My father in law has Parkinson’s with Lewy Body dementia. My husband and I recently moved into his home to take care of him. Any suggestions?

My dad has been in a memory care unit for about a year and a half. He also has been diagnosed with either (or both) Parkinsons & Lewy Body Dementia. Several months ago he started peeing in random places. First in his room which included the floor, on his easy chair, and even on his television. He says there is no bathroom in his room (there is a great big bathroom that is about 50% of his private space). Then he started peeing out in hallways and corridors on the walls or floors. Staff and myself have repeatedly gone over the location of his own bathroom and all of the bathrooms in the common areas. It does no good. A couple of weeks ago the staff requested I buy him a one-piece jumpsuit that zips up in the back. We did that and it works well. But, he does have to ask staff to take him to the bathroom, which is better than him peeing on things. I ordered it from a company called Buck & Buck. They even sewed a tag with his name on it! Good luck. At this stage it would be hard to manage at home without a team of helpers.

As Barb writes, his brain is broken. He sees it that everyone is running his life now and this is his “childish” way of rebelling. When Mom was in the NH, she would protest the aides making her bed and doing her laundry by throwing everything out the door of her room.

Try getting Dad a urinal (actually looks like a pitcher) and a bucket or show him how to dump the urinal in the toilet if he will, or in the bucket. He may have some delusions about the bathroom/toilet. Other than that, the only other thing you can do is supervise him constantly and when he’s about to “go”, hand him his “cup” (urinal). And get some bleach for your sinks. 😊

The Parkinson's symptoms may come and go, but the dementia is a permanent fixture. His brain is broken.

I'm hoping that others who have had more experience with keeping elders with dementia at home will have some suggestions, but other than not giving him access to any cups, this is going to be really hard.