My mother has been in a care home for 9 months now, due to alzheimers and is 89. She fell and broke her hip last weekend and despite being very frail & having a chest infection she came through the operation. She is still in hospital and extremely confused and frightened as she is unavoidably no longer in familiar surroundings. Her dementia seems to have escalated rapidly although perhaps it will improve if she ever gets back to the care home. Her chest infection is still being treated and she was on oxygen yesterday. She is not really eating or drinking and when she tries she just gags and retches and even almost choked as she tried to push her false teeth out. They say her struggle with swallowing is probably due to fluid in her lungs from the chest infection, but now I am worrying that it could relate to the alzheimers. I know she needs fluid and nutrition but it seems strange to keep trying to get her to do these things when she just retches and struggles. I don't actually know why I am writing this but I dread going in to visit as I cannot really help or give answers and she keeps asking what should she do now and what should she do tomorrow and it all sounds so banal when I know that most of her day will be staring at the room. Then she asks again a minute later and again, and again. Then she calls the nurse, who comes over, only to be asked what she is there for and to go away and not hurry back! Can this struggle to swallow really be down to a chest infection and fluid.