Since I last posted, mum has had two falls (that we know of). The first one, she told me about, but said that she got up herself, and wasn't hurt at all. The second one, we're not sure what happened or exactly when. Mum's care assistant contacted me one morning, and said that mum had told her she was feeling a "bit shaken" because she had just fallen a few minutes before the carer arrived. However, she had told my sister in law that she had fallen on the previous evening. I think the previous day would be the more likely time, because that day, by the time I got in in the morning, mum had taken her medication already. The wrong tablets, as it turned out. She had taken her night time tablets, which includes the Quetiapine, which makes her sleepy. So, she had a full dose the night before, and another full dose that morning. She was very sleepy. I would think that's why she fell.
She assured everyone that she was fine, not in the least hurt. But I found two bad scrapes, one on each shin, which needed dressing. Mum had no memory of how she got them. They looked extremely inflamed, and when I sent pics to the doctor, she was prescribed another antibiotic. She's fine now. Although she's being treated for another slight pressure sore.
Not sure where this is all going. I'm in twice a day to see to medication, and, in the evening, just spending an hour or two chatting, watching tv with her, which seems to help orient and settle her. I also take her to all her appointments, get her shopping, etc. Between my daughter, brothers, sisters in law and nieces, mum has an average of 4 or 5 visits a day, every day. We really can't do any more, but it doesn't seem enough. Mum tells me that she really hates being by herself at all.
The hallucinations are still there, but mostly don't seem to be bothering her at all. The doctors say that with her medical conditions and the amount of medication she's already on, and her risk of falling, they really don't want to increase the anti psychotic unless it's absolutely necessary, as she does not seem distressed or frightened by them. I, on the other hand, get quite distressed by them, with so many very traumatic memories of my husband's horrific journey through dementia. ?
Mum's memory is deteriorating, noticeably, but yet, she still is very sharp in most ways, and certainly, her capacity to make her own decisions is still there. So, I guess, we continue on as we are, for now. My personal feeling is that mum will need full time care, but she's not ready for that. I feel that, dementia apart, her medical conditions will ultimately need full time care of qualified staff. I also think she would benefit from the company, the structure and routine of full time care, and the confidence having qualified staff on hand would give her. However, for the moment, we will plod on. Certainly, now, with lockdowns and no visits, staff shortages because of covid, etc. , it really isn't the time for anyone to have to go into full time care.