Hello! I have been a full-time caregiver for my son Hawken since he was born in 1999. He has profound disabilities. At the time of writing this he is well into his 17th year of life. The reason for this page is to share items that have helped me in caring for Hawken in hopes my tips could help someone else. I am in no way saying I am a doctor or any kind of medical professional. My advice isn't to take the place of any expert. I am only an expert in Hawken (and changing diapers -- been changing them nonstop for over 21 years). If you have any tips you'd like to share email them to me here. And I will pass them onto my readers.
My first tip is Caprylic Acid for yeast infections. Because of my son's incontinence and the need for diapers, as he has gone through puberty he has gotten a lot of yeast infections. I took him to the doctor twice about this. Each time we were given an anti-fungal oral treatment. These worked well but were short-lived. I knew I had to find something else I could use.
I did some research and came up with caprylic acid. The picture on the left is the brand I give Hawk every day (I take it too). The bottle says it is an MCT (medium chain triglycerides) and it is for internal balance. It works very well. Hawk hasn't had one for a long time. If I quit using this and he begins to have signs of a yeast infection I just begin giving this to him again. Recently he has had the start of one so I have been giving it to him twice a day.
I did some research and came up with caprylic acid. The picture on the left is the brand I give Hawk every day (I take it too). The bottle says it is an MCT (medium chain triglycerides) and it is for internal balance. It works very well. Hawk hasn't had one for a long time. If I quit using this and he begins to have signs of a yeast infection I just begin giving this to him again. Recently he has had the start of one so I have been giving it to him twice a day.
My second tip is Theodent toothpaste. It is flouride free. it is made of cocoa beans and supposed to strengthen teeth. I use this because Hawken swallows his toothpaste and swallowing flouride is not a good thing.
It is expensive -- like $13 a tube I think. Yet, since Hawk is the ony one who uses it, a tube lasts a very long time. The last tube lasted for 9 months I think!
His teeth are healthy and I don't have to worry about him swallowing flouride.
It is expensive -- like $13 a tube I think. Yet, since Hawk is the ony one who uses it, a tube lasts a very long time. The last tube lasted for 9 months I think!
His teeth are healthy and I don't have to worry about him swallowing flouride.
So I am writing this when Hawken is now 23. He is like 160 pounds now. And there is this toothpaste, Hello and another called Yes, which you can buy at Target or Walmart. It is around $5 a tube and a lot of it is flouride-free. Just read the ingredients. But this stuff is good for everyone, little kids too.
This is Hawk with his head in his hair washing basin. I just got this and I love it. With Hawk getting bigger (he is taller than me and at least 100 pounds) I have to be careful I don't injure my back. Giving him a bath in the bathtub doesn't always work. I don't want to do it when I am the only adult home because if I slip holding Hawken we both might get hurt.
So, I often give him spot baths in his bed. This was difficult until I got this hairwashing basin. It costs about $30 and you can order it off the internet.
It was easy to set up and it is comfortable for the one getting his hair washed. Underneath Hawk's head is a little pillow. And there is a hose that you can use to drain it if it is too heavy for you to carry with the water in it.
So, I often give him spot baths in his bed. This was difficult until I got this hairwashing basin. It costs about $30 and you can order it off the internet.
It was easy to set up and it is comfortable for the one getting his hair washed. Underneath Hawk's head is a little pillow. And there is a hose that you can use to drain it if it is too heavy for you to carry with the water in it.
Honey. This one might be controversial but I don't intend it to be. Hawk had a pressure sore. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and an antibiotic cream. I was having no success with these treatments. What worked for us finally was using honey on the wound. It drew out the infection and it is now gone (except I still watch the spot for I know it can come back). Please follow your doctor's directions on treating pressure sores but if things aren't working you might want to try honey.
If the above image disturbs you please check out an article about this topic here.