Filed under: tarareidtopless.com
When he hears his old time gospel music and songs of his day, he
lights up, sings along and tears of gratitude run down his face.
I had an old audio tape recorder with an auto-reverse playback that
could run continuously so that every time he put on the earphone
headset, there was "his music." Of course, the tape recorder broke
and cannot be fixed or replaced.
He is too far into dementia to work a CD player or even recognize that
there is music on those round things. He cannot work a tape recorder,
flip over tapes or even remember that this is where the music comes
from. He just remembers to put on the headset earphones and now. . .
. there is no music there.
Question: How do I find something to put his music on - that I can
just load from CDs, something that once loaded, I can plug in his
earphone headset and just start his music playing, starting and the
beginning and playing, then replaying again and again. Of course, I
would like this to plug into the wall.
Are there any MP3 players that are extremely simple, have the
capability to plug in to the wall and just play over and over again
everything that is loaded, from start to finish and then starting over
again? There is no need for any song selection feature. Size does
not matter. . . in fact, the larger the better because it probably
will not be stolen from the nursing home.
If an MP3 player is not the answer. . . could any of you give me some
suggestions? I would love to give him back "his music" since
everything else is downhill for him. Thanks guys
I greatly admire your persistence of effort in making life more pleasant for your father. Having been down that road, I know how difficult it can be. May God bless those who take the time to make a parent's sunset years a bit brighter.
~Pink
Owain
I have no idea if this will reach you - but - as you know, my father died. We ended up with an Ipod and put it into one of those fake book-safe boxes, hooked up to an amplifier and earphones plugged in. At that time, we had to pay big $$$ to get one that would shuffle a lot of "there day" type Christian music. My reward was to see tears in the eys of a man who- once was a youth pastor in LA - who wrote off the Lord - I think, because he asked something that the Lord did not answer in the way dad wanted. In dad's last months of life, it seemed that the music of his youth, touched and repaired something in him that was beyond my knowing. I saw the tears - and. . . .
As a result of this, as we have the money, we are trying to make this available to those confined in resthomes. I have found the Ipod Shuffle - at less than $100 + the price of a "book safe" and earphones, we can do this. I just wanted you to know. The Shuffle keeps playing and an playing and playning, shuffling all the time, just as we hoped for. All you do is take the earphones off and whenever you put them back on the person in the bed - the music is waiting for them. God is good to make this less expensive for us. Thanks Pink
I'm beginning to research your question about super pubic catheters and their effect on urinary infections right now. Once I've gathered some useful information for you, I'll post it as a clarification to this question.
Having taken care of my elderly father in his latter years, my heart is with you. To provide a few simple pleasures and lessen the pain and distress of a parent can be immensely difficult, particularly when the parent is not in his right mind. But the payoff of an old man's beatific smile can sure make it worthwhile.
~Pink
Thanks for letting me know.
Your father is now listening to gospel music without earthly impediments.
~Pink
Circuit City
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?oid=69229&WT.mc_n=87&c=1&b=g&WT.mc_t=U
Since many places are charging $15 to $20 for shipping, this is a very good price. Circuit City is a very reliable merchant with an excellent return policy.
Another good deal is a price of $234, at Harmony Computers:
Harmony Computers
http://www.shopharmony.com/product.asp?file=DEALTIME&i=ARCJR20FM
Harmony adds $14.95 in shipping charges, though, which makes this essentially the same price as Circuit City's offer. Given the choice, I'd go with Circuit City.
Comp-U-Plus has a slightly different version of the device for $234 (this one has a built-in FM radio, but otherwise seems to be the same). Compu-U-Plus also charges $14.95 for shipping.
Comp-U-Plus
http://www.compuplus.com/insidepage.php3?refer=streetprices.com&id=1000489
Like most Internet retailers, these merchants charge sales tax, but Harmony and Comp-U-Plus do so only when shipping to New York. Circuit City charges sales tax when shipping to any state where there is a Circuit City store, which is pretty much everywhere.
Another way to go is eBay, where you will find many choices:
eBay
http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2F&krd=1&from=R8&MfcISAPICommand=GetResult&ht=1&SortProperty=MetaEndSort&query=archos+jukebox
Good luck! I hope this works well for you. Sounds great to me (my friend who has two of 'em should be doing commercials for this product!)
Best,
Pink
> infections which is putting him deeper in dementia every time.
