Mum fell out of bed on Monday night at her nursing home and fractured her hip. We are still waiting for surgery but hopefully it will happen tomorrow - she is now first on the list. She has actually been in good form and is looking surprisingly well and I think the bed rest and IV fluids/pain meds have helped her. However I feel a bit like it’s the calm before the storm. The hospital have said the 4 weeks after surgery can be quite high risk. I don’t think she is going to want to get up and walk around after the operation and she can be quite stubborn if she doesn’t want to do something. I suspect we will end up in rehab and she will have to move from her care home to a nursing home so trying to prepare myself for the days ahead. I know falls are common with Alzheimer’s but wondered what other people’s experience has been.
Hip fracture
- Thread starter Autumnal
- Start date
My Mum broke her hip earlier this year. In hospital, she kept asking where she was over and over and at one time thought she was on a cruise and asked me which port we were in. She is fiercely independent (in denial) so got up and walked as soon as she was asked.
Perhaps one of the "beauties" of dementia is that she has forgotten that she broke her hip so has not lost any confidence in mobilising, although she does now use a stick. She will sometime say to me "I seem to have hurt my hip", so I gently remind her what had happened.
On the plus side, social services put railings in for her outside steps which are a great help for me too!
I hope your Mum gets through her surgery and physio safely @Autumnal.
Perhaps one of the "beauties" of dementia is that she has forgotten that she broke her hip so has not lost any confidence in mobilising, although she does now use a stick. She will sometime say to me "I seem to have hurt my hip", so I gently remind her what had happened.
On the plus side, social services put railings in for her outside steps which are a great help for me too!
I hope your Mum gets through her surgery and physio safely @Autumnal.
It's very variable, but it's possible to recover well.
My mother fell in her care home and broke her hip last year. She had surgery and was in hospital for 12 days, she slept a lot for a few days afterwards. She supposedly refused to engage with the physios in hospital and they couldn't get her up - my mother is very stubborn too, and will only do co-operate if she likes the person. After a week the care home manager went in and got her up and walking, and a few days later she was back at the care home. The CH manager was keen to get her back home asap as hospitals aren't great places for PWDs.
It's a non-nursing dementia care home and they rehabbed her successfully - the physio came in and the carers did 30 min obs for a few weeks, plus copious use of alert mats (she would not using a walking aid and didn't remember there was anything 'wrong with her'). Within 4 weeks she was back to baseline and mobile as usual. They kept her on paracetamol or codeine as needed, as she had some pain for a while. That was over a year ago and while she is more frail, she's still mobile and hasn't had a serious fall since (touch wood!) So your mother may be able to go back to her current care home.
Fingers crossed for your mother today.
My mother fell in her care home and broke her hip last year. She had surgery and was in hospital for 12 days, she slept a lot for a few days afterwards. She supposedly refused to engage with the physios in hospital and they couldn't get her up - my mother is very stubborn too, and will only do co-operate if she likes the person. After a week the care home manager went in and got her up and walking, and a few days later she was back at the care home. The CH manager was keen to get her back home asap as hospitals aren't great places for PWDs.
It's a non-nursing dementia care home and they rehabbed her successfully - the physio came in and the carers did 30 min obs for a few weeks, plus copious use of alert mats (she would not using a walking aid and didn't remember there was anything 'wrong with her'). Within 4 weeks she was back to baseline and mobile as usual. They kept her on paracetamol or codeine as needed, as she had some pain for a while. That was over a year ago and while she is more frail, she's still mobile and hasn't had a serious fall since (touch wood!) So your mother may be able to go back to her current care home.
Fingers crossed for your mother today.
Another one reporting a good outcome @Autumnal....my FiL broke his hip in February and spent 3 weeks in hospital (heability, but h also had pneumonia) the another 2 weeks in a rehab ward. At one point we thought he was never going to leave the hospital as he became totally bedridden and unable to turn himself etc. He also had severe delirium, and he had to be restrained by 4 nurses. However, he got over that and they sent him to rehab, to our surprise.....they got him to stand, then to take one step, and by the time he went home (lives on his own) he coulddo 10 steps with his zimmer.
He lives in one room and doesn't leave the house so he doesn't really need to do more than about 10 steps to the kitchen area, so neither is he building up that distance......but we thought he was probably going straight into a CH and yet he's been home for 10 months still with just one carer visit. That may change soon, as he is in hospital after another fall, but he didntdo any damage in the fall, his stay is to explore the reason for the fall. I hope your mum copes with the op well, and the physios might have more success coaxing her to try than family do.....'white coat' syndrome!
He lives in one room and doesn't leave the house so he doesn't really need to do more than about 10 steps to the kitchen area, so neither is he building up that distance......but we thought he was probably going straight into a CH and yet he's been home for 10 months still with just one carer visit. That may change soon, as he is in hospital after another fall, but he didntdo any damage in the fall, his stay is to explore the reason for the fall. I hope your mum copes with the op well, and the physios might have more success coaxing her to try than family do.....'white coat' syndrome!
Thank you so much for your responses. Surgery went very well this morning and she has already had dinner and ice cream. She did sleep the whole time I was visiting tonight but I was expecting that with the anaesthetic and the fact she had been awake most of the previous night. Hopefully she will forget she isn’t mobile too and will cooperate with the nurses/ physio over the next few days. I think I was preparing for the worst whilst hoping for the best...and the journey continues. In saying that, I have met some of the most lovely older ladies on mum’s ward - all fractures - and my word do they have some interesting stories to tell. It’s been a joy ... despite the circumstances.
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