My husband crumpled to the floor again yesterday evening. This time it was around 7.00pm so I called a neighbour to help. We got him back in his chair and he has forgotten it ever happened.I think it was the same as the last time in December in that it is not dizziness, or low blood sugar or anything like that but his sense of uprightness is awry. For sometime now, when he is tired if we are out I have noticed that he tips forward and cannot stand without pitching forward but I can counter this by avoiding longer walks and getting him to sit and rest when it starts to occur.
This is different in that he does not appear tired but with no warning suddenly crumples to the floor.
In December he grazed his arms on the bed on the way down. We had another incident a few weeks back when I got him up from his chair and he had taken a few steps with me guiding him and he suddenly went but on this occasion I was able to get him sideways into an adjacent chair so he did not end up on the floor which meant I could manage for myself. Yesterday he was on the floor, no injuries not even a geaze this time, but it is impossible for me to get him up from the floor without help as he cannot follow instructions to help get him up and I cannot lift him without assistance.
In December paramedics came out to assist me.
With most other problems that have come our way I have found a work around but I cannot think of anything. We do have a walking frame which he had from the hospital when he broke his hip four years back but he struggled with it then and I do not think had he been holding it yesterday it would have prevented his falling- he would have just gone taking it with him unless it had been bolted to the floor so I think this would increase rather than decrease the risk of injury. Also, four years back he did retain some useful vision but he has PCA,rare type of AD, which affects the vision and now is blind and has no useful vision which I think will me the frame will be no help as he will just get tangled up in it.
These incidents have really depressed me. I want him home and looked after by me. I do not see residential care as a viable option as he needs one to one all the time because he is to get agitated and disorientated if he is left alone in a room at all and this would be worse in an unfamiliar environment where there are trip hazards. I think if he was in a CH it would be only a matter of time before he had a fall with another broken bone and was back in hospital and that would be the start of a big decline from which he could not be rehabilitated. This is my worst nightmare as he is extremely distressed in hospital.
I have no family who can help and feel very sad and vulnerable that I am finding myself unable to avoid a situation where I cannot sort things out on my own. Iknow I can call out the paramedics but I feel I am failing him.
Tre
This is different in that he does not appear tired but with no warning suddenly crumples to the floor.
In December he grazed his arms on the bed on the way down. We had another incident a few weeks back when I got him up from his chair and he had taken a few steps with me guiding him and he suddenly went but on this occasion I was able to get him sideways into an adjacent chair so he did not end up on the floor which meant I could manage for myself. Yesterday he was on the floor, no injuries not even a geaze this time, but it is impossible for me to get him up from the floor without help as he cannot follow instructions to help get him up and I cannot lift him without assistance.
In December paramedics came out to assist me.
With most other problems that have come our way I have found a work around but I cannot think of anything. We do have a walking frame which he had from the hospital when he broke his hip four years back but he struggled with it then and I do not think had he been holding it yesterday it would have prevented his falling- he would have just gone taking it with him unless it had been bolted to the floor so I think this would increase rather than decrease the risk of injury. Also, four years back he did retain some useful vision but he has PCA,rare type of AD, which affects the vision and now is blind and has no useful vision which I think will me the frame will be no help as he will just get tangled up in it.
These incidents have really depressed me. I want him home and looked after by me. I do not see residential care as a viable option as he needs one to one all the time because he is to get agitated and disorientated if he is left alone in a room at all and this would be worse in an unfamiliar environment where there are trip hazards. I think if he was in a CH it would be only a matter of time before he had a fall with another broken bone and was back in hospital and that would be the start of a big decline from which he could not be rehabilitated. This is my worst nightmare as he is extremely distressed in hospital.
I have no family who can help and feel very sad and vulnerable that I am finding myself unable to avoid a situation where I cannot sort things out on my own. Iknow I can call out the paramedics but I feel I am failing him.
Tre