Tips on getting around with one arm.

[druxton]

Best wishes to you on your marriage

[jmar]

Question: i have a new medication that needs to be crushed. a bought a pill crusher but i can not turn it hard enough to crush the pill. how do i crush pills? this is a huge pill.

[druxton]

The pill crusher you are talking about I've actually used at work and it is difficult to use sometimes. We also keep a pair of pliers at the med station. If the pills are individually wrapped just take the pliers and crush the pill right in the wrapper. If the pills are in a pill containeer take it out and place in a little plastic bag and crush with plier. This works much easier then that pill crusher that you are using. Good luck.

[jmar]

thank you. i will try that. the problem i face with trying things is that my "good" arm is also very weak due to the same surgery (thoracic outlet syndrome) i had on my "bad" arm. the "bad" arm surgery just went wrong. i will try a hammer instead of pliers. i dont have to squeeze a hammer.

[Carolyn J]

I have used anything I can grab...hit pill in a plastic bag like a hammer to crush.
HUgs,
Carolyn J
LOBPI/72

[druxton]

The other obvious solution would be to let your pharmacy know that you are not able to crush the pill. I'm sure that they can help you out with this. That's what they are there for to help out their patients. So let them know and see how they can offer to help. They might surprise you

[jmar]

i was not aware of the pharmacist doing things like that, but i did ask him the other day to cut some pills for me and he said he was glad to do it. i think i might ask him to crush some of them for me. thank you for letting me know about that.

[druxton]

Always remember the healthcare industry is a service industry. We are there to help you make your life a little easier. So never be afraid to ask them to go that extra little step for you. you are the customer that keeps us in business. And if your pharmacist doesn't want to help, then just go to the one that will. We are there to serve your needs and make your life easier.

[Carolyn J]

Duh, Druxton. You make very very valid suggestions! So logical. Most time ,at least we OBPI-ers ...read me, missed out on the gene that says "Ask for help" of whom ever we are needing help from. We have to be reminded of this over and over.
Thank You very much.
Carolyn J
LOBPI/age 72

[druxton]

Carolyn, Unfortunately it's people like you that can ruin a forum for the rest of us. There is no need to be sarcastic and rude. The gentleman I was talking to didn't realize that he could ask his pharmacist for help on crushing his pills. He appreciated the help. Carolyn, I would suggest that for now on when a suggestion is not meant for you, you should learn to control you sarcasm because there are people out there that don't know as much as you and appreciate any help that they can get. You would better serve the forum by sharing your extreme wealth of knowledge, instead of slicing other people up. We are all in this together to help eachother....isn't that what the forum is about..... I've worked in the healthcare field for over 20 yrs and am surprised that many people don't ask for the help they need. So thank you for pointing out that I spoke the obvious, yes the healthcare industry is a service industry and we are there to serve you. WE also service obnoxius people such as yourself, because we don't judge people either;-).