He went 2 times 2day. Not diarrea. Obsession. Do dementia patients become so obsessed with bowel movements (good ones, no diarrhea or constipation) that he needs to sit each time he urinates and sees "if he's done"? We are leaving the home for an appointment, and he usually has to urinate. And that's ok. No problem. Been going on for 19 years. Now, he thinks he'll have a BM and sits on the toilet. I can work around the time needed. My question is this: as mentioned in beginning sentence, are ALZ and dementia patients always like this. Obsessed by BM issues? I do know about the urine issues! And he knows I'm really trying to help him be himself and says how much he loves me. He's not angry, just frustrated for both of us that this is happening. He's 93.
ADVERTISEMENT
Yes, it is frustrating when doctors don't give detailed recommendations.
After my adult children are put through the assembly line, given designer drugs for their Pharma-invented disorders, I, and taxpayers, will see the bill, and a few decades down the line when we all are disorder-free, we'll be asking why we all look alike and why we are all called by numbers and are now nameless, faceless, and voiceless.
On another note, a friend of mine was in a department store and saw an elderly woman asking to use the bathroom. This was a complete stranger. The store manager refused to allow the woman, who was clearly in need, the use of the bathroom since she had not made a purchase (she couldn't afford to make one). My friend tried to help the woman get across the street to the other bathroom "in time," but it was too late, and the woman didn't quite make it. We all know there was no logical reason not to allow this woman the use of a bathroom.
Writer Anne Lamott reminds us all to behave in front of a writer since if you don't, you might end up in her next book. As it turned out, my friend, who was the witness who helped the woman, is a poet and scholar. Afterward, she wrote a beautiful and brilliant poem on the event as she recalled it. I had the privilege of hearing her read that poem aloud some six or seven years ago. Several in the audience, upon hearing her read about the woman with poop running down her legs, were in tears.
Stool softener is given in hospital and rehab and I was told to keep her on it . So this makes it easy to pass stool without messiness of a Laxative.
Nothing will take this obsession away but it can lesson if reminded of their earlier bm.
I think it is almost a "leftover" health thing from the 20's and 30's. My old client was also obsessed with everything about her bowels. Good thing I have a strong stomach.
Reality: it's better than living on the banks of de Nile. (Denial - if you missed the reference)