Helpful Products

In dealing with several chronic illnesses I have come across products that help me manage life while dealing with my illnesses and make life a bit easier. I will share them here along with the estimated cost and which of my conditions the product helps me with. There may be some crossover between tech items and products here just to be thorough. This page is only for products so I will not tag each item. Items I feel are exemplary will get a Gold Star Award.

Let me know if you try any of these and how they help you. Please also share things in the comments you have found to be helpful.

I use RoadID for my interactive medic alert band. I have been a VERY happy customer of RoadID since 2006. Their customer service is exemplary and their products are top notch. They have a wide range of products that you can customize to suit your needs. I have moved to the interactive ID as it suits my needs more fully these days. It gives me control over what info I want to enter and that I want first responders to have access to.

Cost: $19.99 for starter band and ID
Helps: Peace of mind for myself and my family.

These have been fabulous with the IBS and Herpes1 outbreaks brought on by steroids used to treat my Lupus. They also come in a travel size which is awesome so I keep a few in my backpack at all times! These are flushable, biodegradable and don’t have a bunch of junk in them. We have a septic system and they have not caused us any problems in the past year that we have been using them in our home.

Each ingredient below is linked to an info page if you want to know more. Well, ok I didn’t link water because, really?

Ingredients: Water, Cocamidopropyl PG-Dimonium Chloride Phosphate, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate and Citric Acid.

Flushability: According to the Dude Wipes site, “Dude Wipes are certified flushable by the highest of international standards. This means our wipes are proven to break up per the standards of sewer or septic systems. Besides being flushable, we use a unique and innovative material that is 100% biodegradable & from sustainable natural sources. Below is a super exciting clip of DUDE Wipes superior performance during a flushability test in an ISO certified lab.”

Cost: $4.99-$6.99

iRobot Roomba 614 Robotic Vacuum

The Roomba has saved my sanity! With 3 cats, a dog and 3 humans and me with chronic pain vacuuming needs to happen at least a few times a week but I am lucky if I can do it once a month. So, enter the Roomba. This was an amazing gift from another friend with chronic illness who knew the value of my sanity. The Roomba is programmed to come on daily because if I don’t program it I will forget. So being able to program it for the same time daily or different times if you want is invaluable. If there are rooms I don’t want it to go into I can close a door or there are sensors that you can place that will tell it a room is off limits to it. The Roomba  has smart sensors that it around the house. The Roomba picks up dirt, pet & people hair, crumbs, dust, small bits of paper (great if you have a furry kid who chews up paper) and so forth. Though with 3 cats we have discovered the Roomba will pick up very small cat toys (such as the little mice with tails) but then it stops and calls out to us to come clean the jam. (Scared me half to death the first time it started talking from another room!

One con note for the Roomba is that if you have a lot of furniture against walls then there can be an accumulation that you will need to sweep or vacuum in the standard manner every few weeks. This is mostly cat & people fur that the Roomba can’t reach. So this could make it a not ideal solution if you want it to do ALL of your vacuuming and never have to sweep or use a standard vac again.

The roomba isn’t a cheap purchase but it is worth every penny! Most vacuums aren’t cheap these days anyway so I don’t think that this is any worse than a standard vac.

Cost: $200 (If you find a sale or refurbished) – $899 (this has ALL the bells, whistles, apps, etc.)
Helps: With maintaining basic house care even when I feel like I have been run over by a train and can’t afford a house keeper.