Mum had a fall :(

[zelana]

The care home phoned to tell me Mum had a fall in the dining room Apparently she's ok but has a bruise on her face. She's usually pretty steady on her feet so goodness knows what happened. I'm assuming someone saw it as there always seem to be carers & kitchen staff in there or passing through.

It's not been a very good week really. When I went to see Mum on Tuesday she was asleep in a chair in her room. She woke a couple of times and realised I was there then just went back to sleep. I was worried about her & asked one of the carers if Mum had a bad night. She was new & didn't know so got the nurse to come and talk to me. Apparently Mum gets very anxious at night and doesn't sleep very well. After a few bad nights she sleeps most of the day. She's on half a Lorazepam at night for her anxiety & another half in the morning if they think she needs it but it doesn't seem to be helping at the moment. He said Mum was due to see the GP when he visited on Thursday about her anxiety.

When the GP saw her he discovered she has cellulitis again so she is on antibiotics for that. She is now on anti-histamines in the hope that will stop her swollen legs itching as she scratches them & makes them 'weep'. She had both legs bandaged when I saw her on Tuesday.

Mum's anxiety is worrying. I wish it was easier for me to get to see her but it takes me around 3 hours to get there by public transport. By car it's about 50 minutes but I don't drive & don't have anyone who could take me. Months ago I wanted to move Mum nearer to me but one of my brothers wanted her to move near them. By the time we got POA through she'd settled in her current care home and as we're happy with their care it seemed best to leave her there. Now I keep wondering if she would be less anxious if I could spend more time with her.

 

[Aquamanda]

It sounds like your Mum is going through a lot at the moment but the Care home sound great so am sure they will give her lots of attention etc and keep an eye on her. It must be awful to have such a difficult journey to see her. Did the POA finally come to you? If so, I guess the best case scenario at some point would be to move your mother nearer to you, unless you feel that your brother sees her a lot and gives a lot of support in the current CH?
If that is not the case, I do understand that you feel bad about moving her but there are lots of good Care homes out there and maybe you could be having a look around your area to see what would be possible. In the meantime, it will give your Mum time to get over the cellulitis and fall etc. Good luck.xx

 

[zelana]

My brother is a bit of a sore point. He has actually seen Mum more this year than in the previous 25 years. In fact for many years his only contact with Mum was a calendar & card every Christmas. All but one of his visits have been as a passenger when my other brother has driven to see Mum. Awkward brother has visited once with his wife.

I'm the one that visit's most often.

 

[ashleypollock]

When my greatgrandfather was Alive he used to try to get out of bed and he fell all the time and it was hard and he passed away about three weeks ago and I am very sad and it is to hard but I still volunteer where he used to live and it feels weird without him here but hopefully I make it through this

 

[zelana]

It seems Mum's fall was worse than first thought. Yesterday the care home nurse thought Mum's hip was painful for her but Mum refused painkillers. Anyway she decided that it might be best to get Mum checked over at the hospital. They kept her in and last night when I spoke to the ward it didn't sound as if the x-rays had shown anything. I was told to phone after 11 today as Mum would have seen the doctor by then. It was a bit of a shock to be told Mum was in theatre - she'd broken her hip.

 

[Noorza]

It seems Mum's fall was worse than first thought. Yesterday the care home nurse thought Mum's hip was painful for her but Mum refused painkillers. Anyway she decided that it might be best to get Mum checked over at the hospital. They kept her in and last night when I spoke to the ward it didn't sound as if the x-rays had shown anything. I was told to phone after 11 today as Mum would have seen the doctor by then. It was a bit of a shock to be told Mum was in theatre - she'd broken her hip.

Oh No. Poor thing, at least she is in hospital for now so will be getting the best of care.

Falls do seem to go hand in hand with dementia I'm afraid, I've lost count of the falls mum's had. As we need the ambulance crew to get her up, they know us by name now. So sorry you're going through all of this worry.