Hi everyone
Had a couple of good days with Dad (currently in Assessment Unit) - his plaster cast came off yesterday (he had been thigh to ankle in plaster for 8 weeks due to fractured knee) so the last couple of days seemed fairly positive. He even walked quite a few steps with the frame yesterday under the guidance of the Physio and appeared to be making good progress.
Today was a different story entirely. Visited him with Mum this afternoon and he was in a deep, deep sleep, we just couldn't rouse him & didn't open his eyes all the time we were there.
I visited again this evening (handy that the unit is quite near to where I live) and he was in a dreadful state! Staff had to use the hoist to get him into the wheelchair for supper - he was very agitated & wouldn't eat anything or co-operate at all. They had to use the hoist again to get him on his bed when I was there & he was so distressed. It must be an awful sensation to be lifted in one of those things - but they had no other option to move him as he would not co-operate at all.
All he kept saying to me over and over again was "help me - please help me". I felt so inadequate - all I could do was cuddle him & try to reassure him as he couldn't express what was wrong. This went on for nearly two hours....I was so glad that Mum wasn't with me to see him in such distress. Staff described this as a "panic attack" - but I suspect that he has another urine infection - as the "help me, help me" routine fits with the last time that he had one. They have done a "dip test" which showed problems & will do another one tomorrow morning to send off to the lab.
Suddenly out of nowhere he "came to" - opened his eyes and held a normal conversation with me. It was as though someone had "switched the light on" after 2 1/2 hours of being totally incoherant. He co-operated fully with the staff to get off the bed using his frame & into a wheelchair, so I was able to leave him sitting in the day room - watching TV, reading his paper, drinking his carton of Ribena & eating his biscuits!
Would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this "help me - please help me" cries, how they coped & whether it was due to an infection.
It's so nice to be able to share the good times & the bad times with others who understand.
A bad day today - let's hope for a better one tomorrow.....
Gill x
Had a couple of good days with Dad (currently in Assessment Unit) - his plaster cast came off yesterday (he had been thigh to ankle in plaster for 8 weeks due to fractured knee) so the last couple of days seemed fairly positive. He even walked quite a few steps with the frame yesterday under the guidance of the Physio and appeared to be making good progress.
Today was a different story entirely. Visited him with Mum this afternoon and he was in a deep, deep sleep, we just couldn't rouse him & didn't open his eyes all the time we were there.
I visited again this evening (handy that the unit is quite near to where I live) and he was in a dreadful state! Staff had to use the hoist to get him into the wheelchair for supper - he was very agitated & wouldn't eat anything or co-operate at all. They had to use the hoist again to get him on his bed when I was there & he was so distressed. It must be an awful sensation to be lifted in one of those things - but they had no other option to move him as he would not co-operate at all.
All he kept saying to me over and over again was "help me - please help me". I felt so inadequate - all I could do was cuddle him & try to reassure him as he couldn't express what was wrong. This went on for nearly two hours....I was so glad that Mum wasn't with me to see him in such distress. Staff described this as a "panic attack" - but I suspect that he has another urine infection - as the "help me, help me" routine fits with the last time that he had one. They have done a "dip test" which showed problems & will do another one tomorrow morning to send off to the lab.
Suddenly out of nowhere he "came to" - opened his eyes and held a normal conversation with me. It was as though someone had "switched the light on" after 2 1/2 hours of being totally incoherant. He co-operated fully with the staff to get off the bed using his frame & into a wheelchair, so I was able to leave him sitting in the day room - watching TV, reading his paper, drinking his carton of Ribena & eating his biscuits!
Would be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced this "help me - please help me" cries, how they coped & whether it was due to an infection.
It's so nice to be able to share the good times & the bad times with others who understand.
A bad day today - let's hope for a better one tomorrow.....
Gill x