Well, I have dealt with my DH going in the garden tub and bathroom sink over the past 2 years off and on. One time about 2 years ago he had and accident in the bed. At 4:26 he was up, I have gotten up with him and showed him where the bathroom was before. Then I lay awake and make sure he gets back in bed. When I went in this time he was changing clothes. I told him it was 4 in the morning to get back in bed. He was angry. He continued to change clothes. At that time I didn't think he had gone in the bed. I showed him where the commode was and he went. Then he comes to get back in bed and feels for the sheet and asked how the bed got wet. I took him and put him in my daughters room. She is married, but I still call it her room. I knew I should have gotten pads for the bed. It could have been worse if I did not have such a thick mattress pad on it. Had anyone tried the pads that are in the commercials for kids who have accidents? I do not think he will put on depends yet. I know that it is time or soon for those.
My DH participates in research every year at Emory. He does not do drug trials. They just have followed him for the past 5 years to document where he is with testing and physical and family interviews. They will make these appointments with his regular doctor visits. I find out the results because they use them for both. This time they said he had declined 4 points on his test. I already knew he would. He has changed so much in last year. I read the post where some were talking about their husbands changing and being stage 6. How fast it was happening. My DH is 60 and we found out he had Alzheimers 4 years ago. He was labeled mild cognitive impairment 8 years ago. They told me the aricept was not working any more. He has been in it for 4 years and namenda for 3. I guess I am writing this because I thought that it was great and Fairy Tale Land, I wouldn't have to deal with incontinence.
We went yesterday out youngest daughter found her wedding dress. She gets married next year out of town. She also will have a blessing in another country. I hope he stays where he is right now for her until next year. He still knows all of us. He can carry on a simi normal conversation. He forgets words and asks what a lot. Anyway just needed to tell all this. It is now 5 in the morning and to early to call my mom.
Well, hopefully by the time the wedding rolls around next year you'll have had enough advance warning about his status that you can make arrangements as necessary. Yes, I think incontinence is one of the inevitables. I didn't think I would have to deal with aggression, but there came a point when I did. AD likes to play wild cards.
If you have been reading my blogs for awhile, you know that my motto is "sooner rather than later", and I should add the Boy Scout motto (I think it's the Boy Scouts) - Be Prepared.
With those statements in mind, I would suggest one of these mattress pads - http://astore.amazon.com/wwwthealzheim-20/search?node=3&keywords=waterproof+mattress+pad&preview= or our readers can suggest others.
I got this from an article in the Chicago Tribune - Susan Draddy had a unique idea to help her mother cope withAlzheimer's disease.
To assist her mother in finding the bathroom inside their Hinsdale home, Draddy laid out blue painter's tape on the floor to act as a pathway.
"I would tell her to follow the tape," said Draddy, 50, who took care of her mother, Annette, for a year in 2008. "Sometimes you have to think out of the box, but it involves a lot of trial and error to find out what works for Alzheimer's patients."
As for the wedding next year - there is no way to tell if or how much your husband will decline, but if it were me, I would prepare ahead of time for respite for him. Research Alzheimer ALF's that offer respite. I know it's a scary thought, but it's better to be prepared. The good side of it is - you may not need it.
I know how difficult all of this is . None of us ever imagined we would be in this position, but we are, and we're helping each other deal with it.
jackie--it is a sad, difficult disease, but at least we do know what is probably coming (just don't know when). Now that you've had the incontinence wakeup call, it's probably a good idea to get all the supplies (waterproof mattress pad, extra smaller pad for on top of it, pullups, etc.) I don't think products made for children would be the best choice--the volume of urine an adult produces is probably beyond their absorption capability. There are many good incontinence products out there on the Internet and in stores like Target and Walmart. Some here have had success using the disposable male guards inside of regular underwear as a transitional step to the switch to pullups. It didn't work with my husband, but you may want to give it a try. If your husband is going in the garden tub and bathroom sink, it means he has agnosia and can't always recognize the toilet. The only solution for that is to provide supervision in the bathroom, with cueing as to which is the toilet. It is not easy to adapt to that, but I preferred doing it to finding "accidents". I feel for you--EOAD comes with its own special heartbreaks.
Jackie: I really can't tell, but it seems from your post that you may not have visited the various sites that provide information regarding the 7 stages of Alzheimers...like the Mayo Clinic site or the Fisher Foundation site or the Alzheimer's site. It might be helpful for you to get to know the various stages, even though they are not always the same for everyone, but at least you can get a feeling of how far your dh has progressed and what to expect in the near future as well as the distant future and you can be prepared for what you might be facing.
