Gift Guides for seniors and the medically complex

Gift guides for seniors, medically complex, dialysis/chemo/medical infusions, activities of daily living, memory care, pain relief and mobility disability

I did not realize how many people subscribed to emails from us that do not know us from Instagram. Or how many newer followers we have that do not know our story. I do not do a good job of re-introducing myself and the people involved in my life on a regular basis. It feels overwhelming to do so - trying to summarize everything that has happened or is happening in my life.

I think it is important to know my backstory to understand why I have any sort of credibility when it comes to these gift guides, but you can always skip ahead to view our gift guides here.

My Sister Made Me Buy It: The Origin Story

In November 2018, my mom passed away from complications of a fungal infection that she acquired because of a biologic immunosuppressant she was on for her Rheumatoid Arthritis¹. She was 66. She was the sole caregiver for my dad, 64 who had a plethora of medical issues, which I detailed more about in this post:

How caregiving changed my life and cognitive function

We took over his care in November 2018. It was hospital stay after hospital stay. And a lot of rehabilitation. I am grateful for the experience because I learned SO much - especially about how important our allied healthcare providers are - physical therapists, occupational therapists, speech language pathologists (especially important if your loved one is on oxygen supplementation), dieticians, etc. I have both a Bachelors and a Masters in Health Care Administration. I studied all of the different proponents of health, but never really understood how important it was to have care coordination until becoming a caregiver.

I started My Sister Made Me Buy It in November 2019, a year after my mom had passed, because I felt sad, alone, and inspired. We talked a lot about skincare, beauty, grief and caregiving. It has evolved into more than that, but I always try to ensure that I still talk about grief. ²

I hate gift guide season

I have never been great at curating gift guides for people. I think it overwhelms me because I like to get to know a person before understanding what kind of gift they would appreciate. Which is why seeing so many of them with gift suggestions I did not need felt a little isolating.

That is why I created gift guides full of practical ideas for our medically complex loved ones a few years ago. This year, they went through a thorough edit from my assistant Brittany - a dietician with more than 12 years of experience working in a critical illness recovery hospital. She provided some extra ideas based on her experience working in the hospital. However, if you have any experience or ideas you would like to add - please let me know in the comments so I can add to the lists!

Each gift guide has its own explainer and post, that you can read more about on our blog. Without further adieu - the gift guides you don’t usually see this time of year.

Gift ideas for someone with a mobility disability

I met Heather through her Instagram, The Heather Report. She has a blog (with a lot of great gift guides right now!) and a Substack where she covers beauty, style, books, and her life as a disabled woman. She has amazing taste and I love her series “accidentally adaptive,” where she features products she loves and uses that end up being adaptive to her life.

Heather wrote and curated this post on Gift Ideas for Someone With a Mobility Disability, with all commissions going towards her. I am so appreciative of her dedication to mobility disability representation and romantasy books.³

Gift ideas for seniors

I hate saying this gift guide is just for seniors because it really could be for anyone. It is a round up of gift ideas for those people who say “I don’t need anything.” A list full of practical gift ideas that have improved my life or my dad’s when we were still caring for him.

Pain relief gift ideas

Pain relief gifts may not be on everyone’s wishlist, but they are something that can be used daily to help provide comfort. And if we use my shopping, girl math logic, then this leads me to conclude that these items are free when used regularly!

While I am not a medical professional, all these pain relief gift recommendations come from my own experience. I am overweight, which is hard on my joints, while working I sometimes sit for eight-plus hours per day, and I often get migraines. My back, neck, and shoulders also suffered from wear and tear while I cared for my dad, who was someone with limited mobility and needed assistance with any type of transfer to and from a wheelchair, toilet, bed, etc. All that to say — my body has been through a lot, and I do whatever I can to help manage the pain without always having to rely on medicine.

Gift ideas to help with activities of daily living

This gift guide is full of ideas for anyone in your life who may need help with activities of daily living (ADLs). ADLs were something I had learned a lot about while caring for my dad. ADLs are essential and routine tasks that most healthy individuals can perform without assistance.⁴ ADLs include:

• Ambulating: The extent of an individual’s ability to move from one position to another and walk independently.

• Feeding: The ability of a person to feed oneself.

• Dressing: The ability to select appropriate clothes and to put the clothes on.

• Personal hygiene: The ability to bathe and groom oneself and maintain dental hygiene, nail, and hair care.

• Continence: The ability to control bladder and bowel function

• Toileting: The ability to get to and from the toilet, use it appropriately, and clean oneself.

Gift ideas for memory care patients

At the end of my dad’s life, he had multiple disabilities, vascular dementia, and an autoimmune disorder where he did not have good use of his hands. While he was not in an advanced stage of dementia, the beginning stages were difficult not only for us as his caregivers but also for his loved ones.

A few years ago, I posted about some of the things we were using to help him with daily routines and reduce confusion. I am not an occupational therapist or any type of expert in this area, but I did receive many direct messages from followers with things that they found helpful for their loved ones.

Gift ideas for anyone receiving medical infusion treatments or hemodialysis

My dad was on dialysis for 11 years before he passed. Being in kidney failure and on dialysis is brutal. My dad was incredibly strong and even though he hated dialysis, he never missed a dialysis day. Having to be on dialysis is truly like having a full-time job. You have to go three days a week – and you can never take a day off - and that does not even include all of the things you have to do at home between treatments (no more than 32 oz of fluid a day, consuming enough protein, avoiding phosphorous, etc).

My dad loved buying gifts, but ironically, he was challenging to buy for. Since he spent so much time at dialysis, we often gifted him things he could use there.

I hope these guides are helpful - please let me know if you have any other recommendations I can add! I want this to be a resource people can consult all year round.

XX Sarah

1. My mom was a nurse. We never really talked about her medical conditions with her as much as we did my dad. I wish WE had known the risks, not just my mom. You always hear those crazy warnings on the TV commercials, but never think it can happen to you or someone else. She was in a lot of pain, though. After she died, we saw the warning - “…can cause serious infections…especially those aged 65 or older…”

2. We try to keep our highlights updated on Grief, but they can be hard to find. That is why I created this page - so you can always find our grief Instagram highlights. I have not rewatched them - I can’t. But my assistant (best friend Brittany) went through some of my older highlights to find them. I am so grateful she did that because now we always know where the highlights are.

3. She was the one who encouraged me to read Fourth Wing (along with Beach Reads and Bubbly) and then ACOTAR.

4. Edemekong PF, Bomgaars DL, Sukumaran S, et al. Activities of Daily Living. [Updated 2023 Jun 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470404/↩︎