anyone else taking care of special needs people

Personally, I believe in survival of the fittest.

In a SHTF situation, I believe everyone that can survive, will survive, and those who are the fittest will thrive as well. I am sorry that your daughter has physical issues so that situation would put you into a real quandary - how to take care of #1 (yourself) so that you can assist #2 (everyone else).

You would not do yourself and those others who are the fittest (mentally / physically) any benefit by ruining your own health and well-being to help those who cannot do for themselves.

Strong children (like my grandson who is almost 5 now) would thrive in a SHTF situation - he has a very strong will and he knows how to use that will. I wouldn't have to take care of him - he would be taking care of me :sssh:

 

As cold as it sounds, I'm afraid I have to agree with Naekid. My younger brother (by 2 yrs) has had heart problems for 10 years. He just had another heart attack, his third, 2 weeks ago. In a truly SHTF situation, there would be very little I could do for him. He has curtailed his physical activity level to almost nothing so to not stress his heart although his doctor told him he will slowly be able to bring it back up. Unfortunately he would probably not fair well if the living got really hard, so in all likelihood he would not survive.

 

Sorry about your bro. My thing is a little different. I take care of dad 76 and fair on the physical end of things but has an eye condition, has him almost blind so i need to be here almost all the time. If i needed to work on something, forage, defend or other thing's it would be a mess. :confused:

 

wow, honest replies but brutal.

i think you prepare like anyone else and then some but you need to stock items specific to her ... catheters, medicines? People with limited mobility are much more susceptible to infections.. pressure sores (bed sores) Pneumonia, Rashes so hygiene, hydration and warmth are important. Not knowing her specific needs it's hard to give much more detail. My suggestion... your best bet, based on the small info is a bug in as opposed to bug out if at all possible. say you bug out and the car breaks down, runs out of fuel, road is impassable and you are half way between BOL and home.

 

I agree - very BRUTAL, but, it is better to have planned and prepared for the brutal circumstances than to have not planned and have to say your last good-byes during brutal times.

I have a co-worker that would have a very hard time surviving during brutal circumstances due to his diabetes, but, if he plans and prepares properly, he could make things easier for his missus and son.

We share an office, and, several times a day he pokes his finger, draws blood, runs a test, lifts his shirt and then stabs his stomach with a needle. If something really bad happened and he ran out of needles or test-strips or even insulin - he might be lucky to last a month or so without test-strips, but, he has told me that without the needles that he would probably be saying goodbye for the last time after a week.

 

I actually know some one that had (past tense) type 2 diabetes and basically cured it with diet... many diseases are diet/ life style related and with type 1 or 2 have a genetic (family history ) of diabetes.

Cure Type 2 Diabetes Naturally Without Drugs




That brings up an interesting point about diet ..most of the food people eat is garbage.... processed, High fructose corn sugar, it's horrible for you and it's in most foods.

 

My co-worker is a little different. He was born with diabetes and already lost one eye (left) to the disease. Nobody in his family seems to have any diabetic-tendencies (I work with his dad, uncle, cousin and brother as well) either.

His case is one of those "extreme-situation" cases. He knows that he is a walking time-bomb but does what he can with what he has.

 

cut myself off on the last post :nuts: the real point is just becasue you have an illness doesn't mean it cannot be helped, improved by diet.

 

The other side of the coin ...

I understand what you guys are saying ... but ... would a special needs person be any different than say a new born baby? (hang with me)

All families are different in one way or another. We teach people to look at their family and their needs ... someone with a special needs person, a baby or small children would need to have different things on hand for what ever emergencies pop up.

So I would say ... look at your daughters needs and keep extra on hand. Fix her a BOB with what you know she will need for an extreme emergencies (what ever it may be) ... We (pub ed) say 3 -5 days ... LOL ... But I say put back as much as you can for you and your family.

 

What we have done, plan to do

Hello BreezeMommy,

Your family and I are in the same boat. Here's what we've done and what we are trying to accomplish.

My DD1 has severe Cerebal Palsey w/severe Athetoid movements and is total care. Living in the swamplands of Lousy-anna, we are prone to hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, etc.

Our current plans are to always Bug In, if possible. In the event that we have to Bug Out, DD1 has a BoB in two parts.
Part 1 is the regular BoB with the usual equipment that goes with camping/Bugging Out.
Part 2 contains her diapers, chucks, wet ones, and vinyl gloves. Bugging Out requires us to toss ALL of her meds in the Part 2, along with clothing, personal hygiene items, etc.

Our future plans involve procuring a towable "toy box" camper. DD1's hospital Bed, potty chair, etc, would be secured in the toy box section of the camper, which has access between the toy box and the living area. I would attach an aluminum ramp to the outside doorway for her chair but am planning for the wheelchair to be stored at night in the toy box with her while she sleeps, if there is room. Otherwise, the wheelchair will have to be stored in the van when not being used.

DD1 has a Baclofen pump and we have had to deal with her in withdrawl symptoms when the Baclofen was cut off, recently. It is a full time job to care and feed her for the two of us under that situation. Liquid Baclofen is not a readily available drug to refill her pump with. Oral Baclofen is VERY rough on the stomach and she is limited to how much she can take and keep down long enough for digestion. We still have a large amount of the oral Baclofen if the liquid pump refill becomes unavailable and we would soldier on as best as we can. I also have a field surgical kit, seditives,, and a suture kit in the event that the pump would have to be removed and the catheter plugged.

If we are going to lose our DD1 due to a catastrophic disaster, it won't happen without a fight!!!! or from lack of prior preparation. I hope this gives you some ideas to apply to your situation!!!

 

Wow Wildman ..

Have you tested bug-out situations at all with DD1? ie: Random-Camping / boondocking? How much power will that pump require - would you need a generator or would a solar-power / wind-power system run the pump?

What does it cost you for the medications / supplies per month or per year and do you have any financial-support through work / government to take care of those expenses?

 

I take care of my girlfriends father who has ALS (Lou Gehrig's) as well as her mother who is showing signs id dementia and i can not think of what to do with them. In a :shtf: there is now way we are going to be able to take care of them and us as well. I am certainly not going to leave them with no means of protecting or feeding themselves. I think the kindest thing i could possibly do is try to "mitigate" :quote: their suffering ah hem if you know what i am saying.