Heat

We have had a wonderful summer and now are experiencing an Indian summer, just great weather. However, unfortunately George seems to get worse with the heat.

Last night, as I was getting the evening meal George wandered off - he went to the bedroom. He came out with no clothes on at all including his diapers. I noticed that he was soiled so cleaned him up and put more diapers on. I then raced down to the bedroom to see what the damage down there was! Poo all over the duvet cover... Got that off and washed it straight away. Thank God for the beautiful weather to get it dry over night.

And people think I do nothing all the time.

George is still pretty confused today and needs precise instructions, for example handing him a biscuit to eat rather than having it on the plate. Another slack mouth day.

Different times of the day

Sometimes George will wake up and the bottom lip is slack. I have recognised that this means he will be confused. The caregivers have to be very patient with him at these times. When this happens he rarely improves during the day so I need to make allowances for this. I will often suggest he take a nap during the day.

Other days he will wake and be quite with it. During these times he likes to talk and have someone around with him. He also likes to go out for coffee or a milk shake. When we do this he expects to also have something to eat so this exercise can be quite expensive. During the day if he gets tired his bottom lip will gradually become slack. I find he needs to go to bed around 8. This means I start to get him ready about 7.30.

Something I intensely dislike is having to clean his rear end! Let me tell you it is not at all like doing it for a small child! I make sure I have plenty of baby wipes as well as nice soap for me and plastic gloves.

They are fantastic

Wow I am a happy caregiver, solved a problem!!!

Onesies are fantastic. I put a disposable pair of pants on George at nights (he now wears these all the time) and then put on a onesie as he is unable to take this off himself. These do not feel wet even when they are used so in the morning: dry bed, no mess anywhere and I just take them off and dress him in pyjama pants and a pad until the caregiver arrives for a shower; works well and takes a lot of stress off me. I am no longer needing to clean every morning. Long may it last.

Another night

Last night George required 3 changes. He wakes, takes off his pants (in the bedroom) and wanders down the hall to the bathroom going to the toilet all the way. I try to impress on him that he cannot take the pants off!!! I have told him to wake me when he needs to

His caregiver today (who is a fund of great ideas) has suggested that I put George in a onesie at nights as he is unable to manage taking these off on his own and will need to wake me to do this and I can therefore get him into the toilet before he takes his pants down.

Got one of these today so we can see how it goes.

He loved his day outing with his son but also had toilet issues. I am now putting him the full continence pants all the time.

Son's visit

George's son arrived on Thursday night in the middle of a storm, poor buggar was soaking wet. George got a huge surprise and was really thrilled. I had some food ready for him which he was pleased about. The two of them have spent a lot of time chatting about old times which is great. It has been lovely for me to have him here too and have someone to relax with and chat to. We have been having some really good chats and enjoying each other's company.

We have been to Sumner, Lyttelton and the new cathedral. I love the cathedral and it moves me each time I go in it. George's son felt the same.

Today they have gone to Akaroa for the day which is lovely as it gives me some me time - just had a spa and will have a soak in the bath. I have a red wine stew in the slow cooker for tea when they get in.

Had some toilet issues last night and luckily was changing the sheets today instead of yesterday (which I normally do). The continence pants saved to some extent but certainly not all.

Yesterday at Mum's home, they told me that she no longer displays Alzheimer's behaviours and should be in a general hospital level of care. I told them I did not agree and gave a lot of reasons why. To move her and the people she knows is just plain cruel.

What a day!

George woke up this morning and his pad had worked well. He needed to go to the toilet so off he went but took his pyjama pants etc off first. He piddled all the way down the hall and all over the toilet floor.

Then -

He did not wipe his bottom and went back into the bedroom and sat on the bed soiling the sheets. Before I knew it he had wandered out to the lounge and sat on the sofa.

Done the floors and washed the sheets!! It is important for caregivers to ensure that they have the tools to help make these tasks easier.

Frankly he does not appear to understand what he is doing at these times. It is hard as if I try to explain he goes very quiet as he tries so hard not to 'do the wrong thing'.

Today he is at his club. We bought two candles (one in the shape of an 8 and the other a 0) and two cakes (chocolate cream sponge ones) and took them to the club where they will celebrate with him today.

Poo day

After the earthquakes we had no power, water, sewage for weeks. People were very inventive in making outside toilets and portaloos were placed everywhere. Poo was very much part of our daily conversations. Stopping people using the inside toilets as they did not understand was a mission. I even had someone go to the toilet before they left our home and we had no water to get rid of the poo in the toilet!! Very nice. Even today the sewage is not good and we have a big tank in our driveway and a poo truck comes each day to empty it - shades of the old long drop toilets.

It is still very much on my mind now.

Luckily George's caregiver came very early this morning as the washing I need to do today is a huge amount and I want to get it done before taking him to his club and going to see Mum.

When I got up this morning I found poo all the way down the hall and all over the toilet floor. I am so pleased I have the steam cleaners. Got the floors cleaning immediately and gathered up clothes I found that were soiled - George was still in bed. He has soiled the bed and a pile of clothes (I think he just continually changes his clothes including 2 pairs of pyjama pants, 4 pairs of underpants, 2 pairs of trousers). Something I have found with those with Alzheimer's is that they are not at all worried by this, they just seem to take it in their stride and show no embarrassment. They do not seem to understand although he does know to go in the toilet (I guess where most of it goes) the fact that it is everywhere else does not worry him.

