As long as I can remember, my mom has had diarrhea. She has trouble cleaning herself up afterwards and ends up getting it on the carpet and upholstered furniture. She has macular degeneration and can't see the mess. Staff at her memory care are complaining about spending a hour cleaning her and her apartment up.
Mom makes it to the bathroom in time, she just can't clean herself up. They're resisting putting her on a schedule, but it seems like a no brainer to me. If she's on a schedule wouldn't that help prevent most of the messes and last minute calls for help?
Is this an unreasonable request? Seriously, my kids won't visit in her apartment because they're afraid to sit anywhere, even if it looks clean, and I absolutely don't blame them. This has been a looooong term issue for many years, even before AL and MC.
A few things to think about. Be certain your elder isn't taking metamucil or other psyllium concoction like it, as these can increase gas, making stools more explosive. The one such psyllium that doesn't do this, and can actually help with creating more formed stools, in my own opinion and years as a nurse is citrucel, worth a try. Prilosec and some like meds can be notorious for frequent uncontrollable stools.
Does your mom have a call light to request help after having a bowel movement? Or is she unable to remember to ask for help?
I am assuming this has been discussed with an MD and there has been a workup to discover the reason for this. Has she by any chance had this problem starting after gallbladder removal? And ongoing since it? Because this is common and there is a medication for it (cholesteramine).
Sorry your Mom is dealing with this. This can lead to bladder infections, as well. Hope that something works for her.
She's been put on a non-dairy diet and we hope it works.
NO!
What did help my mom was starting her on a probiotic. Check with her doc to see if that would be appropriate. But he warned, if mom has had chronic D for a long time, she may not know how to have a regular BM that could cause blockage.
Yes, she definitely should have sppervised bathroom trips, but she also should be receiving incontinence care as well. She doesn't have to be completely incontinent, but at least would contain the mess and the staff should wipe her down in the bathroom
We all know that if a person goes to the bathroom, sometimes they have to return to the bathroom immediately afterwards. It’s impossible to predict when a person has to use the bathroom.
I feel that one of the main issues is that your mom can’t see.
My godmother eventually went blind due to macular degeneration. She wasn’t able to care for herself even when she had low vision. Her son had to place her in a skilled nursing facility so she could be cared for by staff around the clock.
What else can you do? I have heard of people hiring additional help in certain instances. My gosh, I am sure that you are already spending a fortune on her care as it is.
Maybe others will be able to toss out some helpful advice for you.
Best wishes to you and your family.
Is this because they do not want to "have to" bring her to the toilet every 2 hours? Due to a variety of reasons..like short staffed, others may need help at the time to bring mom to the bathroom, and any number of reasons they can think of.
If mom is able to get to the toilet herself when she needs to and just has problems cleaning herself have you thought about the use of a bidet? Would she/could she use it and understand how and why it is used?
You would think that if they are complaining about cleaning up you would think they would want her on a schedule to avoid the clean up. No brainer to me!
And a side comment...I would probably want the carpet out of the apartment and replaced with an easily washable laminate flooring. It surprises me that there is carpet. For walkers, wheelchairs and even people that have a problem with their gait carpeting can be problematic.
Wishing you good luck!
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