[loveyouhun]

Hi,
I have a two bedrooms and bathrooms apartment. I having a hard time trying to clean it. I do not qualify for housekeeper. I make to much money on SSDI. I have plates and screws in my right ankle and wrist. it's becoming hard to clean. I also not very steady on my feet. Any suggestions will be appreciate.

[SvanThor]

Maybe you could get a friend to do it for you and you could pay them back in some other way that doesn't involve money? Maybe cook dinner for them? I dunno, just a thought.

[jaynedough]

Sorry you're going through this. Hopefully you've found help by now. I am having similar issues. Have you tried calling 211? They may be able to give you some guidance. I've thought about calling local churches to see if they have anyone who can help.

[loveyouhun]

No I have no housekeeper or caregiver yet. I a little bit better but if I bend or squat down for a period of time or even doing some cleaning like bathrooms. My back hurt. I do have a back brace I got when I was a caregiver. I will wear that and see how that goes.

[Misterpain]

Hey lovey another carer turned caree it suck's to know life on both sides of the bedrail, doesn't it?

Keep your chin up it will work out somehow, it always does!

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[PandorasAquarium]

Hopefully things have improved for you. For what it's worth, my physical therapist hammered into my head that I needed to essentially relearn my limitations and reassess my priorities.

What I mean is that I used to be able to clean our 2500 sq ft house top to bottom in a day. No more. But I want to. Badly. It drives me batty. The feng shui is nonexistent around here nowadays. Lol. Our gardens are downsized and weedy. And all my little side projects and DIYs are in the to-do bin.

But the fact is for the foreseeable future I won't be doing all that anymore. I have to accept my current physical limitations. Whether I like it or not. My house will be what it will be if someone drops by. My garden is a jungle and that's okay.

In the meantime, I prioritize. If the dishes go unwashed, we'll get bugs and unsanitary conditions. So they are number 1. Clean laundry is necessary, so that's 2. A hygienic bathroom is next. Then comes the vegetable garden - without that, we starve for the winter, so I will be expending a lot of energy on harvesting and canning, but probably not in the same day. I'll split the work. Harvest in the morning, or if there's too much, harvest, take a break, harvest more. Tomorrow I'll prep the food. The next day I will can.

The dishes get washed by the drainer load. I wash whatever I can fit on the drainer to air dry, then break. Then when I can, do another load. Until they're done. The bathroom gets cleaned in phases. Maybe today I do the sink and toilet of the main bath. Tomorrow the shower. The next day the floor.

Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning out that hard to reach cabinet or junk drawer or whatever can all wait. None of that is critical. Our health is not at risk from a few dust bunnies.

The idea is to do what must be done in phases, pacing yourself. If you can only work for 5 minutes, then that's actually really good. Then take a 15 minute break. Build stamina slowly. The house can be a little messy. Martha Stewart won't be judging you and even if she was, who cares? It's your house. And your body. You can only do what you can do. Period. It's easy to beat ourselves up for not being able to do what we want or what we used to do, but it's unfair to us. Go easy on yourself, take your time, take frequent breaks, and be proud of whatever you accomplish, even if it's just washing a few glasses, then needing a break. That's good enough.

I hope that helps a little. The advice really helped me.

Another thought - if you're in an urban area, are there any church groups that might volunteer. Or maybe girl scouts or something. I don't know, but it's an idea.

I know you live in the US but here where I live in England, they have a scheme where they pair people with OCD or "neat freaks" to help people who either hoard or can't clean. Both get help for their needs and I don't think they pay, it's a charitable thing. Do you have anything like that in your state?