My tiny, sweet, humble mother has advance dementia and has started to have a BM in her bed at AL before the caregivers get her up. Then she proceeds to pull off her depends and make a real mess with the contents. UGH.. they want me to buy full bed sized disposable pads - which are hard to find and cost $4.00 a piece! I know she’s making a lot of extra work for them, but there has to be a less expensive solution. I bought 2 more of the washable ones, but they want to be able to just throw the mess out.
two box briefs and box of wipes $40 with tax and free delivery
Look into “puppy pads” in your local Wal-Mart or Petco or animal supply store. They might be big enough to handle what your mom dishes out. Probably a lot less cost also.
A medical supply store would be the most expensive option.
Have you looked on Amazon?
The suggestions that make much more sense are:
1. Get her up sooner, BEFORE the BM
2. Put her in a onesie
While wearing a onesie makes it harder to undress her and change the depends, is THAT more difficult than cleaning up her and everything she touches/smears?
If she can't access the depends, she can't make the mess! Not exactly rocket science there...
FYI - they have 1 piece clothing jump suit with hidden closure that those with dementia can't get out of - by using this or something similar to sleep in then she can't get to the depends to make the messes - with several [3 to 4] of these you can get through the laundry cycle at the NH - if dr writes up a prescription for this sort of clothing then maybe the insurance company might cover this 1 time expense [they love 1 time expense over continuing expense]
A woman whose room was close to mom wore these & they were quite nice to look at ... I remember a cute pink one she seemed to like - hope this helps you
People lose a loved one and want to donate left over stuff check with local charities food pantries and churchs there is always something to help out elderly in need GOOD LUCK
Disposables in these situations are God sends to us, though hard on the environment.
If this has been happening before they get her up, then they can resolve their own problem by going in a little earlier each day to figure out when it is happening. It's very possible it happens shortly after going to bed and she's laying in her own mess most of the night. You might need to stay a couple of nights to actually see what is going on - no one at that facility is ever going to tell you they didn't check on her for hours.
I can tell you this, if I worked there and this was a new problem with a patient that I was going to have to clean up - I'd be poking my nose in the door about every 10-15 minutes to catch the problem before it was a huge mess to clean up. Then I'd have a timeline of when to check on her.
Just tell them you cannot afford the pads and then see how creative they can become at preventing a huge clean up. This is a facility whose experience is how to handle this sort of thing -and it sounds like the facility owners provide their staff with washable pads to keep the cost down. If staff can talk you in to a pricier way to make their job easier, of course they would. You might ask one of the managers what is provided to employees for a task like this if family cannot afford disposable pads - I bet 'cha they say washable pads.
Why aren’t they supplying the pads? I would think your mother isn’t the first patient they’ve even seen who’s been incontinent.
2nd issue -The caregivers should be checking on her hourly through the night and be prepared to change her if she does soil herself. Is that not being done?
Arlene Hutcheon
If she has recently been on antibiotics she probably needs some probiotics to balance her gut health out. Antibiotics kill all bacteria and it takes months for the friendly bacteria to rebuild without help.
Ripping off depends is messy, pulling down depends is messy.
Christy has a 4x4 washable pad under her sheet. We place a 3x3 disposable with a cotton cover on that it below her waist. No polyester. It is an skin irritant, holds body heat, moisture and bacteria and also invites UTI. Polyester will melt to the skin in a fire.
We made the small cover sheets by cutting up king sheets. Disposables are not good for the environment. Septic systems are designed to process poop.
We simply roll Christy a little bit to the bed edge, away from the poop and stand her, remove the pad and sheet. We do not have to wash the big sheet.
Just like old-fashioned diaper changing, we roll the poop off the sheet into the toilet. If it is gooey, we dunk it, or spray it. Her shower is close to the toilet.
Poop and smell goes down the drain instead of lingering in the garbage.
We toss the sheet and pad in the washer.
bed pads absorb water and really tax the dryer.
We have a length of PVC pipe suspended out side, near the back door, and drape the bedding over it to dry.
We do the same for her sitting, a small pad and cover. No depends,
Just a few moments ago, she had an accident on the couch, and it was easy to stand her, fold up the cloths and carry the poop to the toilet.
Usually there are two caregivers.
If I am alone, I fold the cloths until I after clean her.
We can imaging what it would be like to poop in a diaper. Yuck!
#2 When did this problem arise, how many times has it happened?
#3 What are they doing about adjusting your mother's routine to avoid her needing a BM at this time?
I'd agree with them that disposables, which can just be gathered up and incinerated, are the best way of dealing with the mess; but I'm not impressed that this is their only idea of what to do to address the problem.
The reason your mother is removing her Depends is that she is aware of having had a bowel movement and naturally attempts to clear up; only of course she can't. But it is not acceptable for this to be happening to her.
They can, for example:
review her routine, and encourage her to empty her bowel before bed time
check for possible causes of a change in bowel habit - you mention she's had a uti, is there a recent antibiotic prescription or anything like that?
go in to her earlier
It *is* extra work, whichever way you look at it, but it's their job to keep her clean, comfortable - and not distressed by finding herself soiled, and then left alone for long enough for it to become a smelly disaster, poor love.
To be fair, they may already be working on the other approaches but it's worth asking the question. Meanwhile, I hope it will be possible to track down some cheaper suppliers - are they recommending a particular brand and specification?
Why not wash poop covered washable pads??? If the facility has a competent laundry system they will come out as good as new. I washed Luz's two or three times a day, whether it was poop or pee. You just rinse the deposit out into the tub or toilet and then wash just like you would a cloth diaper.
Another thought, maybe you could check if there is a laundry/diaper service in the area that could be used for washing the washable pads.
We used all three sizes because they were needed. 3X5, 3X3, 1.5X1.5
And they saved our furniture.
Grandma does the same thing. I've thought about a onesie but they look like it would be a chore to check and change a diaper. So I thought of a different solution. I have grandma wear shorts or sweat pants with a drawstring. I have her wear a blouse with buttons. Then I tie the drawstring through one of the button holes. It doesn't stop the diaper removal 100% of the time, sometimes she unties it. But it works about 80% of the time. It still easy for me to check and change a diaper and if she overflows the diaper, it's just a pair a shorts or pants I have to change out and not an entire jumpsuit.
https://www.amazon.com/Medline-Extrasorbs-Drypad-Underpads-Permeable/dp/B07GYZNDY8/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2ZB7BY4JJKZ70&keywords=extrasorbs+es+350+medline&qid=1565651857&s=gateway&sprefix=extrasorbs+%2Caps%2C385&sr=8-6
Best of luck!
Maybe there is a more reasonably priced source (Amazon, Walmart) for you to purchase and provide to them?