New to Caring and Forum

[Guest]

[quote][/quote] Hello my name is Ann and I have just started caring for my 86 year old Mother who has moved in with myself and my Husband. It has been two weeks and is going ok ish. Mum is both deaf/blind she is very frail and unsteady on her feet. She suffers with nocturnal incontinence. She has dementia although has not yet been diagnosed with this. She is not a very happy person but is it any wonder as she lives in her own little world.After I put her to bed I wake her to sit her on the commode every 3 hours but the bed is always soaked through in the morning even though I do put a pad on her and also cover the bed in absorbent covers. I am not sleeping as I am constantly concerned about the bed wetting as I hate the thought of her laying in her own p*** all night. If I put a massive pad on her she does try to get up to go to the toilet on her own and the pads always end up on the floor which is why the bed gets wet as she goes back to bed padless. Can anyone give me any ideas as to what is the best solution or what they do in similar circumstances. Thank you. Ann x

[phoebe]

Hello, Ann, and welcome to the forum. My name is Phoebe, I'm 46 and a carer to my 77 year old Hubby who had asbestosis, COPD and arthritis. Last year, we were caring for my mother who had terminal brain cancer and as a result was bed ridden, and we also had the incontinence problem. You can buy large, washable, pads/mattress covers which covers about half the bed and locks in the wee so they are not lying in a damp patch, even if they take off/ lose the pad in their knickers. they are about £25 each, so quite expensive, but we found they were worth their weight in gold!!! We bought two, one on the bed and one to wash. Also, have you approached social services or your local nurses to see if she qualifies for free tener lady knickers? may be worth looking into.
phoebe x

[bowlingbun]

Welcome to the forum, I care part time for my elderly mum, who still lives alone, but is very frail. Caring for someone else can be a steep learning curve at first. Your GP should be able to put you in touch with a continence service nurse, who can come and chat with you and mum. Has anyone done any tests to see whether mum has any specific bladder problems? I hope someone has explained that mum is probably entitled to Attendance Allowance and you might be entitled to Carers Allowance. If you contact Social/Adult Services, they may be able to arrange various services for you and mum. It's really important that you have some time off from caring each week. Carers UK has a brilliant helpline, don't hesitate to ring/email them if you have any queries.

[Brindleboy123]

Warm welcome to the forum from me too Ann.

Bell x

[Guest]

Hello Ann Gardner. Dealing with incontinence is much easier when you find out about all the information and products available. My local GP surgery arranged for the nurse who deals with incontinence to visit us and we have regular deliveries of pads free of charge. Over the years we have tried different systems until we found the most suitable and reliable one. There is also lots of information online so I hope this helps.

[Scruffy]

Hi Ann,
Don't know if this has been mentioned but I've come across bedwetting alarms from the site I have bought pads and pants from in the past.
http://www.incontinencechoice.co.uk/inc ... larms.html

Don't know if something like this would work. At least you would know you would be alerted and it might help you relax a bit.

[Anne001]

Hello Ann,

Just wanted to wish you a warm welcome to the Forum; you will find lots of help and advice here .

I can't add anything on incontinence to the other posts but in addition to the benefits check, please get support from Social Services. You are taking on a lot of responsibility and need support yourself. This can be done by a referral from the GP or directly. They will then carry out an assessment of needs. I too care for my mum, at a distance, and she gets limited support from careworkers popping in twice a day. They also go to many homes where the parent lives with their children.

Looking forward to getting to know you,

Anne