Another update on Ken

[DeborahBlythe]

Dear Tina, I'm really sorry you are worrying so much about Ken and sorry too to hear about the nasty cut.

I wonder how often the home weighs Ken? My mum used to be weighed weekly (when they remembered ) She was pretty immobile for the last three years and gradually lost weight over the years. I have never seen an active person with wandering tendencies who was overweight. I'm sure the exercise must burn off a good deal of the calories that Ken consumes.

I don't know what the answer is except to say that maybe Ken could eat even more than the care staff offer. Do they keep records of his food intake? At my mum's home it was always helpful to check the daily nutrition records to see what she had eaten so that I could try to make up any shortfalls, or query what was going on if there was no record of eating a particular meal.

I'm sorry that you are going through this stress and hope that you get some answers soon.
Love Deborah

 

[Bookworm]

It has just crossed my mind - is it just weight loss - or has he become very dehydrated - is that why he looks so gaunt - someone told me today that the drinks with the thickener get very horrid & undrinkable towards the bottom of the cup and people don't seem to get enough to drink - can you get to see the colour of pee, or the colour of p on pad? They can tell if he is dehydrated with a simple blood test. Could they monitor his intake of fluids for a few days even if monitoring output is impossible? At least that would be something constructive to do, hope this helps you go to bed & rest. I'm staying up marking.....(((Tina)))

 

[TinaT]

I never thought of diabetes. Yesterday he told me he wanted the toilet but by the time I'd got him there and taken his trousers and pads down he had already started. He wet himself and all the floor and there was copious wee, a great deal in fact. The urine was clear, almost colourless and at the time I though 'Well, I don't have to worry about urine infection' and never for a minute thought of diabetes.

I don't want the care home to think of me as a 'fussy mum' and wonder if there are any over the counter test kits I could use before I even mention this to the staff?

xxTinaT

 

[Bookworm]

I never thought of diabetes. Yesterday he told me he wanted the toilet but by the time I'd got him there and taken his trousers and pads down he had already started. He wet himself and all the floor and there was copious wee, a great deal in fact. The urine was clear, almost colourless and at the time I though 'Well, I don't have to worry about urine infection' and never for a minute thought of diabetes.

I don't want the care home to think of me as a 'fussy mum' and wonder if there are any over the counter test kits I could use before I even mention this to the staff? xxTinaT

Just ask them to ask GP for urgent fasting blood sugar, or even a random blood sugar......copious clear p in someone as confused & institutionalised (i.e. very dependent on others for drinks) as Ken could be is very suggestive....- & yes - that would account for what I wondered were signs of dehydration. Test could be asked for tomorrow = Weds, done Thurs, result Fri/Mon, preferably Fri. Tell the nurse in charge what you've observed re p output amazing given likely fluid input & weight loss = not definitive but certainly needs checked, xxx, Sue

 

[lesmisralbles]

Hello T

He wet himself and all the floor and there was copious wee, a great deal in fact. The urine was clear, almost colourless


Smell it. If it stinks, it is an infection.

If it smells sweet, get the test.

I can only speak from what happened to Ron, he peed because his brain did not tell him he needed to go, and when the signal got to his brain, it was to late.

Same with poo.

You know when you go in a room and you forget what you went in for, you leave and go back in and you remember.

Signal got to your brain a little late.
But, it found another route.

With some of us, the brain is all burnt out, there is no other route. So we do what we did as babies, we pee and we poo. Nappy time, once again. Problem is we cannot relearn as we get older, our brain deminishes, and shrinks. As babies it grows.
To me this is going from the grave and back to the cradle.
I and you who are reading this might be a sufferer of AZ in the future.
And that frightens me.
Need a cure.


Sorry T
Took over your post XX

You are a kind lady.

Bit of a big gob like me, but you mean so very well XX

Barb X

 

[danny]

Hi Tina,peole with dementia can and do get other illnesses,don`t think that everytime someone is ill that it is dementia orientated.Maybe get the doctor to do some blood tests etc.

Hope you get to the bottom of this,all the best Angela.

 

[danny]

Tina,just read my post and it comes over a bit blunt!!!!

Didn`t mean it too,I also meant alot of people generally overlook things because of only seeing the dementia,I was generalising.Now I am rabbiting on

 

[Skye]

Tina, I hadn't considered diabetes either, and that was a very helpful suggestion from Sue.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask the staff to have a test done.

Love,

 

[Bookworm]

Tina, I hadn't considered diabetes either, and that was a very helpful suggestion from Sue.

I wouldn't hesitate to ask the staff to have a test done.

Love,

Marian & I had the same thought from NI almost simultaneously - credit to her too!

 

[Skye]

Sorry Marian! Credit to you too!

It's a good suggestion, and obviosly great minds think alike!

 

[Bookworm]

Marian & I had the same thought from NI almost simultaneously - credit to her too!

I've just seen it wasn't simultaneously but one of those times when you answer a thread from page 1, not seeing there is a page 2 - least ways - thats what I think happned - or did I see what she wrote & get sparked off - do you know I can't remember but i was marking very late.....or early or....yawn....

 

[Bookworm]

Anyway Tina - the staff can do a little finger prick today to start things, & then it is standard work for GP to ask for blood to be sent off for various tests - "investigation of unexplained weight loss" - blood tests for several things, including the sugar levels.....

 

[TinaT]

I'll go to the chemists today and try to get a diabetes kit. I really don't want to mention diabetes to the staff unless I'm sure I'm right. Thanks for all the support folks.

xxTinaT

 

[Canadian Joanne]

Tina,
I think you should mention it to the staff, just as a possibility. Tell them a friend suggested it, which is true after all. I think they could do the pin prick test a few times to start and a full blood work done.

Please don't worry about the staff and please mention it right away.

 

[living in hope]

Hi Tina,
Just been reading your thread with interest, Brian is a lot thinner now than when he went in the home although his weight has remained good, I cannot understand this, he has dropped at least one waist size and his arms are very thin, but he eats and drinks well, he is not very mobile now so is not burning the calories off by wandering, all I can think is that it is part of the illness. Will be interested to see if anything comes of the diabetes query, not considered that as a possibility.
Love
Lorraine