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My 81 year old mother fell and broke her hip last september..she had hip surgery and then went to a nursing home for 2 months for therapy. she got out in november and has been living with me since. she has been showing signs of dementia and most recently she has been dumping the trash into the toilet..and i mean the bathroom toilets and her bucket in her bathroom chair..i am constantly having the fish trash out of the toilets..she has already clogged the system up once by flushing things that shouldn't be flushed and we've had to dig the yard up to unclog the pipes...she doesn't remember doing any of this and always blames it on somebody else..it is so frustrating..especially since my mother had no signs of dementia before she fell and broke her hip..

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my mother flushes washcloths..I hear you!!
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both answers are very helpful..thank you for responding. Carol, thank you for the insight on the dementia thing..They did tell me in the nursing home that a lot of hip surgery patients come out of the anesthesia with a lot of memory issues..she no longer knows how to use a telephone, work a microwave or even the remote control to the tv. i tried to get mom to take the memory therapy and she refused..now this is where we are..she is normal some days and other days she is just out of it and confused..very sensitive..not like the mother i have always known..it is so hard,,i am now the mother half the time..she cries because she knows that something isn't quite right.she is confused and sometimes not sure who she is and I just hate this for her. My sister visited from Washington for two weeks and just left last Friday..When mom saw her for the first time she had no idea who she was..and she still is confused about who she was, and it broke my sister's heart..sorry, I'm just going and on , but this is so new to me and just so heartbreaking. Thanks to both of you for responding.
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Anesthesia can trigger dementia. Some elderly people pull out of the fog eventually, some don't.

I'd suggest you get rid of the trash can in the bathroom. Have a cloth hand towel available to your mom to dry her hands on but eliminate anything that can go down the toilet: wipes, gloves, papertowels, etc. And if the hand towel finds it way into the toilet put out Purel Hand Sanitizer for your mom to wash her hands. If your share a bathroom maybe you can stash what you might need under the sink where your mom won't find it.
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I can understand how frustrated you must be. I've had similar but not identical situations. I'm sure that several people on the forum can relate.

Unfortunately, a broken hip or any serious injury is often the trigger that sets off dementia symptoms. Your mom should be checked for any side effect problems from her medications and any infection she may have, but it's quite likely that the trauma of breaking a hip, and the aftermath, have taken a huge toll.

She, of course, blames others for dumping the trash because she truly doesn't remember doing such a thing. That behavior is something I've had to cope with often.

Her doctor needs to know about this change in behavior in case he or she wants to try one of the available medications for Alzheimer's.

Take care,
Carol
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