Impaction - Don't read if it is TMI :)
Rick has been doing pretty well lately. No seizures and his medications seem to be adjusted so that he is alert and social, trying to interact with others. He is sleeping through the night most of the time with only getting up to the bathroom once. He is eating well.
The hardest thing that I have to deal with right now is taking him to the bathroom when we are not at home. He gets very anxious, is uncertain that the toilet seat is there for him to sit on, and won’t sit down. He is very strong and I cannot even push him down. When he gets anxious like that and I do get him seated, he won’t relax enough to go. This gets very frustrating. Sometimes even at home it takes 2 or 3 tries to get him to urinate. He just can’t seem to realize that it is ok to let go. But we are managing.
This past week I have noticed that he hasn’t had a bowel movement at all. Saturday and Sunday 072509 & 072609 I am for sure he didn’t have a BM. I don’t remember before that. Then he was at the center during the days and I didn’t know what happened there. Wednesday night when we were getting into the car to go to church, he complained of pain when sitting down. Of course, he couldn’t tell me where the pain was. But he was holding himself off the seat with his hands. He finally sat down saying, “It hurts”.
Well, I had been giving him Shaklee’s Herb Lax 2 a day. In the past, that has helped. Thursday morning early he had a good sized BM and then again when we got up in the morning he had another one. So I thought he was alright. He wasn’t complaining of pain. So he went on to the center.
When I got through with work that night we sat down to watch TV and Rick had a hard time sitting on his easy chair. Again saying “It hurts.” I decided to give him a couple of senokot. Well, he went to bed without difficulty and slept all night. When we got up this morning about 6 am, he couldn’t have a BM. So I decided to go get a fleet’s enema to give him. I gave that to him about 7:15 or so, and about 5 minutes after he was ready to go to the bathroom. All the liquid came out but no BM. I put gloves on and could feel a huge mass too big to come out. So I was ready to dig it out for him. I put him on the bed but he wouldn’t lay still for me. I didn’t know what to do, so I called the family doctor. Of course, I had to wait for her to call me back.
In the mean time, he went to sleep lying there on the bed. I went into the office to check my email. I had emailed my manager to let her know that I was going to be late for work. I was only in there about 5 minutes, when Rick comes walking down the hall. He was drizzling a trail behind him. I got him in the bathroom and he had success! He seems to empty everything out. Praise the Lord!
What an awful experience. It was so painful for him and I didn’t know how to handle it. Now I have glycerin suppositories on hand, plus another enema. But I hope this doesn’t happen again. I will watch more closely, to be sure.
The hardest thing that I have to deal with right now is taking him to the bathroom when we are not at home. He gets very anxious, is uncertain that the toilet seat is there for him to sit on, and won’t sit down. He is very strong and I cannot even push him down. When he gets anxious like that and I do get him seated, he won’t relax enough to go. This gets very frustrating. Sometimes even at home it takes 2 or 3 tries to get him to urinate. He just can’t seem to realize that it is ok to let go. But we are managing.
This past week I have noticed that he hasn’t had a bowel movement at all. Saturday and Sunday 072509 & 072609 I am for sure he didn’t have a BM. I don’t remember before that. Then he was at the center during the days and I didn’t know what happened there. Wednesday night when we were getting into the car to go to church, he complained of pain when sitting down. Of course, he couldn’t tell me where the pain was. But he was holding himself off the seat with his hands. He finally sat down saying, “It hurts”.
Well, I had been giving him Shaklee’s Herb Lax 2 a day. In the past, that has helped. Thursday morning early he had a good sized BM and then again when we got up in the morning he had another one. So I thought he was alright. He wasn’t complaining of pain. So he went on to the center.
When I got through with work that night we sat down to watch TV and Rick had a hard time sitting on his easy chair. Again saying “It hurts.” I decided to give him a couple of senokot. Well, he went to bed without difficulty and slept all night. When we got up this morning about 6 am, he couldn’t have a BM. So I decided to go get a fleet’s enema to give him. I gave that to him about 7:15 or so, and about 5 minutes after he was ready to go to the bathroom. All the liquid came out but no BM. I put gloves on and could feel a huge mass too big to come out. So I was ready to dig it out for him. I put him on the bed but he wouldn’t lay still for me. I didn’t know what to do, so I called the family doctor. Of course, I had to wait for her to call me back.
In the mean time, he went to sleep lying there on the bed. I went into the office to check my email. I had emailed my manager to let her know that I was going to be late for work. I was only in there about 5 minutes, when Rick comes walking down the hall. He was drizzling a trail behind him. I got him in the bathroom and he had success! He seems to empty everything out. Praise the Lord!
What an awful experience. It was so painful for him and I didn’t know how to handle it. Now I have glycerin suppositories on hand, plus another enema. But I hope this doesn’t happen again. I will watch more closely, to be sure.
posted by Unknown at 4:07:00 PM
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