was to a little rugrat, how do you safely do this?  The mom is
> >really insistant on, you can do this, you just need to relax, and calm
> >down.  I just feel I'm always so tense, and hurky jerky when I do it.
> >There's gotta be a way!
> >
> >Chris.
> >
> >_______________________________________________
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>
>
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