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Of course she is bored..................she is at the stage where she sits and glares. No conversation to be had and no activity will hold her attention at all. She eats and watches television and poops. I really do keep trying to engage and/or entertain her. But arrrgh. It's not that I don't care. But just saying.............. at this point..........I can't handle more guilt about keeping her happy. Caregiving requires a great deal of energy with no reciprocal anything.
So again, I will never judge.
Poopy hands are awful.
Please take my comments as sincerely from the trenches.
Gossip,
I realize the date on here is from 2011, so I don't know if you still have the problem mentioned about the poopy messes with your mom, but I have the exact same problem with my MIL who is in the late stages of Alzheimer's disease. She constantly picks at her diaper, even though she gets lotion put on and even though I have tried to give her meds to keep her calm, it isn't working. We haven't restrained her, but we did come up with an idea about oven mitts. We basically sewed some strings to the wrist part and tie them onto her hands when she is especially agitated, not tightly of course. She digs at herself so much that we didn't know what else to do to keep her safe from her own self. The mitts keep her hands covered so she can't pick, but she does usually end up getting them off if she is especially determined too, so who knows what we will end up doing next. I like the idea about sewing the bottoms of the long sleeve shirt up. Maybe I will try that instead.
UGH!!!
People clearly aren't reading all the posts thoroughly, so someone's
sure to take offense again. My point is, folks, we really ought to encourage the moderator to get rid of lovhor's input, & I'm frankly amazed & disappointed that this has not been attended to.
As far as playing nice, again, sorry if calling out the meanies was misconstrued. I was unclear. Everybody, settle down. By that logic, however, any mean-spirited post should have been deleted to begin with, so there you are. Just meant to defend the originator of this thread from the notion that she should feel guilty or wrong. I'd feel that way for any of your sakes!
I kept Moms nails cut as short as safely possible to make them easier to clean.
I handed her two large shampoo bottles to hold when she sat on the toilet to keep both her hands occupied (I told her this was her exercise for the day and encouraged her to lift them up and down to keep).
I put a pair of panties over her diaper.
She wore PJ's, not a gown. MUCH easier to keep hr cleaned and changed.
I folded 2 top sheets long-ways and tucked them in COMPLETELY under the mattress to make it more difficult to get to her diaper area. (Hospice told me that even the softest, most benign restraints, such as a bathrobe belt, were never acceptable for use in the home.
And of course I also kept her bottom clean and used ointment with any irritation.
Having said that, there were still poop handling, throwing, smearing and even worse. (I can no longer bring myself to share THAT story, but it was probably what you think.
I thumb tacked old shower curtains on the bathroom wall to make it easier to clean. (I also did this in the bedroom when she went through her food throwing stage).
Hopefully this is a passing phase. I went through this with Mom for about 3 months on and off and then one day she stopped doing it.
Blessings to you.
Having been a singer, I have used music, people's first languages (french, German, Italian), & simple jokes & stories to keep their attention.
I work, & my husband can't sit right next to her all the time. & when she's in bed, are we supposed to sleep with her to keep this from happening? Practically speaking, I think the clothing option is still the most effective measure we can take.
My suggestion for the hands of dementia patients would be a cover, such as home-made mittens made out of socks with ties and rubberbands so that the pt. cannot scratch herself or dig into her panties. It may work, or it may not.
The idea is from the treatment of children with chicken pox to prevent them from scratching themselves.
I do not know about the state you are in, sleekit, but in Kansas restraints are against the law. I simply put a board between Mom and the door to keep her safe. I also find talking to her, singing with her, etc keeps her engaged with less need to find other ways to "entertain" herself.
Most focused solely on "why is your mother scratching:" rather than offering practical solutions to the problem of an adult with POOP ALL OVER THEIR HANDS.
The best solution offered is the special clothing with rear fasteners/openings.
Like you, I considered restraints but they are not a practical solution nor a very pleasant one. But going in to change a diaper or deliver food or medication only to find an enormous, stinky smelly mess all over your parent, their bed, the bedding and clothing is a VERY heart-sinking, stress-level-thru-the-roof feeling, knowing what you are in for clean-up wise.
I am sure you are feeling horribly frustrated and emotionally exhausted.
I myself hold down an outside part-time job, take care of 3 teenagers, 2 dogs & a cat in addition to both parents with late-stage dementia.
