My mom hasn’t had a bowel movement and needs help?

SOUNDS LIKE CONSTIPATION

Constipation is a condition in which a person has uncomfortable or infrequent bowel movements.

If a disease is causing this to occur (SUCH AS DIVERTICULITIS),

Acute constipation, begins suddenly and noticeably. Chronic constipation,  on the other hand, may begin insidiously and persist for months or years. Acute may be from a change in diets or lack of physical exercise,, from staying in bed for a few days, Medications otc antacids, bismuth salts, iron salts, anticholinergics, antihypertensives, narcotics any many types of tranquilizers and sedatives--can cause constipation.

Too little physical activity and too little fiber in the diet are common causes of chronic constipation. Other issues are under active thyroid gland,(hypothyroidism), high blood calcium levels, (hypercalcemia),and Parkinson's disease. A decrease in the contractions in the large intestine (inactive colon),  and discomfort during defecation also lead to constipation.

When a disease is causing constipation the disease needs to be treated!!! Otherwise, constipation is best prevented and treated with a combination of adequate exercise, a high fiber diet, and the occasional use of appropriate medications.

Laxatives;

Many folks use laxatives to relieve constipation. Some are safe for long term use; others should be used only occasionally. Some are good for preventing constipation; others can be used to treat it.

Mineral oil softens the stool and facilitates its passage out of the body.

Stool softeners such as docusate increase the amount of water that the stool can hold this type of help is detergents that decrease the surface tension of the stool, allowing water to penetrate the stool more easily and soften it.

Osmotic agents theses pull large amounts of water into the large intestine making the stool soft and loose. The excess water also stretches the walls of the large intestine, stimulating contractions. These laxatives which generally work quite quickly are better for treating constipation than for preventing it. This is also used before a colonoscopy.

Theses always the warm water treatment...................

Suppository's work as well------------------------------------

Glycerin suppositries from a pharmacy. Used in hospitals, she will go in 10 minutes so keep her near the toilet.

Get some suppositories and see if those help.

if she is having fever and/or in great amount of discomfort and pain enough to disturb sleep and activity, then there is no other option but to seek help at the emergency department.. fiber and most OTC meds won't help; basically her large intestine is like a road that was damaged by a natural disaster like earth quake, floods or avalanche that made the road unsafe and difficult for cars and trucks to pass through.. `

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in fact, if she had not passed flatulence (farts) for more than 2-3 days, then she really should seek medical help ASAP.. 

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if the inflammation of her diverticulitis is bad, no amount of OTC meds can help her.. in fact, if she is NOT having bowel output for more than 3 days and she is in pain, the fibre (fiber in American spelling) will make her pain worse.. 

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if there is some reason that your mother cannot seek help from the nearest emergency department: first, put her on a soft diet (you can Google search what 'soft diet' means, like soups and purée) and avoid solid hard meals (as Nonplussed had mentioned).. second, go to the pharmacy and ask for Ravin Enema or Fleet Enema (it is a medication inserted into the anus and not taken orally) which hopefully would work; although i would not put too much faith on it.. 

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at this point, i have told you what to do.. what follows are extras that you do not have read if you do not want to.. most cases of constipation is related to poor and hard diet (not enough fibres, not enough vegetables and fruits) that is made worse by bad habits like high alcohol consumption, poor hydration, irregular sleep and stress.. when food enters our body, the digestive tract would actively absorb useful items from the digested food and this includes water.. as more and more water is absorbed, the dryer and the harder the left-over (stool or poo) becomes..

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fibres in fruits and vegetables (mainly the cellulose), act as sponge that retain and even absorb water back from the intestinal walls to the left over (the stool or the poo).. and this makes the stool/poo softer, and easier to pass through the rest of the digestive track..`

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when you take fibres, the more "spongy" the stool/poo becomes.. and most OTC medications sold in pharmacies are either more concentrated fibre or irritant to the intestinal walls to produce more mucous (more water) and to further contribute into the softness of the stool/poo.. and such solutions would help in regular cases of constipation but they can become a curse in the case of intestinal obstruction..`

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Diverticulitis is the inflammation of the intestinal wall (often caused by an infection but other medical conditions can provoke such inflammation).. and i used the natural disaster metaphor that damages the road and prevents the traffic from going.. so you have a traffic jam in your hand.. if your mother is having a fever, it means the infection is actively strong, and she may need strong antibiotics and strong anti-inflammation meds that would require doctor's prescription..

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intestinal obstruction is the traffic jam caused by the obstruction (the damaged road).. in Diverticulitis, the intestinal walls get swollen that it may obstruct the flow.. also the inflammation can paralyse the normal movement of the bowel at the affected area (see the picture below).. if the intestinal obstruction is severe, not even air is able to pass through (not producing flatulence/farts)..

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so the traffic is brought to the stop because of the obstruction ahead; and this is the reason why fibre and OTC medications may make the situation even worse.. by taking fibre, you are basically encouraging more water added to the stool/poo which is unable to go anywhere because of the traffic jam.. so basically, with more water and with more stool/poo that are unable to pass the obstruction, this turns her tummy like a balloon that is only getting bigger and bigger with no where for water and stool/poo to go.. except maybe vomiting it out..

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when Ravin or Fleet Enema is inserted from down there, you are basically encouraging the evacuation from areas past the obstruction.. (fiber and your OTC meds work at areas before the obstruction, Enema works past the obstruction).. it is not 100% effective, but such enemas work by removing as much stool/poo past the affected area; and this helps in removing some of the opposing forces against the normal flow..`

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and finally Nonplussed had mentioned oral mineral oil, like Paraffin oil.. these oils are non-organic oils that the body would not absorb them in into the body, and they simply come out with the stool/poo unchanged.. and these oils are slippery!! they help the stool/poo slide like sliding on slippery ice.. HOWEVER, it is everyone's guess whether such oils be helpful in obstructions but it won't make the situation worse.. i wouldn't recommend it but i am not going as far as to not to recommend it.. and all the best

Go get that woman an enema from the drug store and then start her on stool softeners.

Urgent care won't do anything and for that matter, neither would a doctor. Get some glycerin suppositories, Fleet enemas and mineral oil (oral.) Don't eat solid food until the bowels are moving again.