He wears a Depends but it does not stop what comes out all over his legs and floor. This has happened 3 times in the last 3 months. Is this the start of a pattern that will progress? I also need advice on how to clean up the loose mess all over the place.
Throw out soiled clothes, etc. Don't even try to wash them.
Also put a commode in the bedroom with a very large plastic bag in the bucket.
Has he tried Imodium over the counter tablets? Some pharmacies have a jar with a count of 200 so you won't have to buy too often. I use that for irritable bowel syndrome which I have since the late 1960's. There's also Pepto Bismol and Kaopectate. Take him to a gastroenterologist to make sure he doesn't have colitis, Chron's disease or colon cancer. Hope this helps. CeeJaye
He was in pull up briefs and we/he also had the Tab type briefs. I use the Boxer Briefs over them and it did keep them up better and helped contain some of the leakage.
Trying to get a "bathroom routine" can be difficult and with bouts of diarrhea it is sometimes impossible but if it can be done it helps.
Mom and aunt are taking greek yogurt everyday and a probiotic. This seems to help balance their guts quite a bit.
Neither can tolerate raw food. Doctor has them on a sensitive stomach diet. You can google but basically low fat, nothing raw, no processed foods. Try to keep track of what sets their bowels off. Maybe eliminate coffee.
If clothes need to be thrown out get replacements from the thrift store. Saves a ton of money.
My go to cleaner is very hot water, white vinegar and baking soda.
Is there a certain time of the day this happens? Like said try taking him to the toilet every couple of hours. Like potty training a child. Have him sit for a little while.
Cleaning up, I don't envy you. My Mom had an explosive diarrhea . Looked like the toilet threw up. Then she walked out to her chair. TG the carpet was a cheap area rug. That got thrown out. I had to wipe down the bathroom first so I could get her in the shower. Used a lot of toilet paper and flushing of the toilet. I wiped down with PineSol and then bleach and water using paper towels I thru in a plastic bag and threw in the outside trash. The water was flushed down the toilet. It took me 3 hrs and I cried most of the time.
You may find that its becoming too much trying to keep hubby home. Don't feel bad about placing him.
Yesterday I just moaned a lot when both he and one of the 2 cats left a good-sized puddle on 2 different floors. Not so hard to clean that up, right? But I had just mopped those same floors..... It makes me feel like he does it on purpose. And the floor tiles in the bathroom are coming up. The short-term solution is to put clear tape over the tile edges, but that won't help for long. I know what the long-term solution is, but then I feel sad and guilty about plans for "when he's gone."
I finally forgave the cat. He is super-sized and doesn't realize he's hanging over the edge of the litter pan, which is also super-sized. I'm trying to find a larger litter pan or alternative. For now I put puppy pads under the litter pan. Regular plastic totes have too much shaping on the bottom, making them much harder to clean.
I'm giving you a hug long distance. Good luck on your journey.
Also make sure that he is wearing the right size Depends, as you don't want them not fitting snuggly around his upper legs.
When my husband who had vascular dementia, and was bedridden, I had an aide to come every morning to put him on the bedside commode to poop. Eventually his body got used to that and he learned to poop when she was here.
As far as cleaning up his mess, just make sure you have gloves on, and use some kind of disinfectant for the poop on the floor, while you can use the extra large body wipes for his body if you don't want to get him immediately in the shower. There were times before my husband was bedridden and his poop got all over his clothes that I would literally just throw them away as I wasn't about to try and wash them.
Often times any kind of incontinence will be the straw that breaks the camels back, and folks will start looking into placing their loved one in the appropriate facility. You may be at that point. I wish you the very best.