Microwave advice

[Chrissyan]

Hello everyone, It's been a while since I last posted on here. Dad's VAD has progressed quite a lot but he is still in his own home with his dog. I now have the carers going in two mornings a week for a bath call which seems to be working out okay, I have also had a key safe fitted.

Since Dad's appetite picked up after the diagnosis of gastritis & being put on tablets for it, together with Prozac, he now eats.

Sometimes he forgets he has someone coming to do his lunch or tea & tries to prepare something himself. Twice in the last month he has been caught putting opened tins, once rice pudding, once chicken soup in the microwave. A few months ago he had managed to order a chinese take away on the Sunday night & was caught by the cleaning lady re-heating it in the foil cartons in the microwave on the Monday morning.

The carers need the microwave but I want to stop him from using it. I am thinking of buying a new one, I believe there are some child proof ones but would not know where to get one & how exactly they work. I also wondered if there were microwaves especially designed to prevent dementia suffers using them. Is there anyone with experience of this?

Also how dangerous is this? He seemed to microwave the foil cartons without an issue & from what I understand he managed to microwave the rice pudding before the carer found him without anything happening. I got there in time yesterday to stop him microwaving the soup.

 

[ChristineR62]

I don't know if this would be any good to you:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Microwave-&-O...wItemQQimsxq20091016?IMSfp=TL091016165001r130

 

[nessspider]

Have you tried unplugging the microwave at the mains? I found the mechanics of plugging in appliances (or simply switching on at the wall) worked for me - no more tins of charred spaghetti found under the grill!

Good luck

 

[MJW]

Security

Could you fit a padlock to the door and give the carers a key?

 

[julieann15]

We had to replace mum's microwave- I am fairly certain that the only people to have used it to date is me and the carers. In our case the new one looked nothing like the old one and was therefore "alien" same with the washing machine- only has 4 programmes, is less complicated than the old one but "too complicated" to learn to use

Love Julie xx

 

[Chrissyan]

Thanks for your suggestions and I have given them all some consideration. ChristineR62 I didn't know were such things, thank you for that, I may well look into getting something like that. The only thing that puts me off is that I have Googled it & found a very bad review for that make, which said it was useless and wouldn't stay on. There will be other makes though.

I am not sure that unplugging at the mains will work, although my Dad stuggles with ordinary tasks, he was an electrician by trade. It would probably baffle the carers more.

I think a padlock might be more trouble than it was worth, firstly I don't how many keys we would need the different carers. I could always hide one in the kitchen I suppose. Different carers might forget/not be told where the key was hidden though. With a padlock he wouldn't just discover a problem the odd time he tried to use it, he would see it every time he went into his kitchen. I have a feeling that Dad would be constantly on the phone asking me why his microwave had a padlock on it.

I am not certain whether a new microwave alone would fettle him or not, he would certainly try to use it. I think if we go the route of a new one it must have some sort of lock built in.

 

[jenniferpa]

You asked how dangerous this is. Arcing (when metal is put in the microwave) is more likely to damage the microwave rather than anything else, unless there is something that could catch alight in there as well, which is quite likely. They can in the most extreme cases burn through the units wall!

 

[shelagh]

Microwave

We had this problem with mum who has vascular dementia. We solved it by putting microwave in a kitchen cupboard with a child lock and she has never tried to us it since.
Good luck
Shelagh

 

[germain]

Hello again

Hi Chrissyan

Have been really wondering how things were going with you and Dad. Glad to see you've sorted out regular carers and it seems to be working.

I still log in every single day but hardly post at all now.

Can't help with the microwave but later you might want to think about a safety heating machine and take away the m.wave altogether. W***** Farm Foods used to supply/sell them for their ready meals when people can't manage a microwave.

All the best
Germain

 

[Chrissyan]

Thanks shelagh, it seems this is not an uncommon problem.

Nice to hear from you again germain I hadn't heard of these heating machines, I might have to look into that.

Chris

 

[PollyP.]

Yesterday I went over to Mum's house ( in our garden) to find that she had put the microwave pan into the microwave with milk for her cereal but must have turned it onto 20 mins, took out her milk after 2 mins - closed the door and of course the m/w continued working empty for the rest of the time.. when I walked in I thought that mum had been making toast, but was horrified to find that the m/w was so hot underneath and on the outside that I could barely pick it up - needless to say it has now been confiscated and the toaster (which she hadn't used) has been put into a high cupboard where she can't reach - just in case

I usually get mum's breakfast for her while she is having a shower and getting dressed, but sometimes it's difficult to catch her at the right time, when I had first called in she was fast asleep but must have got up as soon as I left the house.

The food warmer sounds a good idea - I'll look it up.

Pauline