> I have heard about a super pubic catheter which is a day surgery.
> I have tried and tried to find out about this procedure but have not > been able to find anything out. My question: Can you help me
> find out about this procedure - what it is - opinions about
> whether it lessons uti infections?
There is evidence that men with suprapubic catheters have fewer infections than men with urethral catheters. Here's an excerpt from an excellent article published on a British medical site. I suggest that you read the entire article. It's very informative.
"Two studies were identified in our search which compared catheter options. The first focussed on the risk of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation and infection in nursing home patients. This study concluded that indwelling catheters posed a greater risk of infection than intermittent catheters. The second studied men with prostatomegaly and reported a significantly lower rate of infection in those with suprapubic rather than urethral catheters, despite the former being used for two weeks longer. A non-comparative study of patients with neuropathic bladder demonstrated a low rate of infection (6 percent) associated with the use of long-term suprapubic catheters. However, 30% of patients in this study reported other catheter-related complaints. Economic opinion suggests that if staff and resource use are the same, suprapubic catheterisation is more cost effective."
Evidence Based Practice in Infection Control: Urinary Catheterisation
http://www.epic.tvu.ac.uk/PDFFiles/Section%203%20UCs%20June%202003.PDF
"In recent years, suprapubic catheterization has become popular because it is easier technique for people with cervical spinal cord injury and limited hand dexterity to do catheterization. Suprapubic cystostomy creates tunnel from the abdomenal wall to the bladder. A catheter can be inserted into the bladder through this tunnel. The catheter drains urine into a bag... Combined with oxybutinin, long-term suprapubic catheterization markedly reduces recurrent bladder infections and kidney damage, and is well-tolerated with minimal complications when the catheters are regularly irrigated and changed...
Mitsui, et al. (2000) compared 34 and 27 patients managed with suprapubic cystotomy (SC) and intermittent catheterization (IC) respectively for 8.6-9.9 years. Neither group had any kidney problems but only 12% of SC patients had urinary tract infection compared to 26% of IC patients. However, kidney stones occurred in 9% of the SC group compared to 4% of the IC group. Bladder stones occurred in 65% of the SC group compared to 30% of the IC group. SC appears to be associated higher incidence of kidney and bladder stones than IC... Suprapubic catheterization appears to be associated with significantly lower incidences of urinary tract infections than chronic indwelling urethral catheters and even intermittent catheterization. However, it seems to increase the incidence bladder stones and possibly kidney stones. As much as a third of people with long-term suprapubic catheterization will develop bladder stones over a 10-year period."
CareCure Community: Suprapubic Cystostomy vs. Urethral Catheterization http://carecure.rutgers.edu/spinewire/Research/Suprapubic.htm
"Suprapubic catheterization is more comfortable and acceptable to the patient and may be associated with a lower incidence of CAUTI . For incontinent males who do not have bladder outlet obstruction, condom drainage, while not free from nosocomial urinary tract infections, appears to be associated with a lower risk than indwelling urethral catheters."
Cache from Medscape: Guidelines for Preventing CAUTI
http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:OkkyPdfSH-EJ:www.medscape.com/viewarticle/414419_5++%22suprapubic+catheterization+is%22&hl=en&lr=lang_en&ie=UTF-8
"Chronic infection caused by the catheter may be secondary to occlusion of natural ductal secretions in the urethra. In addition, significant pain can occur when the catheter irritates the naturally sensitive anatomy. In these cases, a suprapubic catheter may be more comfortable. Suprapubic catheter placement is an outpatient procedure that takes as little as 10 minutes under local anesthesia."
Postgraduate Medicine Online: Common urologic problems in the elderly
http://www.postgradmed.com/issues/2000/01_00/reznicek.htm
As is often the case when dealing with medical studies, there is also evidence to the contrary:
"Transurethral catheterization is generally associated with a higher incidence of urinary tract infections than suprapubic catheterization; however, suprapubic catheterization is associated with other disadvantages such as higher costs and a more difficult technique, and at the moment there is no consensus about the use of both catheter systems. Therefore, a prospective randomized study was performed to investigate the effects of suprapubic catheterization and transurethral catheterization in patients undergoing surgery on the incidence of urinary tract infections and patient satisfaction... 75 patients were allocated to receive the suprapubic catheter and 71 the transurethral catheter. There was no difference in the incidence of a urinary tract infection between the suprapubic group (n = 9/75; 12%) and the transurethral group (n = 8/71; 11%)... CONCLUSIONS: The incidence of a urinary tract infection between a suprapubic catheter and a transurethral catheter in patients undergoing major surgery was not different."
