Catheters

As I have said before caregiving is a learning curve.

As well as knowing virtual nothing about Alzheimer's I knew very little about catheters. I did know that they were for draining the liquid from the bladder but that was all!

These need to be emptied regularly and in order to do this you need to know how to open the valve. This is a trap for young players as there are many different types. The first time it took me ages to accomplish and I found help on the internet. Another thing you need to ensure is that the person with the catheter drinks plenty of water. I can't tell you that George likes water too much and would rather have something else to drink but we get there.

At night a night bag is attached to the bottom of the day bag. You then leave the valve of the day bag open so the urine drains through into the night bag ( this is a bigger bag). I put this inside a bucket at the side of the bed. In the morning you empty the night bag leaving the day bag. You then need to flush out the night bag by running water through it ready to dry. Before hanging this up to dry you need to place a cap on the attachment end. Infection is a major issue so I am using a lot of disinfectants.  Something I worry about is when George goes on a night walk. He drags the bag around with him and I worry that he will trip over. If this happens we are in real trouble as he is too heavy for me to get him up and he wouldn't be able to do it himself. So far I have not been able to stop him doing this.

Unfortunately George came home from the hospital with an infection which has proved difficult to clear up but I think we have now achieved this.

Many people refuse to care for these people in the home situation. It is certainly not easy.

Something that you also need to remember with people with Alzheimer's is that they are unable to cope with several things going on at one time. George is better in a one-on-one conversation. I also find that most parts of the internet are too 'busy' for him. I try to find relatively uncluttered things to share with him - these of course need to be things he is interested in.