(no subject)

[the_rck]

When Cordelia had her physical last month, the nurse practitioner we saw recommended Proactiv for Cordelia's acne, so I ordered some. Unfortunately, Cordelia can't use it. When she does, it burns like crazy. The Proactiv people say that's not normal, so I've told Cordelia not to use the stuff any more. It's a pity because she has a lot of pimples and blackheads and whiteheads and such. There's also a patch on her upper back that the nurse practitioner thought was acne. She scratches that, so it was hard to tell what was going on with it.

I will have to remind Scott-- The topic of e-readers came up while we were visiting Grandma, and she wondered if there was an e-reader that could read books aloud to her. She really misses reading. She hasn't experimented with books on CD because she doesn't know how to use a CD player (she didn't think she had one, but she does). She did say that her local librarian has offered to fill out the paperwork to get her into a program to get audiobooks from, I think, the government. Great-grandma used that program, according to Grandma, and really liked it. That was, of course, twenty years ago, so we don't know how the program works now. At any rate, Scott offered to do some research to see if there was an e-reader that could read books out loud. He thought there might be.

We just had to take more money from Cordelia's savings. The money in there comes from Social Security (based on my disability) and is intended to help pay for her living expenses. We try to save as much of it as we can because we know that college is going to be expensive. Unfortunately, our budget doesn't have room for the big ticket expenses we've been facing during the last year. This time, it's car repairs and the roof. Last fall, it was the sewer line. We intend to pay back the money, but I don't know how quickly we'll be able to.

While we were out, we stopped at Kroger to pick up some stuff for lunch for Scott and Cordelia and a prescription for me. I also got some Gel-Kam and was quite startled by the price which I think has about doubled since the last time I bought some. Poking around on Google hasn't clarified anything except to show that prices on Amazon are comparable (and from some other vendors much higher). I absolutely need to use the stuff because my teeth are extremely sensitive. At my dentist's recommendation, I use the stuff twice a day. That means a $20 tube lasts about a month and a half.

Comments

[kyrielle]

For the acne - perhaps the doctor could recommend something else that uses a different mechanism, avoiding whatever sh reacted to?

Kindle doesn't exactly, but on Kindle Fire at least (maybe others), you can get an Audible subscription. Or just get the audible subscription if she has something that could use that - there's an app for my iPhone, for example.

For Cordelia's money - keeping it in savings makes it accessible and is good for some, but would it make sense to move some into a college savings plan where the rate of return should be better?

[the_rck]

Unfortunately, I think benzoyl peroxide is the standard acne treatment. Anything else is likely to be prescription and/or even nastier. Scott's mother suggested lavender oil, but I'm allergic to lavender.

I'm not sure that even a Kindle would work because the technology is a barrier. Grandma doesn't even understand cell phones. She's also nearly blind. The interface would have to be voice activated because she couldn't see options on a touch screen (she has trouble dialing on a phone with enlarged buttons). My uncle, the one she's going to live with, is a bit more tech savvy because he's raising his granddaughter (she's fifteen), but I don't know if he'd be up to navigating anything complicated. Anyway, I'm not at all sure that any of this is feasible just because of the barriers.

I've suggested moving some of Cordelia's money to a college savings plan, but Scott has been against it for reasons that aren't clear to me. I think he may be overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices for what to do with the money. Then again, keeping it available may be the best option-- We've 'borrowed' $14000 from Cordelia's account in the last year.

[laurajv]

fwiw, my sister recently turned me on to making a face wash from honey & kosher salt. I find it doesn't eliminate acne BUT it does cut down a lot on the painful cystic zits (so I still get the same amount overall, but they tend to be smaller and non-painful, and doing a short mask of the cleanser 2x a day on any that do go cystic fixes them WAY faster for me than any OTC treatments). if those are things you have around, it's cheap to try, anyway. I make mine super-salty so it's stiff and kind of abrasive, but my sister likes hers softer (more honey).

