Fall this morning and confirmed broken hip

[Resigned]

Mother had a fall in the CH this morning and was taken to hospital. They have confirmed she has a broken hip and will operate in the next couple of days.

I'm worried about how she will be in the hospital. I can stay there with her but not at night. I think she will be very confused and anxious. She doesn't know me anymore so I'm not sure that my presence will calm her at all but at least I can be sure she is being looked after.

My SIL is there at the moment but I suspect we are looking at a long haul in hospital.

I know others have been through this, any tips will be gratefully received.

I wonder if this will be the beginning of the end.

R

 

[sue38]

I'm sorry to hear your mother has broken her hip. I don't have experience of broken hips, but gave had a parent with dementia on a general hospital ward.

Have the hospital completed a This is me booklet? It may help the staff to understand how best to deal with your mother's needs.

 

[Witzend]

So sorry you have all this worry. I too was worried sick when my mother broke a hip at 91 or 2 - I lose track - but it all went well and she recovered much better than expected. Hospital staff were very good with her despite her being v stroppy with them at times, dementia then pretty bad.

She was telling them on and off that she was going to tell her father of them and he would have them all put in prison!

At one point one of the nurses replied very matter-of-factly, 'Well, I've just spoken to your father and he says you've got to eat your lunch!'

Do hope your worries will be needless (well, as far as poss) and that your poor mum recovers quickly.

 

[starryuk]

She was telling them on and off that she was going to tell her father of them and he would have them all put in prison!

At one point one of the nurses replied very matter-of-factly, 'Well, I've just spoken to your father and he says you've got to eat your lunch!'

love it!

Resigned, I am sorry to hear about your mum. Hopefully she will cope with the op. The doctors must feel she is strong enough. It is worrying, there are so many horror stories, but we don't bother to report the good stories much.

My mum was very well treated when she was in hospital for two weeks. She was in an elderly care ward which had about 6 beds and a nurse/care assistant stationed in the room 24/7. No complaints at all.

Best wishes for you all
xx

 

[Resigned]

Hello, thank you everyone for taking the time to reply to my post, somehow I couldn't find it again hence the late response from me!

Mother came through the op well, the doctor is pleased with her. However, yesterday she started vomiting blood and they put her on a drip which she has, of course, pulled out. I think they've got it all under control now, but they have mentioned a blood transfusion but we don't know why she would need one.

The odd thing is that she just sits in the chair next to her bed smiling. I haven't seen her smile that much for years so its lovely. She's not making any sense when she speaks but at least the smiles are there.

The staff seem to be very good with her, I notice that she has 'This is me' form in her notes although its a bit out of date.

I have no idea when she will be discharged, the nurse said the CH would have to reassess her before she can go back. I hope it will be ok, they have a nursing wing there as its a proper dementia home.

Thanks again, as always, for your support, it means so much to be able to share this stuff.

R

 

[sue38]

Good news that your mum has come through the op OK, and lovely to hear about the smiles .

 

[Resigned]

Hi, just an update. Mother has been in the hospital a week now and although she is medically fine, she has had a few problems with swallowing. The staff are great and have put her on soft food but she is now refusing to eat. They've had SALT but it seems that she just doesn't want to eat.

She just sits, mostly sleeping, or looking very vacant - at least she's not confused or frightened about where she is.

I know probably no-one can answer but I don't know if this will pass or she will just fade away in front of us.

The CH will visit to assess her this week but we think she will be there another week in the hospital. Her CH has a nursing floor so I don't think there will be a problem with her returning, especially as she is self-funding.

R

 

[dottyd]

My aunt aged 91 broke her hip. She was in hospital 2 weeks before she went back to CH

She never walked again after that.

She was taken to hospital end of sept but passed away just over 2 weeks ago.

I think she had enough and just faded away.

They had also found a cancer in her abdomen.

I'm glad she out of all that suffering.

Good luck.

 

[FifiMo]

Did they establish what the reason was for her vomiting blood? Has this maybe frightened her to the point that she has decided that by not eating that this will stop it happening? Sometimes there is skewed logic associated with what is happening. Is she drinking ok?

If everything is being dealt with, then even if she only has another week at the hosp, I would push for intensive PHYSIO to maximise the chance of her becoming mobile again because I like to bet that she won't have regular physio at the CH when she returns, if at all.

Fiona

 

[Resigned]

Thanks Fiona and Dotty, I don't think they know what is causing the vomiting. Mother just sits and sleeps all the time, I wonder if she's ever really awake to think about eating and drinking. The staff are very good, and keep encouraging her to drink but she only takes a sip.

I haven't seen her this week as I've had to work and so don't know what's going on as the ward doesn't answer the phone, going to try again in a minute.

R