Alzheimer's caregiver help - shut-off for gas stove?

[luvavacation]

My mom has Alzheimer's Disease, and she lives with me. I do most of her cooking, but she occasionally makes eggs for herself or chicken livers (blechh). I am always around when she cooks, and I make sure she has eaten if I run out to the store so she does not have a need for the stovetop. She has a habit of leaving on the burner or only turning the knob enough to let out the gas, not actually light the gas for a flame, which is why I am around when she cooks.

Today, I walked my dog. My mom stated that she wasn't hungry and wanted to do some knitting. I was gone for about 45 minutes. I came home to the stovetop burner going on high.

My mom apparently decided to make eggs without me. She said she had just finished, but that was not true. I checked the pan, it was cold. I think she made the eggs as soon as I left just to somehow show me she could. Sadly, she showed me she can no longer be left alone for any length of time with the stove.

I called the gas company regarding some type of shut-off valve for the stove, but they do not do anything to the line in the house unless it has failed. My stove is 5 years old, electronic ignition gas stove. I did consider removing the knobs but you can still turn the dial without the knobs if you tried hard, and she would still be able to turn on the oven, as it is all a touch pad.

Any ideas from anyone on what to do? The gas shut-off that I did find on a search is for stoves with pilot lights - for my electronic ignition stove, I find nothing. I can't be the only person in the world that needs to protect her mom (and my home!) from the forgetfulness of Alzheimer's in the kitchen?

 

[walden]

There should be a shut-off valve installed somewhere near the stove where the gas pipe comes through the wall. You may have to pull the stove out to find it, or look in the cellar if you have one. If you can't find it, ask for one to be installed because I think it is a basic safety measure for all gas stoves. I'd probably take off the knobs anyway until you find the shut-off valve. That must have been scary.

Caregiving is tough, and Alzheimer's patients only get worse. Do make sure you get support and take care of yourself too. Do you have a caregivers support group in your area? There are also a couple of online forums.

 

[locolala]

How good is her manual dexterity? They sell childproofing stuff for stoves and ovens, if she doesn't have good hand control you might be able to use something like that.

 

[Imzadi]

There should be a shut-off valve installed somewhere near the stove where the gas pipe comes through the wall.

Yes, there is a flexible gas pipe that comes right out of the wall behind the stove, which you screw the stove into. And there is usually a knob on that, that you should be able to turn off & on. But, if your mom sees you doing it, then she can also turn it off & on. You will need to pretend to go downstairs to turn it off & on every time you want to use the stove, to throw her off from not checking behind the stove.

Also, be careful about just disabling the electronic ignition. You might be able to get it to not spark, but if she turns on the burner, the gas might still be coming out. If she can't get it to light, she might forget to turn the knob off and there would still be gas coming out filling the room, just not lighting.

 

[buzzlady]

http://www.thiscaringhome.org/virtual_home/kitchen_stove_03-stove-shut-off-timers.aspx

An idea.

and from the same site
http://www.thiscaringhome.org/virtual_home/kitchen_stove_04-safety-burners.aspx

 

[Beachbumpirates]

This web site has helped with my FIL - thought I would share it:
http://www.caring.com/articles/alzheimers-kitchen-safety

Good luck to you.

 

[jackemail]

My Mom also has Alzheimers and lives with me. We worried about the oven as well, so I know how you feel. Sadly, she cannot even figure out how to turn on the oven or the toaster or the microwave any longer, so we don't have to worry about that.

It's really rough, isn't it?

 

[luvavacation]

Thank you all for your suggestions! I shall look into the products in the links Buzzlady provided, the motion sensor one especially may work well.

Looks like I will also have to get a natural gas alarm thanks to Beachbumpirates' link. Never even knew that existed, but it would make sense since her sense of smell has faded and she can no longer smell natural gas (almost blew up her house before she moved in with me, it was filled with gas and she didn't even know it, thank God I was doing my afternoon check-in with her before something happened!).

Temporarily I will remove the knobs when I leave the house, but sadly the gas shut-off valve is way too far down and behind my stove so I can not reach it. My husband looked at it last night, and said he will "see what he can do". Oh no, Mr. Fixit to the "rescue"! If I decide to raise the gas shut-off valve, I shall have to call in a professional, not my husband. Poor man attempts to fix everything, and then the professionals come in when he is at work.

Yes, caring for a loved one with Alzheimer's is rough, especially when the loved one won't admit that she/he has this disease, and insists everyone else is just trying to hurt them. Yet there are the little things, like when my mom is watching TV with us and my German Shepherd lays down with her head on my mom's feet. My mom just loves that. Or when my daughter makes cookies and offers my mom one - this must be better than being in a nursing home, no? And if nothing else, the example I am giving my children will show them how I would like to be treated in my old age.

And we are all growing thicker skins, realizing that the filter in my mom's brain is no longer there, and she will say hurtful nasty things to us, but we know the truth, and we know we that answering with love is the best defense. Took us awhile to figure this out, and it still isn't easy (and oh is she going to be mad when I take off the knobs when I walk the dog today!), but we keep reminding ourselves that Alzheimer's is not a pretty disease, and it will just get worse. She probably won't be able to stay with me until the end, but I will keep her safe and hopefully give her moments of happiness until the time I can no longer protect her.

Thanks again for the help!

Oh and those knobs on my stove - wow they are dirty! Now I have to go clean them! Gee thanks for the extra work!

 

[Cruisin]

Great information on the links.

Thanks for posting them.

 

[NotUrsula]

How does your gas line enter your kitchen? If you have a basement, does it come up from there? Mine does, and it would be an easy matter to have a plumber install an extra stop valve on the basement up-line, so that it could be switched off without pulling the stove out from the wall.

Any modifications to the gas lines inside a home are normally performed by a plumber. I recommend against DIY gas-line alterations; just too much room for disastrous error; call a professional.

BTW, have you considered child-proof knob covers? If your mom doesn't have much grip strength, those could possibly keep her out of the burners. Many touch-pad ovens have a child lock-out code possible; have you checked your owner's manual?

 

[tvguy]

Have you thought about replacing it with an electric stove? Of course, an electric stove still could burn your mother, but it eliminates the chances of filling the house with natural gas. The safety factor...at least to me...would make the $250 to $350 cost worth it.

Now, I have to disclose DW and I had both bad experiences growing up with gas appliances, so when we were renters, and when we bought our house, we insisted on all electric houses. We've had 2 houses blow up in the past year in our area, so, at least to us, it reenforces our decisions make 28 years ago when we bought our house.