How I overcame the liquid medication obstacles.
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!
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