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Navigating grocery stores can be a chore
Posted on October 28th, 2009 4 commentsThe Brain Aneurysm Support Group at St. Joe’s is high on my “must attend” list. At a recent meeting, our group spanned the decades in age.
One delightful young man was just a few months into recovery. A beautiful young grandmother has an aneurysm that isn’t yet fixed. Some of us have had many aneurysms clipped and coiled. Others have dealt with one or two. Despite our many differences, we share lots of common group, including a great sense of humor and a loathing of grocery stores.
Grocery stores? Yes. Anyone who has recovered from a ruptured brain aneurysm, brain surgery, a stroke, a concussion, a migraine or just a clunk on the head knows about the dreaded trips to get groceries.
Supermarkets cover thousands of square feet. Lighting is less than friendly to our eyes. Noise comes at us from everywhere—overhead music, announcements, other shoppers, squeaky wheels on carts. (Is that MY cell phone ringing or someone else’s?) As we shop for our items, we constantly check our lists and coupons, scan bins and shelves, compare prices and brands, steer around displays, and try not to bump into other shoppers.
Getting groceries is, at best, a multi-tasking challenge. Just when we learn where everything is located, stores move some of the items to a different aisle or display. When that happens, grocery shopping becomes a nightmare.
Yesterday we shared some of our grocery-shopping experiences, frustrations and fears. We offered each other a few ideas to lessen the angst. We laughed a lot.
Because Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve fall on our usual meeting day, our last meeting for 2009 will be December 10. If you have a brain aneurysm or have had one fixed, if you’ve ruptured an aneurysm or care about someone who did, you are welcome to join us. It’s free of charge. Just call Tess at the National Brain Aneurysm Center. She will send you a parking pass and make sure there are enough coffee, tea and cookies to go around. Who knows? Maybe YOU can solve our grocery store dilemma!
4 responses to “Navigating grocery stores can be a chore”
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Wow, this is soooo true. ANY kind of store is a challange. It was such a sense of accomplishment when I was able to go grocery shopping by myself again and not feel horrible for hours afterwards. Then, the store went and changed their layout. Even three years after my rupture and coiiling, it was a real test and was more difficult than I would have expected. Any new store is a challenge, but when grocery shopping you’re looking for verys specific things and that’s the hard part…finding them if they’ve been moved to another location. It’s just too much work isn’t it?
Glad to know we’re not alone in that struggle.
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Everybody’s rupture is different, and I guess mine wasn’t so severe, but I found grocery shopping to be good therapy. I was very weak and unsteady after getting released from the hospital, so I used the grocery cart for support as I creeped slowly through the store.
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I will passing your blog onto a family whose daughter suffered a brain aneurysm last year. She is now 20 years old and has Polycystic Kidney Disease.
She is now in a wheelchair and in a very debilated state as her aneurysm caused to also suffer a mid-brain stroke.
Going to the grocery store on her own would be a dream come true for Ashley.
We can only hope and pray that she is as blessed as you.
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aurora pastor November 30th, 2009 at 20:45
hi there!my husband just had a ruptured aneurysm and underwent craniotomy last oct 13,2009. i would like to know if u can suggest me things that i need to know on how to take care of him. he is still disoriented and difficulty in walking but he is on rehab to stabilize his walking. his eyes were affected also…doctors found blood clot on his eyes…please help…
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Heidi October 29th, 2009 at 10:12