Thought I'd post a technique I just learned. My husband is sometimes uncooperative in the mornings re changing. What they have been doing where he's being treated is to put on 2 or 3 pullups at night--in the morning, if he won't cooperate, they just tear off the sides of the soiled ones and there are still one or two clean ones left on. No need to remove any clothing, either. I thought it was a great idea. Later in the day he is always cooperative, but this technique is helpful for the difficult period.
I didn't explain properly--you do have to pull down pants and clean pullups to remove soiled one(s). But this is infinitely easier than removing everything, putting new ones on, and replacing pants. What my hb fights the most is undressing and re-dressing.
Aides and I have had several episodes (before I knew about this technique) where we got the old stuff off and DH refused to put anything back on! Nothing like chasing a bottomless man around the house--actually, can get quite comical if you can maintain your sense of humor.
Marylin- I tried the same thing with my dw....but It may be different for a female...I found that the extra body heat caused other problems....and I also discovered that a tshirt is easier to put on if you cut the back of it in half but leave the collar intact, and sort of make a hospital gown out of it.....it is so much easier to slip over their head....If it gets wet, then it is so much easier to get off, without having to try to wrestle a wet shirt over their heads....
I use a diaper with a pull up over top. Any changes during the day do not require removing shoes, pants etc. I do worry about the extra body heat though and watch carefully. I have not seen any problems so far.
thanks for the ideas. we moved into the area last week on vacation. we had not had a big problem with the night time bathroom visits until we were out of town. i guess the change which we had not been out of town in a year was just too much. things seem a little better now that we are at home but not totally back to normal. i love this site, i am on it daily just absorbing all of ya'll knowledge!
I use Assurance type underware for my dh and I am not impressed that the padding only comes up so far in the front and back.... Is this how all the disposable underware are? All of the ones I have found are like this.... how is that going to help when the puddles are huge and poopie is on the move? I am not having that worry yet so am really concerned about this.....
No problem here with extra body heat--may be a male/female thing. Athletic pants with zippers at the bottom are obviously a better solution if pants need to be removed--shoes can stay on easily.
Mammie--Ithink most of the disposable incontinence products are designed that way. You could try putting a booster pad (be sure to slash the bottom so liquid can run through) into the pullup for extra absorption. A good resource is to Google "The New Diaper Primer". All kinds of unusual solutions in that.
Mammie- with all the excellent advice from our resident poop queens, and pee Kings, I never worried about incontinence until it happened. Now I am proud to say that no diaper made can contain 1 gallon of horrible smelling liquid, and it will overflow onto the sheets, and seep into the mattress...\ My dw does not urinate frequently any more, but when she does, it is a flash flood, and the diaper begins to scream in a desperate attempt to contain the tsunami of liquid. It seeks relief by leaking out, and gradually will wick its way onto sheets, shirts, pants, blankets, pillows, and mattresses....I learned to put an underpad to contain the flood, but found that it too would wick onto any absorbent material in contact with it.... Consequently, sheets, pillows and pillowcases, blankets, etc would become saturated. Here is how I handled it 1. complete plastic protective cover on the mattress. 2. protective underpads widthwise (not lenghtwise) under her bottom 3, Ladies Depends in pastel colors 4. tshirts that are cut in half in the back (for easier removal) 5. pair of scissors....just cut the diaper off...forget about trying to remove it like a pair of underwear. 6.a good we and dry shop vac, in case you really run into trouble. 7. disposable gloves, towels, paper towels, cloths, and a gas mask. 8. a 4 leaf clover, a horseshoe, lucky penny, rabbits foot, etc
Frank, you just brought back a memory that gave me a good laugh. When my Dad was caring his mother they didn't have the tab diapers. My Dad did just as you said, he took scissors and cut the soiled ones off of her. And THEN, he used duct tape on the new ones- making his own tab. I couldn't believe it! But hey, whatever works LOL
My father in law once babysat our kids when they were young....when we got back, both were tightly wrapped up in duct tape, and I had to laugh....he did not know about the tabs, so he improvised.....I just wish he had not used the whole roll of duct tape
I have tried every brief and diaper -pads,plastc pants-did everything short of putting him in a black plastic trash bag at night.Had to change him aand th bed clothes several times a night.It was terrible-then I talked to our DR. about the texas cath.-it works GREAT>only problem is I have to waait until he goes to sleep to put it on,this is a little tough(just like putting a condon on a sleeping man)But well worth the effort. I don't know how long I could have continued with this nightly bedwetting,I feel for any of you all going through this.
Jane, I also use packaging tape when the tabs won't stick. Bak, I loved the Texas Catheter, however, it didn't like my husband...broke his skin down. Which I didn't like.
