Sometimes the horrible day-in and day-out frustration of caring for someone with dementia can be so overwhelming, sometimes we just need a good laugh. I hope I can provide one.
My older sister and I take turns caring for our 88 year old mom with dementia. Several months ago, she developed an obsession with the toilet. Bathrooms at restaurants have the same attraction they did for my kids when they were little. She sits on the toilet when she is bored, sometimes falling asleep on it. She goes through a whole roll, or more, of toilet paper everyday. She decided that all kinds of things needed to be disposed of by flushing down the toilet, but not whole, they had to be cut up first; including an advertising magnet, toilet paper core, coupons from the paper, paper towels, toothpicks, who knows what else. Of course this resulted in numerous toilet clogging and overflowing incidents.
NOW...we can't leave paper towels or magnets out, I have to de-core all rolls of toilet paper and never would have thought how hard this could be without messing up the roll. I have found out that Sam's Club TP is easier to de-core than Kirkland from Costco is. The Kirkland cardboard is thicker and glued down more. This never would have been on my radar. Who knew. :) Part of our routine is also filling a bucket with hot soapy water, using Dawn dishwashing liquid, and pouring down the toilet to help keep it open.
Feel free to post your bizarre dementia discoveries. Laughter is good medicine.
She'd had a pretty bad fall last Sat that ended up with the EMT's coming--the whole family was out front laying sod, she falls in her bathroom (she calls it 'slumping' but she loses consciousness when this happens--so it's concerning)...and the fall pendant went off--Contacts 1, 2 & 3 are all in the yard and don't hear their phones, so the EMT's had to come. Lights and sirens!!
Mom was really banged up but refused to go to the ER because she would have missed the Utah Jazz game. Seriously? She has broken ribs and puts off care b/c she wants to watch the Jazz game?
Of course, a day or two later, she is bruised mess and complaining about pains all over. She also told me she'd fallen a couple of days prior--or as she says "I just slump to the floor, I DON'T fall".
I'm done arguing with her. All I said was "Mom, the EMT's aren't capable of dxing a broken hip or something like that--they assess and take you to the nearest hospital. One of these days you will fall hard enough to break something. PLEASE call your PCP and get in for a check up".
She said "I'm DONE with doctors, they don't do anything!" Followed by "Can you ask Dr. Joe to come check me out so I don't have to GO anywhere?" (Dr Joe is my SIL and he's a GASTROENTEROLOGIST!) I said "he could, but I am not asking him to add a single hour to his already packed schedule."
We chatted for a bit more, I noticed that the longer I talked the harder it was for her to keep on task. Her mind was wandering all over.
I know there's nothing we can do. Sad. At least I am the top of the 'i like you' list b/c I made her lunch and I bought her a new laundry hamper, she fell on the old one, which probably saved her from hitting her heaad on the tile floor.
Next week I'll do something stupid and drop back to the bottom of the list :)
Place a bucket in the toilet, they make ones that fit on the rim of the toilet, not an actual bucket. She can still use the toilet but would not be able to flush items down the toilet. If that won’t work for you I have seen ads for a toilet that seems to be able to handle just about anything you try to flush. Even if it is expensive if it saves you from calling a plumber a few times it might pay for itself.
And one more thing. They do make toilet paper that does not have a cardboard tube in it.
You never know who you might have helped.
Very interested in the T.P. without the cardboard tube.
Contacts 1, 2 & 3 in the yard! Blimey!!
My relative also 'slumps'. Slides, crumples, loses balance, let's see.. trips, slips, my favorite: lowered to the floor (by a wall) but NEVER, EVER, well HARDLY ever, falls 😉
Me: "Mom, how did you fall?!?!?"
Mom: " I did not fall."
Me: "Well, you're on your keister on the floor with your walker knocked over next to you...what exactly would you call it?"
Mom: " I just lost my balance and stumbled, and my legs couldn't hold me up..."
Me: "Yeah, that's called falling, mom."
After my dad died and we had to move her to a nursing home, she never did it again. I know you can't exactly get rid of the toilet or move it, but I wonder if you changed the decor of the bathroom or did something to make it seem like a different space, then she might stop doing that. Try getting different-colored towels, putting a different toilet seat on there, or change the picture on the wall. You never know what might make the whole habit go away.
Also, you can buy coreless toilet paper nowadays. Amazon has it, and so does Target. Not sure what kind of holder you use for it, but it'd save you a step. (I'd also use an Exacto knife to cut the core lengthwise if you still want to go that route.)
Never. 😄
She talks about them endlessly. I can't name a single player. (After Stockton and Malone left, my heart was broken, so I stopped watching.) She can't name all her grandkids, but she knows every player on the team. Probably sends them a birthday card with a $5 bill inside.
https://www.amazon.com/Compact-Coreless-Recycled-Georgia-Pacific-19378/dp/B000GAZ3EC/ref=asc_df_B000GAZ3EC/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167151781891&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8062619348685885347&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9028940&hvtargid=pla-309619527500&th=1
He was just miffed b/c the plumber pushed the car through, and didn't magically restore it to him.