Bed sores/ulcers

[GillPJ]

Mum has had an infected bed sore that seems to have developed into a stage 3 ulcer. The nurses come once a day to change dressings, they're very good and liaise with the doctor. The difficulty now is keeping her upright on the "stand assist" gadget for the dressing change, I think that's what it's called, I only know the French version. She seems to have lost any power in her right hand side, so her hand is constantly falling off the handle and I worry that she's going to slip out of it completely. I also have terrible troubles keeping her upright to get her dressed (sitting on the bed), she leans backwards, forwards, sideways, anywhere but upright.
Does anyone have any tips and/or any prognosis for the ulcer? The nurse says the ulcer is getting better, but it doesn't look much better to me.
I think it's not going to be long until she's permanently bed ridden - in the absence of instructions - how do you feed someone in that position? So many questions!

 

[TNJJ]

Mum has had an infected bed sore that seems to have developed into a stage 3 ulcer. The nurses come once a day to change dressings, they're very good and liaise with the doctor. The difficulty now is keeping her upright on the "stand assist" gadget for the dressing change, I think that's what it's called, I only know the French version. She seems to have lost any power in her right hand side, so her hand is constantly falling off the handle and I worry that she's going to slip out of it completely. I also have terrible troubles keeping her upright to get her dressed (sitting on the bed), she leans backwards, forwards, sideways, anywhere but upright.
Does anyone have any tips and/or any prognosis for the ulcer? The nurse says the ulcer is getting better, but it doesn't look much better to me.
I think it's not going to be long until she's permanently bed ridden - in the absence of instructions - how do you feed someone in that position? So many questions!

Hi. Do you have a hospital bed? My dad has Vascular Dementia and had a stroke down his left side. I use a Sara Steady sometimes to get him up. This is a gadget on wheels. He has a recliner which gets him up. He puts his hands on the frame and pulls himself up and then there are 2 paddles behind him which closes to make a seat. I then wheel him to wherever.
It sounds like you need a hospital bed. This would be so much easier for you as you can raise it up an down. You can also get an air flow mattress which goes on it and would help with the ulcer. As for feeding someone in bed the person needs to be upright as high as you can. With a hospital bed they have adjustable headrests . You also get bed rails to stop someone falling out on it. Dad has all this . I hope this has helped.

 

[GillPJ]

Thanks for the reply. We have a Wayup verticalisateur (on loan from the pharmacy, along with a hospital bed). If you search for Wayup verticalisateur on Google, you can see what it looks like - it has knee pads to brace the legs against, and a belt that goes around the back, handles to hold and a motor to lift to standing position. The problem is she hasn't got the strength to hold onto the handles and consequently slips downwards. It would be no good getting one with a seat as she needs to be upright for the dressings to be changed.
It's just about possible to change the dressings in bed, though difficult as she can't lie on her side or front. She's got an anti-bed sore mattress on it, but I think an airflow mattress would be just too expensive.

 

[TNJJ]

Thanks for the reply. We have a Wayup verticalisateur (on loan from the pharmacy, along with a hospital bed). If you search for Wayup verticalisateur on Google, you can see what it looks like - it has knee pads to brace the legs against, and a belt that goes around the back, handles to hold and a motor to lift to standing position. The problem is she hasn't got the strength to hold onto the handles and consequently slips downwards. It would be no good getting one with a seat as she needs to be upright for the dressings to be changed.
It's just about possible to change the dressings in bed, though difficult as she can't lie on her side or front. She's got an anti-bed sore mattress on it, but I think an airflow mattress would be just too expensive.

You should be able to get an airflow on loan. As your mum is not able to grip the only thing left is a hoist. That would require 2 people.

 

[GillPJ]

I don't think the mattress is an option on loan, I had to buy the anti bed sore one. I'll play it by ear as usual. I have an idea that perhaps I can support her for dressings by sitting down and her almost sitting on my lap while suspended in the gadget - I'll give it a go anyway.
I was really hoping for someone who had dealt with bed sores/ulcers to answer. I really don't know if there's a chance they'll clear up or not. I'm not looking forward to endless daily visits from the nurse, and nor is mum even though I tell her it's the highlight of her day (they're both male nurses).

 

[TNJJ]

I don't think the mattress is an option on loan, I had to buy the anti bed sore one. I'll play it by ear as usual. I have an idea that perhaps I can support her for dressings by sitting down and her almost sitting on my lap while suspended in the gadget - I'll give it a go anyway.
I was really hoping for someone who had dealt with bed sores/ulcers to answer. I really don't know if there's a chance they'll clear up or not. I'm not looking forward to endless daily visits from the nurse, and nor is mum even though I tell her it's the highlight of her day (they're both male nurses).

Hopefully someone else will answer that knows more about ulcers.

 

[GillPJ]

Well, thanks for your answers anyway, I appreciate any response.

 

[Woo2]

I don’t know much , my Fil and a good friend both had leg ulcers and they did get better but both took around a year as the DN had told them, they did both have diabetes so I’m not sure if that affected the recovery time . Another friend developed a bed sore in hospital, they used a combination of things including a spray I think but it did get better and healed in much less time than the ulcers.

 

[GillPJ]

Thanks eveyone. I think time, age ,physical ability, and everything else are not on our side. I sometimes think the nurses are just going through the motions because that's all they can do. All we can do is wait and see. The GP has changed the type of dressing today, but unless you can keep the pressure off the pressure point, it does seem rather a lost cause.

 

[GillPJ]

It's really not looking very good today, if I was medically trained I'd say it looked necrotic, but I'm not, so I have to rely on those with more experience. The spontaneous bowel movements don't help as they encroach on the plaster dressing. Still she's a bit more "with it" today, so that must be a good sign, though she just asked me when breakfast was and it's twenty to seven in the evening. She knows that she doesn't know what time of day it is, or even what day it is. It's becoming hard to distinguish between disorentation through sleeping, and genuinely not having a clue.
I wonder if suddenly giving her Activia yoghurts have resulted in the verging on diaorrhea, I seem to remember her saying they made her loose, though perhaps that's a good thing in view of the persistent constipation. I don't know, it's very tiring having to work out an even path of treatment.

 

[GillPJ]

I just had a thought that it would be a really good idea if we had a section just on food and feeding. Today I bought a load of soups and intend to mix them with some cooked chicken and pureed vegetables. We'll see how that goes down. She can't live on yoghurt and fruit salad, much as she'd like to.

 

[GillPJ]

Well, that DID go down well. She ate the whole bowl of soup/chicken/veggies, and I added a slice of bread in it as well.

 

[canary]

Well, that DID go down well. She ate the whole bowl of soup/chicken/veggies, and I added a slice of bread in it as well.

Thats good, chicken soup is very nutritious.

Sorry I dont know much about pressure sores, though I hope they heal soon
xx

 

[GillPJ]

Thats good, chicken soup is very nutritious.

Sorry I dont know much about pressure sores, though I hope they heal soon
xx

Thanks canary. I'm a great believer in the best we can do is the best we can do, It's up to nature now. The doc says she should have a high protein diet, so I'm doing the best I can with that.