How do I deal with someone with Alzheimer's who tries to pull out her catheter?
My MIL is in the last stages of Alzheimer's, and she just got a catheter put in yesterday. The procedure actually ended up taking almost an hour to put it in because she fought and fidgeted so much. It took two hospice nurses, me, and a dose of ativan to calm her down enough to finally get the catheter in. So, for obvious reasons, I definately want to keep it in until she is in need of a change of catheter. She also lives at home with us, and putting her in a home at this time is not financially feasable.
My problem is that she wants to keep pulling on it, and needless to say, that is a very bad idea. I don't want her to end up pulling it out and causing herself pain or other problems. She needs to have it in for various reasons, so I just want to keep her from taking it out. We have ativan to keep her calm because she fidgets and picks at everything now. I just need advice on how to keep her hands away from her catheter. This morning she woke up and was yanking on it and causing herself pain, which is horrible. Anyone out there who has some experience with this and has some helpful solutions? I would greatly appreciate it. I feel badly that I have to give her drugs to keep her calm, but at this point she is putting herself in danger too.
Talk to the hospice nurse about preventative measures. Don't wait until the next scheduled visit. Use the 24-hour phone number you were probably given and ask for advice. Some kind of a jumpsuit may help prevent her from getting her hands on the tubing, but you need easy access. Maybe the hospice nurse has seen some clothing adaptations that would work in this situation.
My heart goes out to you. Caring for someone whose body is shutting down and no longer functions properly on its own is heartbreaking. It is also a satisfying privilege to share the end-of-life journey with a loved one, and to be able to ease the passage even a little.