[the_rck]

That does sound worth trying. I'll have Scott pick up some kosher salt when he next does the shopping.

Scott's mother suggested lavender oil for pimples. She says it makes them go away rapidly.

[lemon_badgeress]

unfortunately, e-readers are actually designed (e-readers and e-readings apps both) to block the old text-to-speech feature, because that's considered rights-infringement, now that audio-book rights are a big thing.

There is a specific program that lets people with disabilities have access to that function, but I think it involves a specific software program and special book files -- I think it's the DAISY books? I don't know much. >_

[the_rck]

I was hoping it would be less complicated than that. Whatever she gets has to have voice only interface. Grandma can probably find a power on button once she's practiced enough, but she can't see well enough to do anything beyond that.

Someone mentioned that the Kindle Fire is set up to work with Audible, so that might work. I just worry about getting it set up properly. I'm not sure Grandma has a credit card, either (she can't see to sign her name any more), so that might be more complicated than she can manage.

This is likely entirely a pipe dream. It would be nice to give Grandma access to books again, but there are so many barriers.

[zhelana]

You get money from social security for having a child if you're disabled? Is it from SSDI or SSI?

[the_rck]

I can never remember which one is which-- I get the one based on how long a person worked and paid into the system. I don't know that money for kids comes with the other one.

[chorus-of-chaos.livejournal.com]

Because of my failing eyesight and how very critical reading is to my mental health, I am very curious about the reading thing, please post what you find out! I've tried audiobooks before, but the problem I run into is that I read much faster than a speaking speed, so I wind up getting distracted or impatient.

Cost of everything is going berserk. I've stopped buying hamburger because I can't afford even the crappy kind that is almost a 1/3 fat, but at walmart they carry ground pork which is suprisingly lean, when I started buying it a while back (I make potstickers with it, and asian flavored burgers using hoisen sauce) it was 2.00 a lb, now is 3.30. I guess they figured out people were going with that instead of the hamburger and jacked up the price. Assholes. my doctor is bitching about my bloodwork because with the lupus and some other problems I need to eat a high protein diet and I just can't afford to and it's showing in my health and bloodwork. :(

I had terrible acne as a kid, tried all kinds of things but something my herbalist aunt came up with seemed to be what helped the most...3x a day I drank a mixture of 2 tbls apple cider vinegar,1 tbsp lemon, 1 tbps honey in hot water...I could throw tea in over it if I wanted to. something about consuming the acid of vinegar and lemon helped balance out the ph in the body was what I later read in the herb bible is why it helps skin conditions, and honey is a natural antibiotic. I also regularly used mud masks to help draw out the impurities in my skin and to help dry the oils. When I stuck to this I had near flawless skin except for the few days just before my period, and I would only get light breakouts then. I used neutregenas clear glycerin soap for acne, and washed my face about three times a day.

I realize with Cordelias particular eating habits she may totally veto the tea (although honestly, its quite nice tasting, just a bit tart. It's also really good for a sore throat strangely enough, you'd think it would hurt but it doesn't.) but I thought I would share anyway, information is a good thing whether you decide to use it or no, never hurts to learn new things :D

[the_rck]

Cordelia doesn't like the sound of the tea. I don't know if that will change as she becomes more self-conscious about her appearance. Right now, she isn't at all. She doesn't like the sound of any of the remedies that have been suggested. (The others are lavender oil, which I'm allergic to, and a salt and honey scrub.)

So far, on the e-reader front, someone told me that a Kindle Fire can be used with an Audible account. I don't think it would work for my grandmother, but it might be worth looking into for you. There's not much to be done about how slow audiobooks are. A person can't read out loud as fast as most people can read to themselves.

[evalerie.livejournal.com]

Lately I find I need to divide the price of everything by 2 in order to be able to think at all rationally about them. Maddening!

[the_rck]

I try not to think about prices too much. It's depressing.

Of course, right now, we have to think about the cost of a new roof. I'll be calling around to get estimates on Monday. The Arbor Parents database has been very helpful.