I believe that whoever it was who invented adult disposable underwear deserves a Nobel Prize. Why? As the popular children's book says, "Everybody Poops." More about underwear later.
I mentioned that when she lived in her house, my mom had to use an adult potty chair because she could not navigate the stairs to the bathroom. Because of her heart condition, she takes diuretics in the morning. Her condition is fairly serious, so the dosage is somewhat high. Her routine has been to take her medications about 8:00 or 8:30 in the morning, then stay in bed, drowsing or watching tv and getting up to pee. Sometimes as many as ten times in a few hours.
The drug has its effects over about three hours, and my mom has always valued sleeping in, so this works out. When she moved in with us, I assumed that having a full bathroom on the first floor would eliminate the need for me to have to dump and clean the potty bucket every day. What I failed to take into account is that her room and the bathroom are at opposite ends of the house. There simply is no way with her current lack of mobility for her to make it there in time. So we are still using the potty.
The first thing I want to say about that is that the chemicals used to eliminate the odor really do work. We had experience with them from having a camping trailer and also from when we took care of my grandmother. My mom had a friend who stayed with her son and his family after a hospitalization, and they used a potty for a while. Her son or his wife would jump up and empty it every time she used it even in the middle of the night. Not necessary.
There are several versions and brands of this product on the market, some better or more convenient than others. I will often be talking about products by their brand names, mostly because sometimes it matters. In the late eighties, when my Granny was with us, the stuff we put in the potty was bright cobalt blue. It worked really well, but when the unthinkable happened (the potty got knocked over once), we had to deal with not only a messy situation, but the stain.
We have found that the best place to shop for this stuff is in the camping department of big box stores. Though I normall don't shop at Walmart for philosophical reasons, I have found them to be the best source of the stuff. We usually buy Coleman, but there are other brands. They come in a 16 oz. bottle, they are either clear or very pale green, they are about $5 a bottle and they work really well. They are sometimes hard to find during the off-season for camping, so we always stock up. They can also be bought online.
I empty the potty bucket carefully into the toilet and rinse by using the bathtub spout. Some hot water to rinse, add a squirt of Lysol (I keep it in my mom's bathroom in a small dish liquid bottle) swirl gently and pour it into the toilet and flush. I then put about an inch of water into the bucket. To that, I add about an ounce of the holding tank deodorant, as it is called. I don't measure it, I just pour a bit in. It is really miraculous how it works. The chemicals can't be good for the planet, but sometimes, as environmentally conscious as I am, all bets are off.
I don't mean this to be graphic or overly-elemental, but I have been surprised by the number of people who have had difficulty dealing with this situation. As a friend once pointed out, "After a certain age, it becomes all about bodily functions." Sadly true.
Where the potty is located in the room has varied depending on my mother's condition, but right now it sits a few steps away from her bed. Coincidentally, it is where I sit to watch hockey games with her. I recommend putting it against a wall or a solidly placed piece of furniture to avoid it tipping in case of the using losing his or her balance.
The potty chairs can be adjusted for height, usually by a series of slots on the legs. They do break down completely, and we have even taken them apart to take on trips. I recommend taking pictures as you go to make sure you can put the chair back together.
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