Hello, I'd be interested in anyone who is at a similar stage to me or has a similar story.
My mom, 77 has been diagnosed with Alzheimers a month ago. Her behaviours fall in three categories:
- Forgetfulness, not finding the words, not remembering recent events
- Delusions, hallucinations - thinking there are children in the house on a daily basis
- Not feeling like her home is her own - packing random things in bags to take to her new home, and hiding valuables.
NHS mental health doctors have been round three times, prescribing Ramipril, and SS were due to make an appointment this Thursday.
Last Wednesday, the mental health doctor recommended ruling out a water infection, so we got a course of antibiotics.
On Friday, my mom was very persistent that she wanted to leave 'and go to her own home'. I phoned NHS direct and they sent an ambulance round (most likely because her antibotics were hidden). They did tests which showed the water infection had cleared and no other health issues.
Because of her mental condition, they wanted to keep her in the hospital. However, the specialist wing is full, so she has been since Saturday morning in a general geriatric wing. I feel so bad for her as she is normally very nervous and anxious around new people and sudden noises, so I suspect she has not been getting any sleep. When I visited on Sunday she was trembling like a leaf in her chair, unable to speak and shaking at any of the ward's noises. I managed to get her to rest in bed for a couple of hours which improved her slightly but she was still desperate to get away, saying she'd rather be dead than spend another night there.
I suppose what I'm looking for is a 'Will it get better' in terms of adapting to hospital life. I'm dreading seeing what state she'll be in today. Plus I'm feeling guilty that maybe I should have insisted on a home-based care solution instead of hospital life, and that maybe she's relating seeing me to going home, as she's always wandering to the exit when I visit.
My mom, 77 has been diagnosed with Alzheimers a month ago. Her behaviours fall in three categories:
- Forgetfulness, not finding the words, not remembering recent events
- Delusions, hallucinations - thinking there are children in the house on a daily basis
- Not feeling like her home is her own - packing random things in bags to take to her new home, and hiding valuables.
NHS mental health doctors have been round three times, prescribing Ramipril, and SS were due to make an appointment this Thursday.
Last Wednesday, the mental health doctor recommended ruling out a water infection, so we got a course of antibiotics.
On Friday, my mom was very persistent that she wanted to leave 'and go to her own home'. I phoned NHS direct and they sent an ambulance round (most likely because her antibotics were hidden). They did tests which showed the water infection had cleared and no other health issues.
Because of her mental condition, they wanted to keep her in the hospital. However, the specialist wing is full, so she has been since Saturday morning in a general geriatric wing. I feel so bad for her as she is normally very nervous and anxious around new people and sudden noises, so I suspect she has not been getting any sleep. When I visited on Sunday she was trembling like a leaf in her chair, unable to speak and shaking at any of the ward's noises. I managed to get her to rest in bed for a couple of hours which improved her slightly but she was still desperate to get away, saying she'd rather be dead than spend another night there.
I suppose what I'm looking for is a 'Will it get better' in terms of adapting to hospital life. I'm dreading seeing what state she'll be in today. Plus I'm feeling guilty that maybe I should have insisted on a home-based care solution instead of hospital life, and that maybe she's relating seeing me to going home, as she's always wandering to the exit when I visit.