Also, these sites I have suggested give a time line of the approximately number of months and/or years a person will be in any given stage. Once again, it is not always the same for everyone...just a guide line.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I have looked at all the stages. I have been dealing with this for a long time now. It's just that he is here and a little there in the stages. I think he has really progressed over the last 6 months. I put a night light in the bathroom and it worked for awhile. I can see so much from the stages. It as everyone knows, sometimes he is so aware and others he is not. I dealt with the not driving pretty well. I guess I thought I would be lucky with the incontinence. But that was wishfully thinking. I am going to have a hard time with adult diapers right now. He is still to here so to say. I really just needed to write and sort things out, before I moved forward with things. Thank you
We understand...venting is good for the soul and it helps most of us at one time or another. It is like sharing and often we do get advise that is helpful. Things we never thought of doing and those with more experience can help us. Many of our spouses are various degrees of at least a couple of stages. My dh is all 7 stages to various degrees and depending on the day, hour or minute. The only thing he is not is being incontinent and it is amazing to me and others....but, I will take avoiding that little item in stage 6 and 7 as long as possible.
I have been using bed pads on his side of the bed that I got from HDIS. I use 23x36 but they come larger. I put one under the sheet and one on top. He also wears Depends Guards for men when he remembers to put them on. He probably should be wearing the pull-ups but that will be a big fight. I don't even suggest we go anywhere any more. He is always walking around with wet pants. I use puppy pads under a towel in "his" chair. They are cheaper than Depends pads.
I did not even think about when he is sitting on the furniture. Oh, you think you think of everything and then something else shows up. It is funny, I was talking to my mom the other day, and she said you know I think he had an accident when he played golf with your dad. He came in and I didn't think he could have sweated that way. My dad is great and takes my DH out everyother week to play golf. My dad is a really good golfer and my DH use to play with them all the time. He of course loses his balls and clubs, but he does so enjoy getting out with the guys. I guess I will make sure that where ever we go he has a change of clothes. When ever we go out, I make sure he goes before we leave the house and then right when we get to where we are going. I know that the adult diapers are coming, it is so hard when they are still so aware and in denial. But the doctor told me that them being in denial is part of it.
His mom had to go to the ER the other day and then she was having problems with her heart when she got home. I think that is what upset him when he had the accident. I know if something happens to her it will really cause a down hill spiral for him. She is 84 and has always been in good health and done anything she wants. She has shown no signs of AD. It is hard for her to see him this way. For the first 5 years she was in denial that he had problems. Now it is right there so she is on board with it now.
I start working part-time at preschool next week. Tues-Thur. It is only from 8:30-1:00. I really don't know if I should be doing this. I take him to his mom's and he does things for her. But with her being sick, it makes me worry if he would know what to do for her if he had too. I don't think that he will. I really need that away time. All though I don't know if 12 three year olds is really a break. HAHA. I think my first week of teacher planning will make up my mind about this.
I am going to purchase the adult diapers and have them on hand. I know that some of the things they say fit like underware. Is that true?
Another question, off this topic. Does anyones spouse clear their throat constantly? My DH is always clearing his throat. He does this more when he is confused or having a hard time doing a task. A few years ago he had a test where they went down his throat to see if there was an obstruction, and found nothing. It could just be a habit of his now, like touching the end of each finger and rubbing his hands together.
it could be obsessive compulsive like many of us have seen. they tend to go thru periods of this and then it can just stop out of the blue or something else takes its place. i would suggest the Depends Sure Fit. they are the newest and very like regular underwear. soft and no scratchy. i see 'sample' packs in the places that sell them so you can get the right size.at some point you will need to encourage him to make the switch so he is more comfortable and you can help him avoid these times where there may be an accident. good luck divvi
You also can order a sample one from the Depends website for free. I ordered one yesterday because my husband had his first accident over the weekend. We were driving home from a family picnic and when he got out of the car I noticed he had wet himself. No reaction from him at all. I know if we had been home he would have made it to the bathroom. I'm considering them for when we go out for any length of time.
jackie when my dh was in the first stage, he did that clearing his throat thing constantly, it drove me nuts. Does not see to do it anymore.
I learned another tip on the war on poop, and pee. Someone had suggested putting those waterproof pads around where he pees. I cut one in the shape of those toilet floor mats, and then put one on each side. Tape it down a bit. So instead of having to wash a mat or the floor so much, I just replace those each day. The VA sent me about 300 of them so....they are handy.
The Depends Surefit really do fit pretty well like underwear. My husband was surprisingly willing to try a guard inside the depends as well, at night and also when away from home because he could discard it without taking off his pants.
Coco, what a good idea! We have two bathrooms and I'd have to put them in both. He goes from one to the other. I'd just clean up one bathroom and then he uses the other one, and on and on it goes. I think I clean the toilet, floors, and sometimes even walls, at least 2-3 times each every day. He tries to clean up after himself and uses the toilet paper or tissue and doesn't tell me, but I've grown used to the idea that everytime he poops, in I go after him (when he doesn't see, of course, or he'd be so embarrassed.