Air fryer, mobile phone & TV remote recommendations

About stroke Questions and recommendations
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Hi, my 74 year old Dad was discharged from hospital back home yesterday, 3 weeks after he had an ischemic stroke which damaged the left side of the brain, causing right neglect with visual field loss (hemianopia) in the right side of both eyes, weakness & numbness in his right arm (he’s right handed) and has left him with aphasia, apraxia and dyspraxia. He is also battling inner tension and complicated grief following the death of my Mam, who we lived with and cared for at home, until she died 3 & 1/2 years ago after a long, brave battle with Alzheimer’s.

My Dad is really struggling in the kitchen of his own home of 50+ years. He’s missing being able to make himself home made chips in his chip pan. Even the microwave and kettle are a challenge at the moment. As recommended by occupational health, we’ve bought a one cup hot water dispenser as an alternative to the kettle. Can anyone recommend a reliable, effective and simple to use air fryer, please? My Dad has never had one before.

He’s also struggling with using the Sky TV remote and his Google Pixel 4A mobile phone.

Excluding the Sky Q Accessibility remote, can anyone also please recommend an easier to use remote that will work with Sky TV?

He mainly watches Sky sports. In addition to the main/major English television channels, does anyone know if I’ll be able to add the Sky Sports Premier channel to the photo memories/customisable function keys on the Geemarc TV Photo 100 » remote control? Does the TV Photo 100 » remote control have to be permanently connected to a Windows computer? Or, is that only during setup? I’ve asked Geemarc support but they’re closed for the long, bank holiday weekend.

Can anyone also please suggest an easy to use mobile phone where my Dad will still be able to access his YouTube playlists?

Many thanks,

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Hi @CDon

I just wanted to welcome you to the community, I’m sorry to hear about your dads stroke and the difficulties he is facing at the moment.

There are a fair few people on here who like to be in the kitchen and also are into different types of technology so I’m sure some of them will be along shortly to offer some suggestions for you.

In the meantime, if you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.

Anna

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@CDon

I had a stroke three years ago at a similar age. You get used to the limitations.

I have bought a number of kitchen devices that make cooking less of a problem.

First device was a rollator so I could toddle into the kitchen unaided and sit down on the way when I needed to.

Depending on your financial situation you might be able to get help with all this equipment, but there can be quite a lot to pay for it all.

The next item was a stand mixer (I found an excellent cheaper one) which became necessary when I could only work left handed and single handed at that.

You mentioned frying - we bought a Phillips deep fat fryer. It has adjustable thermostatic temperature control so won’t over heat and burn the house down. It doesn’t cost a fortune and is quite versatile. (My apologies this product has been withdrawn. Here is a similar product on Ebay UK at a very reasonable £35 reference number 176338075850 I have no connection, commercial or otherwise, with any of the products I recommend.)
There is the debate about cooking with fat, oil and so on, but I won’t get into that. The Stroke Association have a different stance to mine on diet, they could well be right, but we are all adult and I believe we should be allowed to make our own choices.

I started out with a second hand phone from MusicMagpie for about £70. Recently I bought an almost new second hand smart phone from another outlet costing about half the price of a new one but has loads of features. There was a learning curve to it all.

A second hand laptop is what I am using to write this post and has kept me involved with the world on many levels. I would recommend one, internet access is almost a necessity these days.

There is more but I am not writing a book here. Some you will find for yourself as I have done and some you will learn from others. Put yourself about, ask questions. You have entered a new land and need to know everything all over again.

There is a life worth living. It will have its ups and downs. You are not alone, there are more than a million of us in the U.K. alone. We can work together.

Look out, this IS turning into a book.
I should call it “Doing Stroke Second Hand” perhaps?

keep on keepin’ on
:writing_hand: :smiley: :+1:

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I use my microwave mainly for defrosting and reheating my batch-cooked frozen meals and only use the ‘defrost’ and ‘high’ buttons.
I’m not sure there are any ‘easy’ air fryers, but they are no more difficult than a microwave. I bought one about a year ago and use it more than I thought I would. It’s a Ninja. It cooks pizza (I found some in Sainsbury’s that are just the right diameter) and lovely, crispy chips amongst other things. The only problem I’ve found is getting stuff out without getting burned. The only thing I use the oven for these days, is tray bakes.

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@CDon just popping by to say hi & welcome to the community. Sorry to hear of your dad’s stroke & I hope he is making progress.

I imagine all airfryers are of similar difficulties but my mum bought a halogen cooker which she uses often. Don’t know if that will be an easier. We use a slow cooker a lot & batch cook & freeze. I know there are kitchen workstation aids that attach to the worktop and are designed for those who have use of only one hand.

I also have electric tin & jar openers which I couldn’t manage without.

Your dad will hopefully improve over time & all these things will start to get a bit easier for him.

Best wishes

Ann

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Welcome to the community @CDon.

I hope you have found the advice and information already offered by others who already replied to your post. I note @Bobbi has given quite a lot of information that may be directly relevant as he is was of a similar age to your Dad. Also @Mrs5K and @MinnieB are regular contributors and talk from personal experience.

Your Dad has lived 50+ years in his home and may well have been very used to it, so the stroke and its effects may require some getting used to, but I expect he will adapt soon enough.

With regards to his battle with inner tensions and grief for your Mam, I can only suggest trying to get some counselling if that might help. It seems you are living with him, so he is not alone, which should help.

I would concur with Bobbi’s view about choices you and your Dad make. It is your and his life and you should do what you are comfortable with. You will no doubt have been given expert advice from the stroke team and guidance on post-stroke life as well as ongoing support etc. As well as that, you may have other family members and friends who may also wish to offer their support.

I am not at all tech savvy and so can offer no help, but as I understand it there are gadgets that are voice controlled which if available may be suitable for your Dad.

Anyway, like Bobbi, I could (and often do) go on and on and on, but perhaps now is a good time to stop especially as I am not offering you anything in particular that may be of use.

Please do not hesitate to come back and seek advice or information (I am a carer and have some experience and opinions on what that entails and how you may or may not wish to go about performing that role) as there is always one or more person who will likely be able to point you in the right direction. This forum is quite remarkable as it caters for such a diverse group and it is so giving :slight_smile:

Namaste|
:pray:

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