PubMed Abstract
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12789024&dopt=Abstract
If your dad's physicians decide that suprapubic catheterization is not appropriate, perhaps the use of a hydrophilic-coated catheter would help to reduce the number of urinary infections:
"PVC hydrophilic-coated nelaton catheters - These are impregnated with a coating that forms a slippery, pre-lubricated surface following immersion in water for 30 seconds. Although there is some evidence that these catheters reduce urethral inflammation when compared to PVC nelaton catheters (Vaidyanathan et al 1994), there are no studies that compare coated and non-coated catheters over the long term, and it is not known whether coated catheters reduce urethral complications. These catheters are potentially more advantageous to men for whom lubrication is particularly important due to the resistance of the prostate and the length and curvature of the urethra."
Nursing Standard: Intermittent Self-Catheterisation
http://www.nursing-standard.co.uk/archives/vol15-09/pdfs/p4752v15w9.pdf
"The concept of single-use intermittent catheters has benefits for patients who are prone to urinary tract infection, in that the catheter is discarded after a single use, and does not have to be stored (often unsatisfactorily) to be used again.
In order to reduce the risk of infection still further, each Aquacath single-use catheter comes singly wrapped in sterile, convenient packaging. This has clear advantages for patients who are prone to urinary tract infection, in light of the work of Wyndaele and Maes (1990). These researchers found that:
'In most acute infections, improper clean intermittent self-catheterization or misuse could often be found' and that: 'In patients with recurrent urinary infection and urinary retention prior to commencing clean intermittent catheterization, the incidence of infection was found to decrease .'
Clean intermittent catheterization is a major step forward in the treatment of urinary or bladder emptying problems."
InterNurse: Aquacath
http://www.internurse.com/products/products/entries/aquacath.html
Here's a page with some good information on suprapubic catheterization, with a cut-away drawing that shows the anatomy of the arrangement, and a photograph that shows what the tube that enters the abdomen looks like:
BioMed: Suprapublic Catheters
http://www.bio-medcen.com/suprapubic_catheters.htm
These search strings will provide access to a great deal of information:
Google Web Search: "cauti" + "urinary"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=cauti+urinary
Google Web Search: "suprapubic catheterization"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22suprapubic+catheterization
Google Web Search: "suprapubic cystostomy"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22suprapubic+cystostomy
Google Web Search: "hydrophilic" + "catheter" + "urinary" + "infection" ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=hydrophilic+catheter+urinary+infection
A personal note: this doesn't prove anything, since it's strictly "anecdotal information," but my brother suffered for many years with a progressive neurological disease. He lost bladder control, and the best arrangement by far proved to be the suprapubic catheter. He had fewer infections, odor control was easier, and his caregiver was very pleased. As far as we could tell, my brother was pleased, also, and the overall result was a reduction in both pain and nuisance. What sounded like a drastic thing (surgery!) turned out to be a half-hour outpatient procedure in his case.
I hope this helps! Please keep in mind that Google Answers is not a source of authoritative medical advice; the material I've posted is for informational purposes, and should not be viewed as a diagnosis nor a substitute for the services of a qualified medical professional.
Best always,
Pink
"The other main interface complaint is the weird method it uses for random play. For some reason the unit can only random play within a directory, making the feature useless for anyone who is actually organized. Getting around this required some searching on the net. After looking around and many tries, we discovered that it could use playlists generated by MMJB. The end result was to copy the entire folder of songs from MMJB, and then creating a random playlist in MMJB. Just select all the songs you want in your play list, drag it to the playlist in MMJB, and select random. You can then save the playlist, and then copy it from the MMJB folder on the Archos. This is a bit of a long process, but until Archos gets their act together, I think it is the only way to go.
Having said all that, the price point is what really makes this device worthwhile. I know of no other device that matches its price/space, making it a terrific value.
