My 81 year old mother fell and broke her hip last september..she had hip surgery and then went to a nursing home for 2 months for therapy. she got out in november and has been living with me since. she has been showing signs of dementia and most recently she has been dumping the trash into the toilet..and i mean the bathroom toilets and her bucket in her bathroom chair..i am constantly having the fish trash out of the toilets..she has already clogged the system up once by flushing things that shouldn't be flushed and we've had to dig the yard up to unclog the pipes...she doesn't remember doing any of this and always blames it on somebody else..it is so frustrating..especially since my mother had no signs of dementia before she fell and broke her hip..
I'd suggest you get rid of the trash can in the bathroom. Have a cloth hand towel available to your mom to dry her hands on but eliminate anything that can go down the toilet: wipes, gloves, papertowels, etc. And if the hand towel finds it way into the toilet put out Purel Hand Sanitizer for your mom to wash her hands. If your share a bathroom maybe you can stash what you might need under the sink where your mom won't find it.
Unfortunately, a broken hip or any serious injury is often the trigger that sets off dementia symptoms. Your mom should be checked for any side effect problems from her medications and any infection she may have, but it's quite likely that the trauma of breaking a hip, and the aftermath, have taken a huge toll.
She, of course, blames others for dumping the trash because she truly doesn't remember doing such a thing. That behavior is something I've had to cope with often.
Her doctor needs to know about this change in behavior in case he or she wants to try one of the available medications for Alzheimer's.
Take care,
Carol