My wife was diagnosed with Alzheimers 7 years ago. (I cant believe its that long).
At the beginning of June my she went into a care home for the first time for a weeks respite. It went really well and so at the end of July she went back for a further week and I took the plunge and went away on holiday for the week.
When I went to pick her up I was shocked and very upset by her appearance. Apparently she had had a fall. No one saw what happened but she was found sat on the floor of her room propped against a wall. She had a large bruise on her thigh and a small bruise on her back as well as bruising on both of her upper arms. But more disconcerting was the fact that she could not lift her head, she was obviously in a bit of pain around the neck/shoulders but she was not able to say exactly where. The home had been in touch with a GP who had prescribed paracetamol, but she had not been examined.
As well as the neck pain her whole demeanour had changed, from being very active (constantly walking) she would only sit slumped in a chair, she could only slowly shuffle along when walking, would make no effort to go to the toilet anymore, her appetite had gone and her coordination had severely deteriorated. If I held out a glass for her she would reach towards it but struggles to direct her fingers towards it and struggles to pick up small objects.
That was the Saturday. I took her to the Doctors on the Monday and she was examined and the GP who saw her felt it was muscular and to carry on with the paracetamol. I took her back to the doctors the following week as her condition it was not really improving but reassured there was no serious injury and that it could take 4-6 weeks to improve.
Its now 4 weeks since she came out of respite. Although she has recovered to an extent, she is now a lot more active, she still does not raise her head which gets progressively lower throughout the day and her coordination is still very poor. She has no appetite and I really have to persist with trying to get her to eat.Tonight for the first time I have had to feed her mouthful by mouthful. She still makes no effort at all to go to the toilet so I now just have to change her pants before bed, first thing in the morning or when she is soiled.
What I'm confused about now is whether these issues are the result of the fall, or purely a deterioration of her dementia. In any event I hope to take her back to the GP again next week, but wondered if anyone had any thoughts, in particular the head slumping, has anyone seen this as a symptom of Alzheimer's?
At the beginning of June my she went into a care home for the first time for a weeks respite. It went really well and so at the end of July she went back for a further week and I took the plunge and went away on holiday for the week.
When I went to pick her up I was shocked and very upset by her appearance. Apparently she had had a fall. No one saw what happened but she was found sat on the floor of her room propped against a wall. She had a large bruise on her thigh and a small bruise on her back as well as bruising on both of her upper arms. But more disconcerting was the fact that she could not lift her head, she was obviously in a bit of pain around the neck/shoulders but she was not able to say exactly where. The home had been in touch with a GP who had prescribed paracetamol, but she had not been examined.
As well as the neck pain her whole demeanour had changed, from being very active (constantly walking) she would only sit slumped in a chair, she could only slowly shuffle along when walking, would make no effort to go to the toilet anymore, her appetite had gone and her coordination had severely deteriorated. If I held out a glass for her she would reach towards it but struggles to direct her fingers towards it and struggles to pick up small objects.
That was the Saturday. I took her to the Doctors on the Monday and she was examined and the GP who saw her felt it was muscular and to carry on with the paracetamol. I took her back to the doctors the following week as her condition it was not really improving but reassured there was no serious injury and that it could take 4-6 weeks to improve.
Its now 4 weeks since she came out of respite. Although she has recovered to an extent, she is now a lot more active, she still does not raise her head which gets progressively lower throughout the day and her coordination is still very poor. She has no appetite and I really have to persist with trying to get her to eat.Tonight for the first time I have had to feed her mouthful by mouthful. She still makes no effort at all to go to the toilet so I now just have to change her pants before bed, first thing in the morning or when she is soiled.
What I'm confused about now is whether these issues are the result of the fall, or purely a deterioration of her dementia. In any event I hope to take her back to the GP again next week, but wondered if anyone had any thoughts, in particular the head slumping, has anyone seen this as a symptom of Alzheimer's?
