I don't think this is a medical question, but if it is, go ahead and delete/close it. I'm really at a loss as to what to do here.
My MIL lives with us and has dementia. She is becoming incontinent of urine, but only at night. She wears regular underwear during the day, and for the past week I've been putting Depends on her before she goes to bed. I also try to toilet her before she goes to bed to alleviate the issue, but she has a shy bladder, it seems. Here's my problem.
When I got up this morning, I went to check on her, and she didn't have her Depends on. I looked in the bathroom, and the outer part was neatly folded and sitting on the shelf in the bathroom and the blue strip was also neatly folded and sitting on top. She had somehow taken out all of the padding part, but it was nowhere to be found!
When I got home from nursing school, the caregiver said that the bathroom drain is backing up. My MIL must have pulled the pad apart and tried to get it down the drain! Oh, geeeeeez!
We have had past overflow problems from the toilet, the sink, and our sewer drain in the basement due to her throwing stuff into our plumbing system. We also need to have the ceiling in our dining room partially replaced, as it's right below the bathroom. So, you can see the extent of the potential problems with her getting rid of the padding on a nightly basis...
ANYWAY....
I just ordered some adult cloth briefs from the internet, but they won't be here for a another week. ($190 for 5 of them....OMG!!!, but that's another topic all together). I am afraid of putting a Depends on her because of the plumbing issues, but I'm also afraid of her slipping on the bathroom floor if she doesn't make it to the bathroom at night. I discovered her incontinence issue when I went to bed late about a week ago, and I heard her in the bathroom. She was on the toilet, but the floor was VERY slick from urine.
So, what do I do in the meantime? I just need to find a solution until the cloth briefs get here. HELP ME!
One idea in additon to turning off the water - flush the toilet one last time with the water off - that should decrease the pool of water in the bowl. Easier fishing!
That is an awesome idea. I did it tonight, in fact.
Aren't there locks that can be put on toilet seats to prevent them from being opened? I believe they are designed to prevent toddlers from opening toilets and falling in, but this might work well for you.
I don't want to prevent her from using the toilet. I'm just trying to find ways to keep her from dripping on the way to the toilet (causing a fall risk) and save my plumbing at the same time. :)
If the incontinence just started, have you had her to the Dr. to be checked for a urinary tract infection?
It would be easy to get a specimen jar from her doctor and drop it off at the office. I'm not sure how amenable she'd be to me sticking a cup between her legs when she's already shown a shy bladder on command, though. I could do it as a precaution. Thanks for the suggestion!
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SlightlyMental_RN
471 Posts
How about putting some plastic wrap kinda drooped in to catch the stuffing?