Not walking and leaning to the left

[davenlizthegirl]

My wife suffers from Alzheimers and has now been in an excellent specialist Residential Home for nearly 2 years. About 4 weeks ago she had a 3 day spell in hospital because of a chest infection, which was rapidly cured by intravenous and tablet antibiotics. To minimise any disorientation, I spent every waking minute sitting at her bedside. Before she was transported back to the Home her walking was tested and she walked 20-30 metres with no hint of a problem. Once back in the Home however, she refuses to stand or walk at all and is moved around by the Carers using a hoist and wheel chair. (Generally she has a happy disposition, cannot feed herself, only talks "nonsense" but is still a joy to visit.) I would be grateful if anyone can help me to understand why this might be so and how this problem might be overcome.

Also can anyone explain why for many months now when sitting in an armchair she nearly always leans to the left and often used to lean to the left as well when she was walking. This may well be a totally different problem than her not walking but I include it here in case they are related.

 

[Kevinl]

It just seems to be how it goes is all I can really say.
One of the residents in the home where my wife is has gone from being a fast, steady walker, to a zimmer frame and now a wheelchair over the last 9 months.
My wife on the other hand has remained a shuffler and really is no different now compared to how she was in January.
I take my wife for a walk up and down the corridors just about every day and she still does quite well, I want to keep her mobile for as long as possible. Some days she doesn't want to but asking her if she wants to go to the kitchen for a coffee usually gets her on her feet or just telling her I need her help with something and will she come and have a look at the (imaginary) problem.
K

 

[pamann]

Hello davenlizthegirl, welcome to Talking Point, l have seen this happen in my husbands CH, its the progression of the disease. Nothing can be done to stop it happening. My husbands used to walk 5 miles a year ago before going into care, now he has trouble getting out of the chair, l have to help him, walking not good legs are all wobberly. As the sayin g goes if you don't use it, you loose it. Inactivite is not good. with AD the brain stops telling the body what to do. Hope this helps you.

 

[Hornblower]

If my wife leans, it is usually to the right and it doesn't matter if she's sitting down or walking. In the last 11 weeks, she has spent most of her time walking around the corridors of her secure unit and when I go to visit she gets a strong grip on my hand then leads me round and round. She mostly leans to the right but a few times I have seen her lean to the left. One day she was leaning so far to the right she was in danger of banging her head on door frames. A

It was suggested that tiredness was the reason and she seemed tired today and she was leaning a bit. Even before she was sectioned, she leant to the right when sitting in the car. It might be caused by tiredness or just a symptom of AD or the side effects of her medication, most of which seem to cause drowsiness.



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[Tin]

My mum leans to the left sometimes, on one occasion she was leaning so badly that she banged her right hip on one side and head on the other side of the door. I have worked out that while the leaning is a part of her dementia, it is brought on with the sleeping medication that she sometimes takes. At the moment mum is walking and standing straight, but sometimes when sitting on the sofa she just falls over to one side.

 

[Dustycat]

My Dad used to walk all the time in his care home, however, following a nasty chest infection in May can now no longer walk or stand and has to be hoisted. He leans in a chair, but to the right. X