I look after my father with advanced Alzheimers in his home. Recently he had a stroke which has made his left hand useless and his mobility is now severely impaired. He can barely stand up without wanting to sit down again immediately.
He has also developed incontinence, but not in the fullest sense of the word. He still knows he wants to go, but is totally confused about what he wants to do. Also he is constipated and only doing little bits of poo all the time, which makes things exhausting for me. He wears adult diapers and is endlessly feeling uncomfortable, but when I stand him up to do a wee (in a bottle, usually) he just stands there saying he doesn't need to, even though a minute before he was bursting. I usually find there is some poo in his bottom, which indicates to me that he is confusing "wee" and "poo". But because he hasn't been emptying his bowels fully, this endless stream of poo is driving me mad. I try to be careful that he drinks plenty and give him lots of veg and fibre, also give him prune juice, and resort to laxatives sometimes, although not sure of the benefit. Because he hardly moves all day I can't see the problem going away any time soon, and I'm at the end of my tether. The incontinence nurse is due to come soon, hope she will give me some pointers, but any further advice welcome. I have a commode, but getting him to sit on it requires two people and is very challenging and he doesn't understand why he's there. It hasn't triggered him to go yet. He will say he needs a poo, but when I get him to the toilet or commode he just sits there looking up at me, asking to go back to bed. The combination of Alzheimers with semi-incontinence is a devastating one. Any ideas gratefully received.
I wonder why our supermarkets still have absolutely no provision for old age necessities. In Japan, the supermarket shelves are laden with adult diapers, but here there is a huge section for babies and NIL for the elderly. We are seriously behind the times. It is unbelievable that the problems of old age are still basically taboo in this country. Something has to change.
He has also developed incontinence, but not in the fullest sense of the word. He still knows he wants to go, but is totally confused about what he wants to do. Also he is constipated and only doing little bits of poo all the time, which makes things exhausting for me. He wears adult diapers and is endlessly feeling uncomfortable, but when I stand him up to do a wee (in a bottle, usually) he just stands there saying he doesn't need to, even though a minute before he was bursting. I usually find there is some poo in his bottom, which indicates to me that he is confusing "wee" and "poo". But because he hasn't been emptying his bowels fully, this endless stream of poo is driving me mad. I try to be careful that he drinks plenty and give him lots of veg and fibre, also give him prune juice, and resort to laxatives sometimes, although not sure of the benefit. Because he hardly moves all day I can't see the problem going away any time soon, and I'm at the end of my tether. The incontinence nurse is due to come soon, hope she will give me some pointers, but any further advice welcome. I have a commode, but getting him to sit on it requires two people and is very challenging and he doesn't understand why he's there. It hasn't triggered him to go yet. He will say he needs a poo, but when I get him to the toilet or commode he just sits there looking up at me, asking to go back to bed. The combination of Alzheimers with semi-incontinence is a devastating one. Any ideas gratefully received.
I wonder why our supermarkets still have absolutely no provision for old age necessities. In Japan, the supermarket shelves are laden with adult diapers, but here there is a huge section for babies and NIL for the elderly. We are seriously behind the times. It is unbelievable that the problems of old age are still basically taboo in this country. Something has to change.