Follow
Share

Recently hospice changed my father to liquid medications because he had started chewing his pills & we could not get him to understand that he shouldn't. Because my mother also has problems, I had to figure out a way to fix his medicines in individual doses and keep track of them so as to avoid him being over and/or undermedicated. At first I tried those little plastic cups that takeout restaurants use, but my mother kept spilling them. Then I remembered the little bottles that soda bottles are made from. Let me explain, when 2 liter drink bottles are initially manufactured, they are rather small. They are about 5" tall and maybe about 1.5 inches in diameter. They are thick walled and very sturdy. By manufacturing them like this, they can be shipped easily to drink bottlers. The drink manufacturers put them in a mold & fill them with hot air to blow them up to the size we buy in the store. Anyway, when small they still use regular drink caps and can be washed in a dishwasher. Because they are manufactured for food use, they are safe. I ordered a bunch of them, labeled them and when I do his medicines I put each individual dose in a bottle & put a screw on cap on it. Because they won't leak, they can be shaken up for meds that have to be shaken. I was left with trying to decide how to hold the bottles in an upright position. They fit in test tube stands, but the stands come in 6 tubes and I was doing a whole week & wanted 7 holes. Walking thru the house thinking, I wandered into my granddaughter's room. Then I saw the baby Legos, those great big ones that are the 1st ones kids use. When the Legos are turned upside down, the bottles fit perfectly in them. I went to the dollar store & bought a tub that holds the Legos in rows of 7 & put the bottles in the Legos. The doses of medicines are labeled for each day and put in the tub accordingly. It makes it so easy for my mother to give him his medicnes when he needs them & it gives me a way to ensure he is getting exactly what he needs. To give him the meds, without them getting spilled, we use a straw in the bottle. Daddy drinks it right up. Then we give him something to drink to get the taste out of his mouth.
Anyway, I thought this might help someone else, so here it is. The bottles can be ordered online. One brand name is "Baby Soda Bottles". Elementary school science teachers use these tubes (bottles) for test tubes because they are safe for kids. Be careful, the bottles come in 2 sizes. The small ones are probably too small for most medicines. Get the 60 ml size, not the 20 ml size.The Legos can probably be picked up at a Goodwill if you don't already have them laying around the house.
Good Luck!

This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.
Find Care & Housing
I don't know if the medication syringes for babies have storage capacity. If you do an online search for "medication syringes", however, you'll find several types that have end caps you can place on tthe tips once the medication is drawn up. As to how fresh they'll stay, I don't know. I do know that our hospice nurses will draw up liquid medications in syringes for patients for up to a week at a time. But, it might be dependent on the specific medication. You might ask your pharmacist.
(0)
Report

jfryhospice, Will the medicine syringes keep the medicine "fresh" for a week? I try to do medicines once a week (depending on Daddy's pain levels, sometimes twice a week) so I need to be able to put them in containers that they won't evaporate from. All of the liquids except the anxiety meds can be kept at room temperature. The anxiety meds are so concentrated that I use those little plastic "bead" containers with screw on lids that can be purchased at hobby stores.
(0)
Report

Wonderful problem solving! You can also buy medicine syringes (often under baby supplies) and draw up the correct dosage of medications and store them. It helps to administer the medication off to the side of the patient's mouth.
(0)
Report

great idea that was worth sharing with others.
(0)
Report

This discussion has been closed for comment. Start a New Discussion.
Start a Discussion
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter