shiela

Shiela

Registered User
Mar 26, 2015
20
0
hello I am new to this site but hope to get some helpful advice from others. My husband has fronto temporal dementia, he is deteriorating rapidly having falls regularly and recently he is unable to arrange himself in bed he lies diagonal and I have to straighten him up has anyone any thoughts on how I can manage this please
 

Izzy

Volunteer Moderator
Aug 31, 2003
74,001
0
72
Dundee
Hi Sheila and welcome to TP.

I'm sorry about the problems you're facing just now. I'm glad you found this site though and I'm sure you'll find lots of support here.

Have you contacted an occupational therapist about the problems with helping your husband to get positioned in bed?

My husband is like that when he is unwell. At the best of times he almost makes it into a reasonable position and I need to help him. At the moment I'm managing but if it gets more difficult I'll get in touch with the OT again.

We're lucky to have a hospital bed. We got that through the district nurse after my husband had been in hospital with pneumonia. If I raise the back up he can sit down then move himself so that his back is against the back of the bed. It's then a bit easier for me to swing his legs round then I can lower the back of the bed.

Our OT was very good in terms of talking through his specific problems and I hope you're able to get some help with yours.
 

esmeralda

Registered User
Nov 27, 2014
3,083
0
Devon
Hi Sheila, welcome from me too. I'm so sorry yur husband seems to be deteriorating. Hopefully he may plateau soon. My husband has a great deal of difficulty walking and used to have frequent falls but the OT has been very good. We also are presently having visits from the community physiotherapist. Both of these have been very helpful and have arranged for us to receive walkingaids, grab rails etc.
 

Shiela

Registered User
Mar 26, 2015
20
0
thank you for your replies we have had OT and physios and they have got some useful aids for us but the bed is the worst thing at the moment. Esmeralda, you say you hope he plateaus soon , is this something that happens?
 

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
Oh yes, I'm counting the days that my OHs latest comes to an end.
It seems to me that behaviour changes often last 3 to 6 months before changing to some thing else. Obviously the way is down, but things do disappear or change into something acceptable.
Obviously, in spite of my first sentence changes don't happen exactly to time, but that's a rough estimate! OH has Alzheimer's and vas dem, if that's any help.
 
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pamann

Registered User
Oct 28, 2013
2,635
0
Kent
Hello Sheila welcome to talking point my hubby has Alzheimers, he gets into bed across the bed instead of full length, we do still sleep together, l just put my legs across his upper half, sometimes he still stays there sometimes he gets up and gets in bed the right way, this has been going on for a while. It is very difficult to deal with their strange behaviour, but somehow l manage to deal with it, l have been with TP for 2yrs find it a lifesaver keep posting there will always be someone here to help you
 

esmeralda

Registered User
Nov 27, 2014
3,083
0
Devon
thank you for your replies we have had OT and physios and they have got some useful aids for us but the bed is the worst thing at the moment. Esmeralda, you say you hope he plateaus soon , is this something that happens?

As Spamar said changes in behaviours can be temporary. My husband hasn't had the bed problem(yet) but it sounds as though it's quite common. The course of this disease is so unpredictable. My husband seemed to deteriorate quickly last year which was frightening but over the past few months I haven't seen many changes, in fact some things are better. He seems to have less episodes of confusion. I know there could be a step down any time though. It's hard living with the uncertainty but I hope you and your husband will still be able to share good times together.
 

Shiela

Registered User
Mar 26, 2015
20
0
thank you everyone for your replies they are helpful to me knowing what is happening is usual for dementia sufferers
 

WIFE

Registered User
May 23, 2014
856
0
WEST SUSSEX
Sheila - so pleased you have found us all on T.P. My husband sadly died in January but the best piece of advice I was given by a Carer at his Nursing Home was that anything in the mind of a person with dementia was normal to them so if you can assume that anything your husband does is normal to him you may find it all a little bit less stressful. Keep posting - thinking of you both WIFE