Part six of 12.
I am told it is not unusual for Alzheimerβs sufferers to lose conscious control of their bladder and bowels. This has happened to my wife.
The mess and odor associated with bouts of fecal incontinence probably represent the most difficult challenges to cope with.
The first step in coping is to begin substituting adult diapers for regular panties. I soon found that the drugstore paper kind do a terrible job of handling bowel discharges. However, when Joan experienced her first incident, it was early in the disease progression. She so disliked having to wear the diapers that she became more careful and had fewer βaccidents.β
I also tried controlling her diet so that she ate the same foods for each meal. That helped. Her ham sandwich and baby carrots made a neat but monotonous lunch. After a while, limiting her diet was insufficient and I had to find other solutions.
As discussed in a previous installment of this series, I purchased cloth diapers to replace the paper ones. They did little better than paper when bowel accidents happened. A couple of times it was so stressful for me that I had to put her in a home.
I continued to puzzle over the problem. Clearly the incontinence would not disappear, so what could control the mess? It probably took me a hundred times longer than it would anyone else to identify a solution. Finally, I checked to see if there was an equivalent to a babyβs rubber panties that cover the diaper. Of course there is; theyβre expensive, but at least the ones I found do the job.
We were traveling when the problem first occurred, and even though Iβve learned to cope I still carry a portable toilet and plastic seat covers in our car just in case.
A highly publicized, reputable and expensive adult day care facility rejected Joan because of her incontinence. They said they did not have the ability to cope with it. I regard that as simply inexcusable. Itβs not as if this problem is rare for Alzheimerβs sufferers. Get with it, professional caregivers.
Tomorrow: Music hath charms.
