For When Your Fingers Aren't So Nimble Anymore...

This is a sponsored post. I was provided with a prototype of the product in exchange for an honest review, I have been compensated for my time through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. All opinions remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.

Introducing "Nimble"

On days when my pain levels are hitting the ceiling and I simply cannot be bothered with anything except to try and get through the day with as little stress or physical torment as possible, it’s often made much worse by the fact that I have to open something as simple as the foils on my tablet strips – have you tried to push them through from the front recently? – it seems as though they’ve started making the foil out of 10mm stainless steel

 – and having to prepare and cook a meal for myself can often result in the most unhealthy of meals – The Pot Noodle, 375g of dehydrated mush that looks much the same going in as it does coming back out. Opening a packet of bacon – you know the ones with the little loose corner to enable you to ‘peel back’ the plastic cover that no man (or woman) has EVER in the history of ‘peeling back’ the plastic cover, been able to complete without the need for some heavy, sharp bladed and downright dangerous, intervention! It seems as though, in the fight for ever more ‘child-friendly’ packaging, manufacturers have lost sight of the need for easy access to their products by those less able among us – the elderly and the disabled.

But wait, before you all rush off to your laptops to pen a strongly worded letter of complaint to the guilty parties, here’s something that’s child friendly AND makes opening packaging a breeze – even for my gnarled old fingers.

These aren't my gnarled fingers!

 

It’s called “Nimble” – I assume because it returns us less nimbled people back to the land of the sprightly – and it makes opening things like bacon and tablet foils SO much easier. More importantly, you won’t run the risk of stabbing yourself and bleeding out onto your freshly opened bacon.

I got my “Nimble” in the post on Tuesday, just in time to take it to work with me – I work in a retail environment where opening sealed containers is an everyday, if not every minute, occurrence, but do they supply box-cutters? Well, yes, but can you ever find one when you need it? No, and when you do it's usually blunt – and I used it during my shift to open sealed tinned and bottled goods ready for putting on the shelves. The “Nimble” sliced through the seals on crates of beer and pop bottles, trays of tinned goods and the selotaped seals of boxes with ease. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve snapped my nails back when trying to do this without a cutter in the past! When not in use the “Nimble” slips off your finger and into your pocket ready for next time – I even developed the ‘skill’ of putting it on whilst still in my pocket so that I could whip it out, cut, and slip it back in without anyone really noticing! (Though my practicing raised a few eyebrows, especially whilst I was working the tills!))

The beauty of the “Nimble” finger cutter, as I’ve affectionately named it,  is that it won’t cut your fingers – believe me, I tried several times – the blade is so small that it just won’t penetrate your skin, but, when firmly pressed against a slightly harder surface like tape, plastic or paper it slices with the precision of a crafters knife. I absolutely loved it.

At home I’ve used it to open cellophane packaging, envelopes, crisp packets, packs of bacon (of course!) and those other ‘easy-open’ packs that never work - the ‘Tear Here’ strips around biscuit packets! It makes things so much easier!

You can find out more about “Nimble” by visiting Version 22. The product is being launched via a Kickstarter campaign today, so you’ll be one of the first to see it. Kickstarter is a fantastic way to get new products onto the market – you pledge an amount to support the project – if it reaches its goals the manufacturing process begins, you are charged what you pledged for the product and you become one of the first people in the world to take ownership of your very own “Nimble” (If the project doesn’t reach the required goal you are not charged, obviously!)

So, let Nimble point the way to an easier future. Pledge to buy one, two or three to make this product a reality for all those who struggle with packaging!!

Visit the Kickstarter Project.

Unexpected Support

These days getting anything for nothing is an impossible task. This is especially true of hard-pressed local authorities under a Tory Government. 

So I was genuinely shocked to hear that, after my Blue Badge assessment, I had been referred to local social services for 'additional support' to enable me to stay in my own home. (This was especially shocking given the fact that my family and I have never had any intention of leaving it!!) But apparently, the occupational health assessor had decided that my level of disability warranted an intervention by the Staying Put Scheme - set up to support home owners and council tenants remain in their homes for as long as possible rather than enter sheltered housing or care homes.

So, even though I own my home, I'm eligible to access support to make living with this dreadful condition a little easier, and never one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I have.

The lady who visited me was another occupational therapist who observed me doing the everyday things I would do in my home - climbing the stairs, sitting and rising from chairs, getting in and out of bed, getting in and out of the bath / shower, using the toilet (not actually using it!!), preparing meals. She asked me about my comfort levels during each activity and, as I seem to be in a never ending flare at present, I answered as honestly as I could.

The trouble is, I can do all of the things she asked me to do in the fashion I've become accustomed to doing them - I can get in and out of my chair - with some pain, I can get up and down the stairs - with some pain, I can get on and off the toilet - with some pain, I can get in and out of the bath - with some pain etc. I didn't tell her I was in pain each time I did the activity requested but, somehow, she knew. She could see my pain. I wasn't wincing, or groaning at every activity (or, at least I don't think I was) but she identified the areas I have most difficulty with merely by observing me do them!

Two days later I got a visit from the local authority Handy-Man Scheme who installed a bannister to enable me to climb the stairs easier and a week after that the occupational therapist returned with a bath 'balloon' that inflates so I can sit and be lowered into the bath, then raised back up to get out - it's an amazing piece of kit and has made life so much easier

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I no longer have to ask my wife to help me out, or clamour over the edge of the bath to the floor when I can't lift my legs.

I'm incredibly grateful for these things. Having struggled along for so long it's nice to be able to get a bath without the gymnastics - I used to have to get in backwards on my good leg, sit down with my bad leg over the edge of the bath and then 'man-handle' it in to the water! Now I just sit on the seat cushion, deflate it, get bathed, re-inflate it and get out - it's fantastic!.