Mom with dementia is now a feces painter. What do I do?
Our mother of 92 doesn't seem to know what her feces is. She has a bowel movement anywhere in the room. Last night it was in my sewing basket. I had to throw away all my sewing and spools of thread. It was also all over the floor and she had picked it up with her hands and spread it on another bed, all over her own bed, on the furniture, on the floor (everywhere).
It was difficult to walk in to clean it all up without stepping in it. When I asked her why she did that, she just put her hand on it again and said "this? this is nothing..."
It was 2 am and I had to clean everything with bleach and put her in the shower. I'm not sure what to do. She seems to have all her bowel movements in the middle of the night. So we would have to stay up all night watching her if we don't want this to happen again. This was the worst I've had to deal with, but she does this every night on her bed and spreads it all over and on the floor.
I'm sorry to be so descriptive, but it was just something I had never seen before. I have had 6 children, but never gone through anything of the sort. The smell is what woke me up. My whole house smelled.
A lock on the door is a nice idea but probably illegal. how could the fire dept get to her? Use an alarm that sounds loudly in your room if she opens the door at night. Striip the room down to bare essentials so there is less to clean up. remove carpet and put down vinyl or ceramic. Anything on walls should be out of reach. Strip wallpaper and paint with heavy duty washable. You can do a few stencils just to break up the monotomy, but don't make it busy if she has dementia. Keep all the bedding easy care and have 2 -3 sets available. Having a comode is good but you probably need to use it all the time. if you think her medications may be adding to her confusion discuss with Dr and give early in the evening. get he up to the comode before you go to bed and if she takes a sleeping pill give her that after the last potty. Leave a light on in the room. My sympathies go out to you.
Is there no end to the problem-solving? That seems to be the life of family caregivers. And, Lordy, you've got a doozy.
Great ideas here . . . the onesies combined with mittens (specially made, they're more like big soft boxing gloves. Links often get deleted here, so Google "Posey Mitts". You can get then for under $40. And Google "Senior Onsies" -- an Alzheimer's site will probably come up that will show adaptive clothing that'd work like a charm. (Removes from the back...) Combine the mittens with the onesies, and I think you have your problem solved. Well...except for laundering the onsies. Lordy.
Also, consider a bed alarm that will alert you to her getting UP in the middle of the night. And/or a door mat alarm that will alert you when she's left her room.
Depending on how agile she is, a hospital bed might help. When you raise the head and feet, it takes a great deal of work to get out of bed. Mom sure can't do it, but . . .
I'd also consider putting a lock on her bedroom door so at least the mess would be confined to one room. Put a potty chair in her room; start her using it to pee during the day and JUST MAYBE she'll remember to use it at night.
God love ya'. Sometimes I think I'm starring in a horror movie of sorts. Maybe you do, too.
*Hugs*
Talk to the nurse at your mom's Dr.'s office about getting your mom on a different bowel routine. It can be done but she might need some medication initially.
I can't imagine awakening to such a thing. What a mess! Just reading your post I felt so bad for you!