Incontinence

[LisaMC]

My mom is wetting the bed at night, I have protective pads on the bed and she will take the wet ones off and drape them over my furniture to dry, she then will lay on the couch to go back to sleep. Well needless to say my new furniture isn't new anymore. The pullups don't protect very well when lying down. We put her bed in the living room so she is closer to the bathroom and so far she has pee'd on couch and new carpet . The hardest thing to deal with is she doesn't understand that this is wrong.but she knows that she needs to change clothing.

[seekingnormal05]

Lisa:

I know it's a work around....and I do mean work....but carpet cleaners
are pretty inexpensive these days, have furniture attachments and
are easy to use. Especially for the carpet, they sell special formulas
of cleaner meant for pet accidents that might help with the staining.

I know you are probably up to "here" with responsibility so this
suggestion might not help at all. I understand it only bandaids the
real problem.

[Martha H]

Dear Lisa, sorry you are in this same boat too. I have found a lot of help and support on these pages. Is there any chance of getting your Mom into a facility where such things are taken care of?

Mom has used maybe 2 of the whole package of disposable underpants I bought her ..no interest. She continues to smell bad a lot of the time. It is as if she didn't notice, and doesn't care. It's hard.

Good luck to you! Maybe you have to put plastic over the couch too, and remove the carpet , using a washable floor only .. it's not easy. My sympathies.

Love,

Martha

[sueb2b]

i think they really don't notice. the combo of age and alzheimer's must really do a number on the sense of smell. yesterday i went to my mom's - a bottle of bleach that had been sitting on her bathroom floor so long it ate a little hole in the bottle & leaked bleach all over the floor. i knew as soon as i walked in the house, but they didn't seem to notice! something that strong!!!

[Martha H]

I know. It's strange. I make Mom a sandwich and she thinks it's tuna fish, when it's salami! That's why they don't notice something burning on the stove. Sense of smell goes, along with eyesight, hearing, and common sense. Some of this happens regardless of dementia or not, but there are actually 100 year olds out there who supposedly still think clearly.

The hard thing is how to ensure the person of a minimum of safety while still allowing a maximum of independence. The AD patient needs more and more help and continually loses autonomy.

Mom was just brought home from a weekend with my brother. I explained that the 2 suitcases on the spare bed in her room are all her winter clothes packed for the move. She looked so confused that I wouldn't be suprised if she unpacked all of it tomorrow... how can I prevent that!!

I think I'll take them off the bed and try to find a more hidden place for them.
She also looked very confused the whole time B was here, talking a lot about his old career (he is a retired teacher) .. Mom not partcipating much at all.. Today I found an empty toothpaste tube in a new box .. Mom took out the new one and put it on the sink, but put the empty one in the box instead of throwing both it and the box out.

Hang in there .. eventually there are answers. Other people or institutions take over the care of these difficult patients --- who until a short while ago were our highly respected role models .. how sad it all is.

Martha