is she falling?

[candymostdandy@]

We found mum on her bedroom floor last Sunday morning, and to cut a very long story short this week has consisted of:-

Have found mum on bedroom floor 5 times
Called ambulance on four occasions for help to get her up when on my own
Trip to A&E arriving at 1830 and being discharged at 0230 - in themiddle of thenight
Two visits from GP
Disturbed night Thursday night, with mum using shower as toilet, and calling for me at 0400 Friday morning.

Then once again found mum on floor Friday morning - assuming she had fallen.

Mum admitted to hospital for medical assessment yesterday, so today I have had some time to think.

Basically has she actually been falling, or is she laying down not realising that she is getting on the floor.

Basically when I found her yesterday morning she was some way away from her bed but covered with her duvet.. and if she had fallen she would never have been able to get hold of the duvet and then cover herself with it...

 

[jenniferpa]

I don't know if this any help, but when my mother was doing this (essentially rolling out of bed) her covers would go with her and she'd end up quite a way from the bed (several yards). I can only assume, because in her case there is no way should would have been able to get to the floor unaided except by falling, that she had slid out of bed, pulled the covers down, and continued to roll in her sleep!

Jennifer

 

[Margarita]

Sounds all very familiar ,

using shower as toilet,

Disturbed night

away from her bed but covered with her duvet..

this was the sigh I saw in my mother when I took her to the doctors , who

refer her to elderly consultant sent for brain scan showed AZ , given medication for last stages of AZ exbiza and all those systems stop.

sounds like she in the right place

Mum admitted to hospital for medical assessment yesterday, so today I have had some time to think.

 

[Michael E]

Occasionally I find Monique on the floor - often when she has left her bed and gone 'walk abouts' got lost. It has never occurred to me that she has fallen because she never does.

I am pretty sure she leaves the bed, gets lost, gets tired. sits on the floor, gets more tired and lays down.. I have noticed that when she gets 'lost' in the house she tends to stay in the same place...

Don't know if this helps or not but in the absence of bruising I suspect your mum may simply be sitting down - lost..

Michael

 

[Áine]

My dad used to slide himself out of bed onto the floor, not sure why. Seems a bit odd to me that people who have slept in double beds all their lives should be expected to balance in single ones once they get into care. I guess it's a space issue, but .......... anyway, that's not the issue.

Is it possible to tell from bruises or scrapes whether mum has fallen or not?

 

[Grannie G]

My mother used to have carpet burns on her face from `falling `out of bed in the NH.
We were also not sure whether she fell or slid. She was widowed for many years and, in her own home had a double bed to herself. The single bed in the NH must have seemed very narrow.

 

[Kayla]

Before my Mum went into a Care Home, she had several incidents where she was unable to climb back into bed, because she was weak from her rheumatoid arthritis. One night, she had simply given up and stayed on the floor because she just didn't have the strength to make any more effort and she got really cold.
She also had a nightmare and I think she might have had a mini stroke, as she seemed so confused and disorientated. She didn't think to pull the duvet down off the bed to keep warm and it was as though she wasn't thinking straight.
Although we didn't realise what was wrong at the time, two or three years ago, this must ahve been the beginning of her Vascular Dementia. After a few days, she'd more less or less behave normally, so we thought it wasn't anything to worry about and the GP wasn't too concerned.
Kayla

 

[Grommit]

Jean is at home and I am caring for her at this time. She has had several bouts of falling out of bed and several bouts of night wandering.

I thought about this a lot and eventually sewed velcro on to the the bottom of the sheets and duvet. It seems to work well as i can hear her struggling to get out of bed for night wandering and it seems to keep her in place and in peace for the falling out of bed syndrome as well.

I am. of course, a little concerned about her wrapping the duvet and sheets round her and becoming trapped, but those considerations are small when the other possibilities are taken into account.

 

[ann60]

Yes it's very familiar. Dad would wake up and find mum has just slipped out of bed. She would hold on to the covers and just slide right on out. Sometimes she'd get carpet burn on her face from going face first. She could also end up on the floor anywhere, she just seemed to decide she wanted to sit and it wouldn't matter that there was no chair there. On one occasion dad was making a cuppa and she went down and hit her head on the leg of the table and ended up needing stitches in her forehead. Dad was always worried that mum might break bones but luckily that has never happened. Now that mum is in a care home the nurses usually put the rails up on her bed so slipping out is no longer a problem. Ann

 

[Áine]

Now that mum is in a care home the nurses usually put the rails up on her bed so slipping out is no longer a problem. Ann

Sorry ann, but don't bank on it. My dad frequently managed to slide himself out the bottom of the bed if the rail was up.

 

[jenniferpa]

Oh yes, my mother did that in hospital. Fortunately in the nursing home the top and bottom on the bed are solid, so no way out there.