All of this is not easy for the caregiver let me tell you and of course there is no one you can explain this all to.

P.S. Just got home from visiting Mum. What I did not realise was that George went to the toilet just before we left - steam cleaning toilet floor and hall floor again...

The Little Green

Thank God for the Little Green!

Last night George got up to go to the toilet. I was asleep. This morning I found that he had piddled all the way down the hall and, of course all over the toilet floor.

Guess what my first job was this morning!

All I can think is that he took his pants off before going out of the bedroom.

He has been pretty confused most of the weekend although he had a long and lucid conversation with an old friend on the telephone and also followed a rugby game on T.V. with great clarity. You just never know what the next hour will bring.

Incontinence

I am taking George to the incontinence clinic this week to see if we can get help with the cost of the adult diapers that he needs to wear every night. The cost soon adds up and with all the other expenses it is not easy. I am now needing to clean the toilet floor every morning - he has both bladder and bowel problems now.

On a positive side, mum was pretty lucid while I was with her yesterday and knew me - said my name as soon as I arrived - this is a real improvement. She is using a big walking frame and is managing quite well with help from staff.

Isn't ironic that with looking after both mum and George there will be no one to look after me.

Soiling

Yesterday George soiled himself again just before we were going out. I had to get him to shower and change and of course then had a pile of washing to do. Luckily he did not step in it and trapse it through the house this time but it really is not something that is easy to cope with. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

George's son rang last night. Lucky him; he and his partner have just spent a week in Hawaii, how lovely. They are also building a new house so they have obviously been saving hard to do this. An exciting time for them.

Bad day

This morning George had breakfast and then was sitting in the lounge. He went to the toilet but didn't make it in time so had it all over the floor as well as soiling his clothes. Luckily the caregiver was coming in to give him a shower.

He had a lovely day and Julie came to take him out this afternoon. It has been raining all day so it was nice for him to go out and have a cup of coffee.

After tea George went to the toilet again and once again didn't get there in time. This time however it was not over the floor but in his clothes. I have suggested to him that half an hour after a meal he goes and sits on the toilet for a while to see if he can go. He is obviously leaving it too long before he goes.

Carrot and stick approach

Last night, before bed, I told George that if we had a good night (no soiled pants) we would go out for coffee in the morning. He went to bed early (after going to the toilet) and had a good sleep. He did get up to go to the toilet during the night but no mishaps.

I think that we will make this a regular thing and see if the positive reinforcement works.

Buggar

I was so pleased with the way George was coping with toileting - too good to last!!

Last night I was asleep, woke up and found George in the lounge with most of his clothes off. He had soiled his pants again.  I am so disappointed as I thought that I had got him into a regular routine and that things had improved. I was hoping to be able to take him away for a night or two but that looks increasingly difficult. I will go to the doctor on Monday and get some more pills for him.

Spoke too soon...

I spoke too soon over George's toilet issues. I was just getting ready to go out today when George came out of the toilet. Again he had dropped it all over the floor and stepped in it. At least this time he took his slippers off and walked away in his socks. I got him to take all his clothes off to put in the laundry and go and have a shower. I then found him in the garage with the dirty clothes and when I asked him where he was going he told me he was going to the laundry...

I got him into the shower and I cleaned the toilet area.

Unfortunately this is one of the main areas where he has a problem.

Soiling

Last night George soiled himself again. He had on a pad but got it all over the floor in the toilet and on his slippers. I have a lot of cleaning to do today, just what I need. This is a real problem. I have some pills for when he has loose bowels and will be giving him these. He does not appear to be quick enough to get himself to the toilet in time and then it gets on the floor of the toilet where he stands in it and takes it into other rooms.

He is having a lot of trouble telling the time of day. Today, at 11 a.m. he came out and asked if he had on appropriate attire for bed; he thought it was time to go to bed.  He has little idea of what day of the week it is but that is understandable when someone is retired although he constantly asks and I constantly tell him. It is an awful disease as he has great recall in most other ways. He is keeping up with his exercises but does very little else. That is what is so good about the Harakeke club where he is interacting with others.

Making progress

Last night I helped George get ready for bed at an earlier time so that basically I did all his dressing for bed. I got his pads and pyjamas on and then he decided to put trousers on over top. I explained that he didn't need to wear those to bed. This morning I found that at some time he had put track pants on over the top of the pyjamas. Anyway the pad and disposable pants did the trick and were put in the rubbish this morning.

This is such a strange disease. George is still capable of catching a bus and going to Brighton to do shopping, banking, go to the cafe etc and yet he he difficulties with toileting and dressing. Another thing he has trouble with (which I didn't expect) is writing. When he does try to write it is all over the page and repeats the same thing over and over again.

Toileting issues

George had another night where toileting was an issue. Another huge load of laundry to soak and wash. This cannot go on like this. I have rung the hospital to try to get some more support to cope with this. George doesn't seem to be particularly aware of it although today he tried to clean the toilet floor. I know he tries to help but ...

Tonight I have put him into his pyjamas (with a pad and pants underneath) and then I found him trying to put a pair of trousers over the top. He told me he was going to wear them to bed too.

This b... Alzheimer's it is so hard as they are all different but George is certainly losing continence and yet he is still able to remember most things and to carry on a good conversation resulting in people not believing that there is anything wrong with him.