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I just need some perspective here. A few weeks ago mom, who has moderate to severe dementia, had an infection and was on amoxicillin. That resulted in diarrhea which I’ve been cleaning up but now seems to be improving now that it’s getting out of her system. Well this morning I opened the fridge to get something and then noticed a poop smell. There it was. On the door on the shelf a neat pile of poop on a napkin. Can anyone shed some light on what is going on?!

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She has dementia. Her brain is broken in a very fundamental way.

Somehow, putting poop in the fridge makes sense in her current state of cognition.

There is no fixing this, sorry to say. She probably needs a higher level of care than can be provided in a home environment.
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I haven’t ever had that situation with my dad, but it does seem like people with dementia live in a dream-like state. While I was sitting with my dad in the living room once, he grabbed a pair of his shorts and put them on the trash can, not in but on, like he was trying to dress it. It’s like times when you wake up from dreams and they didn’t make any sense, but they’re acting them out in real life.
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uwantcr66 Dec 2018
That’s so true. Like in her mind the poop was food and her instinct was to put it in the fridge so it wouldn’t go bad. It’s so sad....
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unwantcr66, sadly with later stages of dementia, the patient cannot reason out situations, thus you found what can happen when you opened the refrigerator. And if you had asked Mom why she did that, chances are 100% she wouldn't remember why.

To learn more, go to https://www.agingcare.com/topics/8/dementia-behaviors/articles and read the articles that relate to your Mom, and bookmark that section for when other unusual behaviors crop up.
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Thank you so much both responders! Funny that people asked if I asked her why she did that. There’s no way she’d remember. She doesn’t remember 5 minutes ago😔. Thanks for the website. I will check that out! This has prompted me to make a call tomorrow for a live in caregiver. I can’t keep doing this. Thanks again!
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freqflyer Dec 2018
With a live-in caregiver, the caregiver would be doing the work of 3 full-time caregivers each and every day. Before you know it, that one caregiver will crash and burn.... then you are back to square one.

If it can be budgeted, you may want to consider 3 shifts of caregivers each day. That way after 8 hours the caregiver can go home and rest, and be ready for the next day shift.

I went though an Agency when my Dad needed help and he had 3 shifts which worked out very well. If a caregiver couldn't make his/her shift, the Agency quickly found a replacement. Plus the Agency handled the payroll taxes, insurance, and workman's comp.

Then my Dad decided it was time for him to go into senior living where he would have a village to watch over him. He loved it there being around people of his own generation. And the cost was more affordable for him then have around the clock care at home.
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No, she brought it to me while I was on the phone with my brother and placed in on the desk in front of me. I said good bye and rushed her to wash her hands an the cleaned her and the house. Dressed her, sat down, shook my head and laughed a bit, then cussed this disease.
Now I will not complain that she never goes into the fridge for anything.
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