So, a half hour diaper change session (including giving food, drinks & meds) turns into a 2 hour nightmare of back-breaking labor, bent over a person who doesn't even remember doing putting their hands into their poopy diaper.
By the time you get done cleaning, disinfecting and disposing of the mess, you feel emotionally and physically drained and beat down.
My parents are both sweet, loveable people, even with their dementia, but this one habit of my mother's makes caring for her extremely time-consuming and stressful.
I am late to work all the time because of these messes. It is also highly unsanitary to the dementia patient, often causing things like eye infections because they rub their eyes with their poop-covered hands! It is a major problem!
I am trying to get across to those who don't understand the scope of the problem but replied anyway, that this is a serious health threat and major inconvenience, a VERY SERIOUS, hard-to-cope-with problem for the caregiver and often results in institutionalization as the caregiver can no longer cope.
In my case, my mother is bed-ridden, essentially paralyzed so she cannot get up and get to a water source to clean up, it all has to be done from her bed where I have to remain stooped over for up to 2 hours, cleaning, sanitizing, soaking her hands, cleaning and trimming poopy fingernails...it feels like it's never going to end each time.
And people wonder why you thought of restraints !!! I challenge anyone to go through this on a daily basis and see how far they'd go to find a solution!
Some things I tried with varying degrees of success:
carefully stapling her diaper shut over the tapes and along the top and leg openings (worked sometimes but she still found a way in if she was determined). Just use baby scissors to cut the diaper open for diaper changes.
Also tried using tape around her waist at the top opening and leg openings. That helps the most but again, given enough time and determination, she has gottten the tape off many times or bypassed it to get her hands down into the poop.
Make sure, if she has diahrrea that you give her appropriate meds for it like Immodium-AD.
The basic reason they try to get into their diaper is discomfort, of course, that and boredom, something to do with their hands. I keep my mother changed frequently, she does this even if her diaper is dry, sometimes a mere 20 minutes after the last change! But the most frequent time is after she's had a bowel movement. I think she thinks she is going to get in there and clean herself up. It is heart breaking to see that they've wiped poop all over themselves and onto their faces, the poor things. As bad as you feel for yourself at having to clean up their mess, you feel bad for them.
I am going to try the clothing solution suggeston - thank you to the person who suggested that! Very good advice. As for those suggesting "anti-itch ointments" etc... it is not usually a matter of true itching as much as their discomfort with wearing an adult diaper in the first place and them wanting to get into it and see what's going on in there.
People with dementia do not think and act normally. My mother was THE most sanitary, hygienic woman yet now she sticks her hands into her own poop. So sad.
I wish you the best of luck in solving your problem with your own mother! Hang in there and reach out for support when you need it!
Regards, Gossip
There are support groups and workshops that are really helpful ... I went to some of the workshops and yes they are well worth your time. Here is one place you might start to find one in your area : http://www.alz.org/apps/findus.asp
Good luck
For itching can be UTI which also, can develop behavioral changes as well. Website: clothingsolutions and they sell the overalls for people with such behavior. It is about $35.
Good Luck1
My mom has "dug" at her rear end for two years. As well as her face arms legs...etc. She(my mom) does this more when she is showing increased anxiety. I refer to moms scratching as a "nervous tick". She also does a panting noise as well!
How is your mothers anxiety? Do you notice a connection of the scratching and her mood? Does she scratch her skin open?
If so, a dermatalogist will check her out and maybe give cream.
Try to avoid any perfume body lotions and get bath soap for sensitive skin. That helped some with moms scratching!
Before I started looking after my mom, she was scratching so bad that she got "Scabies". Which I felt so bad, that I wasn't around to help!!
My mom has scars all over her body from doing this!!
I tried gloves, but she would take them off. Basically, for the last two years I spent removing her "scratchy "hand from her body 100's of times a day!! I make sure her nails are trimmed very short. Helps not only with the scratching but it makes it easier to clean the poop off her fingers.
Only until recently, moms bathroom habits are basically almost non-existant now. I got suggestions about one-piece Pjs and such that button or zip in back. Well that is my miracle now!! It works!!! no more using the house as a public toilet and no more hand down pants!! I wish I would have thought off that a long time ago. I sewed together some 2-piece Pjs and sweatsuits with a slit in back that buttons. For me the one-piece suit thing solved a few problems for me, it might help you as well.
Hope my suggestions help!! GOOD LUCK!!!