Electric scooters and wheelchairs are a wonderful help for Alzheimer’s patients in the middle stages of the disease. However, there comes a time when they can no longer sit up and the scooter stops being used. William’s scooter has been tucked away in a corner for 8 months as we debated what to do with it. Today, we decided to try to see if we could find someone who could use it who didn’t have insurance to cover a new one of their own.

So, for the last hour or so, I’ve been crying my eyes out reading the emails from needy people in my dinky local area who don’t have insurance and don’t have the funds to buy one for family members with missing limbs and crippling conditions. I wish I had more than one to give.

If you have an electric scooter or wheelchair in good condition that is gathering dust because you think no one will want it, will you consider finding it a new home? You’d be amazed at the response on your local Freecycle. (Freecycle is through Yahoo groups and is broken up into local regions to make it easy to give away and get useful things that would have ended up being unused or thrown away.)

Posted by on 03.24.2008 • Caregiver Support - Comments (1)

I just found out about the Caregivers Marketplace. Sign up is free and then they give you money back for some of the things you buy to care for Alzheimer’s patients, diabetes patients, etc. The only catch is that they need your original receipt, so you can’t do a Walgreens rebate and get the rebate from Caregivers Marketplace, too.

You have to purchase 5 products before you send in your receipts and their cash back form. The qualifying products aren’t all specialized things like Depends, either. I saw Cottenelle Fresh Wipes and some baby diapers on the list.

I’m thinking that it would be nice to save up the money back for a special treat for the caregiver - a manicure, an espresso, a day at the movies, or what have you.

Posted by on 03.07.2008 • Caregiver Support - Comments (1)