New here. Hi! I’m Carrie. I use heavy absorbent diapers with an ultimate overnight pad. By 7 am she’s soaked and so is her bed. She’s on a plastic hospital bed. Is there a good pad? Towels? What do you do? I can’t wake up in middle of night and change her. Trying to keep her home. I change her at 9:30 pm. So it’s from 9:30 pm to 7 am. I weigh her diapers and minus diaper and pad dry weight it’s 1/2 gallon a night !
I had this issue with my father. He was also on Lasix which made him pee even more. It was a lot of work every morning of cleaning him up, and doing all the laundry. Im not going to lie the hardest was that the room started to smell like urine. I bought a new mattress like every 6 months. An expensive ordeal. Finally, I had enough and told the doctor what was happening. He sent my dad to a urologist and they did a suprapubic catheter. It was wonderful! All I had to do was drain the bag. There is a risk for infection but the risks of them laying in urine for hours is way worse. This also let my dad stay home instead of going to a nursing home. I needed to lighten up my work because I am no spring chicken either. I promised my parents I would never put them in a nursing home and I plan to keep that promise. However, I no longer judge those who have to make that call because its very hard to take care of an aging parent.
For the bed, work in layers so you're not changing sheets in the dark: a fitted waterproof cover (not loose plastic, it pools), then a washable absorbent underpad, then a cotton sheet, and a second identical set made up underneath. If she floods you strip one layer and the bed is already made. Two minutes, no wrestling.
On her, a night-rated brief plus a booster pad inside holds far more than either one alone. If she's soaked by 4am, it's the wrong brief rather than the pad, so go up a size if she's between sizes.
The part that costs you later is her skin. Barrier cream, zinc or petrolatum, thin at 9.30pm, then wash and air dry properly in the morning. Broken skin from urine is what puts people in hospital, not the laundry.
And you: if you're up every night you'll be the one who gets ill. If a night aide is out of reach, change her once at 11pm before you sleep so the long stretch is shorter. Not perfect, but it protects your sleep, and your sleep is what keeps her home.
Ask about the two tests. Five minutes with the doctor can save you months.
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New, they are expensive but it will probably pay for itself in replacing briefs and pads and labor. Used ones can be found on resale sights. Not sure if they're covered by Medicare or other insurance.
You should have what are called chux under her to keep the pee off the mattress, and make sure she's not drinking anything past 7:00 p.m.
Other than some kind of a catheter being used she really needs to be changed at least once overnight to prevent her skin breaking down and sores forming.
Mom does seem to be putting out a lot of water. I agree, nothing to drink after a certain hour. Coffee, tea and sodas irritate the bladder and make you go more. When you change her for the night, you may want to try and get her to go to the bathroom. Yes, is she on a water pill? I would talk to her doctor.