I am trying to understand what it would be like to have someone put a condom on me when I am asleep.......heck, I am dreaming, and delirious from the lack of sleep and the stress of caregiving....Please forgive me....my mind wanders now.
Phranque, you are such a great person....... You will make the most horrible time bearable and make people still feel so good. Your beautiful wife has her one special husband. I thought I had the best man God created, but he will have to step back a step and let you be The Man...... thanks for the input and the smiles....... Just know you and your family are the blessing at the end of the tunnel to many of us. Keep the humor and know the prayers are constantly being said for all of you....
Phranque, I want to take this moment to tell you what I think. In the beginning of your posts, way back, and I mean way back, all the jokes etc. I thought to myself, I would hate to have this man as my caregiver he is so not compassionate, then behold!! I read a post you made to someone a few months back and it showed me the heart of gold that you have. I can't remember the post or the poster you made the comment to but that one post showed me the person you are, and that is a pretty wonderful person in my book. I followed your posts to many people and thought why can't this man be serious one time, then when the time came that it was needed you showed your true colors and came through stronger than anyone I know.
Your wife is a lucky lady and you are a wonderful caregiver. We never know a person just by a few words it takes watching that person through out the journey to see who and how they are.
Funny how we wander off the topic-drives Joan nuts. Jane-you said what I have been feeling about Phranque. His early posts were somewhat off the wall and I discounted him as just another fruitcake. Suddenly the real Frank came through and I actually e-mailed him about how valuable he was to the site. This has been quite a journey and I value all of you for continuing the ride.
Jane.. Your post made me cry like a baby, and I am now looking into a mirror, trying to make the funniest face I can so that I can laugh...but it just is not there. I always felt uncomfortable when I saw someone in pain or in misery, and I could instantly change the mood in the room by heckling some inappropriate remark...It did not mean that I was not deeply hurt..It was just my method of survival, and allowing others to realize our frailties our limitations, and inability to always succeed. Laughter is like using a fire extinguisher on a raging fire....it puts the flames out immediately, causes a lot of smoke sometimes, but in the end, the inhalation of smoke causes euphoria( especially if you are putting out a marijuana fire). I am totally serious all the time, and focused on the problem to a fault...I block out everything to focus on the task at hand....then I will find something humorous about it so that it will break the concentration. You should see me when I visit someone in intensive care...or when I handled Murray when he was baker acted....I actually handed out a speeding ticket to one lady in a wheel chair....and she was so grateful that someone bothered to talk to her, and she continued to speed around the corridors in her chair....little did she realize that she gained new incentive for exercise, and a new reason to get caught speeding....I also almost incited a riot when I organized a walker stomp...can you imagine about 25 behavior patients all stomping their walkers to the beat of "we will rock you....Security asked me to leave...lol I am famous for my balloons that I can create using the latex gloves...or its many uses.....my favorite is a condom that can be used 5 times.....(sorry)
When we can laugh at things that are not in our control, it breaks the tension and makes us realize our limitations. To many, I might be considered irreverent, disrespectful, or uncaring....However the real truth is that I care way too much, and my compassion for any individual is so deep that instead of crying on the inside, I laugh on the outside. My sincerest apologies to anyone who I offend.... Darn you Jane...why can't you keep your mouth shut....
Phranque, I got you right off the bat. As does my entire family, you relieve the stress with humor. It is a life saver, for you and those you are in touch with. My heart breaks for you right now. But I know, as we all pray for you and yours, you will come through in the end. Keep it up, you are helping us all.
We are not wandering off subject...the topic is layering the pullups, and it seems that some of you are layering the pullups with a lot of extra "crap". delete delete delete...I mean "material"
Jane, I remember Frank's first post on this website, when we weren't used to his irreverent sense of humor. Many of us (including myself) thought it was a serious post and just about jumped out of our skin. Like you and Bluedaze have said, I have come to respect him and his caring heart, which is even larger than his sense of humor.
Sill more layering the pullups;;;;; One of my first posts was "what a wonderful website this is...and yes I caught a lot of criticism for my irreverent attitude, questionable methods, and unspeakable antics...but I did make some laugh, some think outside the alz shell, and made others disgusted.... as Popeye would say...i Yam what I yam....and layer the pullups....
As my dh is bedbound, and incontinent, I have found that using the depends adjustables and then putting one of my moliform inserts across the front which potects the sides and covers the penis works really well. The insert goes on across and then pull the depends sides into place and close with tabs. Then when he urinates, I just have to replace the insert (generally). At night, I use two inserts. One inside the depends and then one across the front area and tuck in the sides. Then close the depends.
I too cut the back of the t-shirts and what a difference it does make!