As an update, some generous programmers on the Internet have created a much improved firmware for this device. You can download it at http://rockbox.haxx.se/ . Not only are there a lot of new features, and a way to customize the currently playing display, but because they don't depend as much on the "off" button, it is a LOT easier to traverse directories. I highly recommend loading this firmware if you have one of these units."
http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPR-Archos_Jukebox_Recorder_20GB~RD-90053381764
Here's an article about "Rockbox," the firmware for the Archos that is mentioned above:
http://hardwarecentral.dealtime.com/xPR-Archos_Jukebox_Recorder_6GB~RD-100237872772
~Pink
I have not yet received a reply to the email that I sent to my friend who has the Archos Jukebox. I've sent out inquiries to two other online acquaintances who have some expertise with MP3 players. If I get any responses that could help, I'll post the info here.
~Pink
My recommendation is the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20, which not only plays MP3 audio files, but (unlike most other devices) makes recording the files very easy. You can record music from any audio source (such as a CD player, radio, or cassette player) without using special software. You don't even need a computer. The device operates on batteries or (with an AC adapter) on house current.
From the Archos site:
"The ARCHOS Jukebox Recorder 20 is the first, portable MP3 recorder with a 20GB Hard Disk that is also compatible with USB 2.0. It provides the awesome capability of recording directly from any audio source - real-time, on-the-fly recording of up to 300 hours (500 audio CD's* - 5000 songs*) of top quality music in MP3 format. You can record direct from a stereo, CD player radio, or microphone via the stereo, line-in jack without needing to use a computer. It is also a voice recorder with a built-in microphone. You can record from any analog or digital sources at bit-rates up to 160 kbps and can port your recordings back to the PC without any specialized software. This exciting new Jukebox Recorder/Player is the first palm-sized, real-time MP3 encoder, plus an MP3 Player and 20GB Hard Disk that connects to the computer through an ultra-fast USB 2.0 interface. There's no need for special software to download MP3 songs."
Archos: Jukebox Recorder 20
http://www.archos.com/products/prw_500277_specs.html
There are products which are capable of storing more songs, but I doubt that you'll exhaust the capacity of the 20GB Archos. The ability of the Archos product to record directly from a CD player makes it so simple to use that you won't get bogged down learning how to make your own MP3 files; you'll be able to get the music right to your dad without first spending a ton of time figuring out a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo.
A friend of mine bought one of these so that she could play music in an endless loop in a small shop that she owns. She liked it so much that she bought another one to play background music in her home. She sets it on "Random Play," so that she never knows what song will come next, and just leaves it going 24 hours a day, playing through a stereo in the family's den.
Here you'll find a review of the Archos Jukebox Recorder 20:
CNET: Archos Jukebox Recorder 20
http://reviews.cnet.com/Archos_Jukebox_Recorder_20/4505-6490_7-8408812-2.html?tag=review
Google search strategy:
Google Web Search: "archos jukebox recorder 20"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=%22archos+jukebox+recorder+20
I hope this will meet your needs exactly! If not, please let me know, and I'll try again. If you decide to purchase the device, I'll be glad to do some price-comparison searches to help you find a good deal.
Best wishes to you and your dad. And bless you for caring enough to provide him with some beautiful music to make his days brighter.
~Pink
~Pink
Have no way to know if this will reach you. I purchased the Archos Jukebox 20GB from Circuit City. My husband installed 7 Christian old time Gospel CDs. He has been working and working with Archos because the "shuffle" between CD/Album/Sub-Folder of 7-Gospel folder - simply does not work. They save as albums/cds. The "shuffle" works within one CD/Album/Sub-Folder but does not "shuffle" to pick up songs of all CD/Album/Sub-folders. Walt (husband) has talked to a number of techs at Archos and finally Brian said that the "shuffle" software has some problems. He was able to offer no solution but said he would contact us tomorrow. I am very disappointed because I thought that this would shuffle between different CDs, picking up different songs. Your friend who has one in her store and one in her home. . . . did her Archos shuffle between different CD/Album/sub-folders on her play list? Did she record the cd/album en-total or did she record each song individually into a single play list folder in order to get it to shuffle? The Archos techs seem to be unable to help with this but if it worked with your friend, we either have a faulty Jukebox or. . . we are setting it up incorrectly and would like to set it up the way she did. We want to get this set up for my Dad the right way.
Sorry Pink, I will understand if you do not reply
~Pink
~Pink
I've emailed my friend who has an Archos player in her shop and home. I've asked her for assistance with the shuffle-play feature. I'll let you know if I learn anything useful from her.
~Pink
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