I am posting this on behalf of my mother in law to see if anybody can advise what to do.
My husband's grandma suffers from some form of dementia, although not sure which as she refuses to admit anything is wrong. Her symptoms are similar to those suffered by my own Grandma 10 years ago but whereas my grandma got worse following a stroke and was therefore diagnosed as having mixed dementia, to the best of the family's knowledge, Gran has not had a stroke so unsure if AD is closer.
The diagnosis of her dementia however is not the main problem. For the past couple of years she has suffered from incontinence however, again she will not admit a problem. She is a very proud woman and on a number of occasions, my father in law has found soiled and wet clothes hidden in her flat as she hides them in an attempt to ensure nobody knows. My mother in law has bought her a number of packets of a well known incontinence pad but as she does not acknowledge she has a problem she does not think she needs them.
Due to her attempts to cover her tracks, her flat has started to smell. My mother in law then bought her a number of air fresheners including those you plug in but Gran walks around the flat removing them saying she does not smell.
She lives in sheltered accommodation and was until recently struggling to get in and out of the bath so my father in law arranged with the local council for a shower to be fitted instead. She then said the shower was too complicated to use so would just have "stand up washes". To prove how easy the shower is my father in law showed my 22 month old son once and Joshua copied what he did. She now has a woman to come in from Social Services to make sure she has a shower once a week.
The major problem is she won't admit there is one and she is still aware enough to say she is not going in a home. (at least after her stroke we managed to convince my Grandma that the lovely home she was put in was a hotel and she just needed a holiday)
On Sunday she thought my son was his cousin (who is now 19 by the way) and the said cousin was my husband. Just not sure who she thought I was - possibly my sister in law.
All Gran ever says is "I don't know" the thing is the rest of the family doesn't know what to do either. Somebody please advise
My husband's grandma suffers from some form of dementia, although not sure which as she refuses to admit anything is wrong. Her symptoms are similar to those suffered by my own Grandma 10 years ago but whereas my grandma got worse following a stroke and was therefore diagnosed as having mixed dementia, to the best of the family's knowledge, Gran has not had a stroke so unsure if AD is closer.
The diagnosis of her dementia however is not the main problem. For the past couple of years she has suffered from incontinence however, again she will not admit a problem. She is a very proud woman and on a number of occasions, my father in law has found soiled and wet clothes hidden in her flat as she hides them in an attempt to ensure nobody knows. My mother in law has bought her a number of packets of a well known incontinence pad but as she does not acknowledge she has a problem she does not think she needs them.
Due to her attempts to cover her tracks, her flat has started to smell. My mother in law then bought her a number of air fresheners including those you plug in but Gran walks around the flat removing them saying she does not smell.
She lives in sheltered accommodation and was until recently struggling to get in and out of the bath so my father in law arranged with the local council for a shower to be fitted instead. She then said the shower was too complicated to use so would just have "stand up washes". To prove how easy the shower is my father in law showed my 22 month old son once and Joshua copied what he did. She now has a woman to come in from Social Services to make sure she has a shower once a week.
The major problem is she won't admit there is one and she is still aware enough to say she is not going in a home. (at least after her stroke we managed to convince my Grandma that the lovely home she was put in was a hotel and she just needed a holiday)
On Sunday she thought my son was his cousin (who is now 19 by the way) and the said cousin was my husband. Just not sure who she thought I was - possibly my sister in law.
All Gran ever says is "I don't know" the thing is the rest of the family doesn't know what to do either. Somebody please advise