Really scarey day ...

Olliebeak

Registered User
Sep 13, 2014
151
0
Buckinghamshire
OH started to get poorly on Christmas night with a bad cough. Boxing Day was not too bad but on Friday he said he was dizzy and unsteady on his feet .He didn’t eat his breakfast and went back to bed. Later he reappeared, really wobbly, he fell and sat on the coffee table. I managed to get him on the sofa. He was shaking and not understanding me. I rang the doctor and was told I would be on the afternoon list for a call back. He refused a sandwich and drank about half a cup of tea. Then he said he was going back to bed. I had to really help him to walk and it was a terrible struggle to get him into bed. Something made me go back a few minutes later and he was trying to get out of bed to go to the loo. That was a real battle and I had to change his pants and pyjamas as they were wet. The GP rang and said he would come in an hour. Then I heard the bathroom door close. I have no idea how he had got there but he had locked the door and then was stuck on the loo having weed on his clothes again. Panic time! I managed to use a screwdriver to open the lock and I really don’t know how but I got him off the loo and back into bed. He was just rigid and would not bend in the middle. He was very sweaty and I persuaded him to take a neurofen with some Ribena. The doctor came and diagnosed a chest infection plus ? UTI and asthma. I had just made him some tea and he had eaten a biscuit and he managed to sit forward to be examined. I left him to see the doctor out and suddenly he’s standing in the living room! I took him back to bed and told him to stay there while I fetched his prescription. When I got back he had put his cup in the dishwasher and fed the cat. At this point I thought I must be going mad. Either it was the fever or he was hypoglycaemic- he is diabetic and hadn't eaten anything for 18 hours and the sip of Ribena and the tea, which I put real sugar in, plus the biscuit had brought him round. Since then he has been back to normal (well normal for him). Fully mobile, fidgeting, eating ok and with absolutely no memory of being so unwell. It was a frightening experience and all the more because I could see this could be the future. .....
 

nae sporran

Registered User
Oct 29, 2014
9,213
0
Bristol
Not sure what to say to that @Olliebeak . It is so scary and hard to take sometimes. We have had a few moments like that recently and it still baffles me, but can only send empathy and hope your OH settles again soon.
 

Donkeyshere

Registered User
May 25, 2016
530
0
outside UK
The MIL had a third fall the other week, was shaking and complaining of hip pain so we called the ambulance she was moaning in and out of if, but as soon as the ambulance people get to her it all went, she felt fine and wondered what all the fuss was about. The ambulance man said he had seen this before in PWD they think they are in pain but they are not - almost like a phantom pain - thats not to say that this was your situation and like you say if could have been the sugar, tea etc that helped, but you feel a fool but I always think what if something had happened and they really had hurt themselves, better to be safe than sorry. Scary but just think you did the right thing regardless.
 

cuppatea

Registered User
Oct 28, 2016
417
0
South Wales
Oh @Olliebeak that sounds very frightening! Especially the locked door and your resourcefulness in opening it. The sudden recovery sounds very odd too. Write everything down, and hope nothing like that happens again. Good luck.
 

Betenoir71

Registered User
Jun 20, 2019
23
0
Sounds awful, so sorry you both had to go through that. One thing to think about if there is a sudden confusion/strange behaviour is a UTI, this can cause delirium which seems dramatic, but is easily treated by antibiotics.
PWD are also affected by atmospheres around them, things can often be extra hectic/busy at this time of year.
Take care
 

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