My mother has always had good mobility. She would go up and down the stairs at home and at quite a good pace, so the latest development is a bit difficult. She caught a cold which affected her mobility, and was taken to hospital. I had assumed that once she came back, she would soon get back into her old routines. Normally she would go to daycare on a Monday, and to a lunch club from Tuesday to Friday and then to church on Sunday. The only times this didnt apply were when she was in respite.
So imagine my distress when I collected her from hospital and could hardly get her into the taxi, and as for getting her up the stairs to our house, well that was equally hard. The next day I called her GP who came and prescribed antibiotics. She seemed better on Wednesday, but worse on Thursday. On Friday her carer decided she wasnt able to go into the bathroom for her wash but left her in bed. And in bed she stayed. Then she fell out of bed Monday morning. No harm done, but she fell on the other side the following day. Paramedics came and checked her. Everything ok.
Yesterday morning, tho she was unresponsive, not he usual cheery self, and a carer noted a red swollen area on her wrist, so I called the GP, who advised calling an ambulance. Six hours later,afer xrays blood tests etc she was admitted to the same rehab ward she had been discharged from over a week ago. I was told they suspected gout was the cause of the swelling and pain.
Today a hospital bed was delivered, with massive disruption to the front bedroom, with the physio saying if she regains her mobility she would have to wait to leave if the bed wasn't in the house. I called the hospital later.It is cellulitis, they reckon, much more potentially serious, but they have started antibiotics. The nurse did wonder whether she would regain mobility, as indeed I have.
So there we are, and it all feels so unreal. I know things can change in the twinkling of an eye, but it only hits home when you see it yourself. If she doesnt regain her mobility, then the care home can't be far off. I would feel relieved but guilty at feeling relieved. You can do what you can do, but at the end fof the day, life goes at its own pace, regardless. I still cant believe that the wee woman who would get up and open the front door to see what was happenng outside is now confined to bed.
So imagine my distress when I collected her from hospital and could hardly get her into the taxi, and as for getting her up the stairs to our house, well that was equally hard. The next day I called her GP who came and prescribed antibiotics. She seemed better on Wednesday, but worse on Thursday. On Friday her carer decided she wasnt able to go into the bathroom for her wash but left her in bed. And in bed she stayed. Then she fell out of bed Monday morning. No harm done, but she fell on the other side the following day. Paramedics came and checked her. Everything ok.
Yesterday morning, tho she was unresponsive, not he usual cheery self, and a carer noted a red swollen area on her wrist, so I called the GP, who advised calling an ambulance. Six hours later,afer xrays blood tests etc she was admitted to the same rehab ward she had been discharged from over a week ago. I was told they suspected gout was the cause of the swelling and pain.
Today a hospital bed was delivered, with massive disruption to the front bedroom, with the physio saying if she regains her mobility she would have to wait to leave if the bed wasn't in the house. I called the hospital later.It is cellulitis, they reckon, much more potentially serious, but they have started antibiotics. The nurse did wonder whether she would regain mobility, as indeed I have.
So there we are, and it all feels so unreal. I know things can change in the twinkling of an eye, but it only hits home when you see it yourself. If she doesnt regain her mobility, then the care home can't be far off. I would feel relieved but guilty at feeling relieved. You can do what you can do, but at the end fof the day, life goes at its own pace, regardless. I still cant believe that the wee woman who would get up and open the front door to see what was happenng outside is now confined to bed.
