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[Greyhoundgal]

What an awful few days!  I got a call on Friday morning from the alarm people to say that Mum had a fall, they were there but she was asking for my Dad.  I went straight there from work and she was unhurt but very confused.  I arranged for a Dr to come out to see her then my sister took over so I could get back to work.  GP came out and checked her over and gave her some antibiotics for possible urine infection (?).  When I got back in the afternoon Mum was having a lie down and my sister was cleaning - she discovered that Mum had been incontinent, possibly for a while so all the covers were off the furniture while she washed them.  She had also found some bizarre messages and notes that Mum had been writing........when we woke her up it took both of us 1 1/2 hrs to get her out of bed and back downstairs.  I stayed with her overnight and it took me 2 hours to get up for bed - she had a good sleep but woke at 6.30 calling for my Dad (he's been dead for almost 9 years).   It then took me 2 hours to get her to the bathroom and back at which point I called 111.  I don't know if anyone else has ever used this service (it replaced NHS Direct) but they were brilliant.  After getting all Mum's details she said she would call an ambulance crew out to check her over and they could then take her straight to hospital if necessary, ruling out waiting for a GP then waiting for an ambulance if it was needed.  She then asked how I was and was there anyone that could be with me - hubby came straight over of course and the ambulance turned up shortly after that.  They checked Mum over, she had an extremely low temperature (to the point that they thought their equipment was faulty) and was extremely confused in general.  I went with her straight to A&E where she had an initial assessment then sent up to the assessment ward.  X-rays and CT scan have come back clear but some of her blood levels are very low, in particular potassium and sodium but they think the main problem is that she has got into a bit of a muddle with all her medications (and she takes a lot) so not sure if she's under or over-medicated.  Between my sisters and I we have this week's visiting rota worked out - youngest sis went yesterday but said that Mum was barely awake the whole time she was there - I go over tomorrow evening.  Spent most of this morning calling various people to let them know where she is and no idea how long she'll be in for - I suspect a while.  She's going to need short-term care when she comes out so my other sister is trying to sort something out but I suspect it will turn out to be more permanent - we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

[Rowan]

So sorry Greyhoundgirl, I know how stressful it is when loved ones become ill, on Saturday night I had to call 111 as my OH was experiencing severe stomach pains, the paramedics and ambulance took eight minutes to come and were wonderful, they decided he needed to go to hospital, where he went through all the assessments your mum did.

Your mum is in the best place and it does sound as if she does have an urine infection with can mimic dementia symptoms, once the antibiotics work, she will hopefully start to act more normally.

It looks like she has got in a muddle with medication and being incontinent caused the urine infection.

They will look after her in hospital and give you a breathing space to decide what is best.

[littleminnie]

Greyhoundgirl - what a stressful few days for you and your family. Hopefully the antibiotics will sort her out.

Silverlady - is your OH ok, did he have some sort of stomach bug? 


  to you both.

[CLKD]

We have a thread here about caring for elderly relatives.  You may find some of it useful.

Does your Mum have a Social Worker?  someone who can advise on which agencies to access?  You may find there is such a service within the Hospital or ask PALS if there is a group set up, usually on Hospital premises.  They will give advice.

Dehydration can cause similar problems too.  Hopefully the tests will sort out what your Mum requires in order to get her salts etc. to the correct levels.

[Rowan]

Littleminnie they kept him in over night did a lot of tests and Xray and they all came back normal, and they could not say what the pain was, but he was on gas and air in the ambulance.

They sent him home and the pain lasted all the next day and then started to ease up, it went into his shoulders too.

Obviously some kind of spasms, but with his medical history they wanted to see if anything was going on.

Phoning 111 was very good, once they took details and were told the history, they didn't mess about and the ambulance and separate paramedics were here in minutes, this was about midnight, I didn't go with him this time I just couldn't face A&E again still feel traumatised after the last time.

[Dyan]

Sorry to hear about your mum greyhoundgal.

Have a 

[Taz2]

So sorry to hear about your mum Greyhoundgal. Is this something that has come on suddenly?

Taz x

[Joyce]

Very sorry to hear about your mum greyhoundgal! She's in the best place for sure. Hope she gets the necessary treatment & is feeling better soon. Time enough to worry about her aftercare when the time comes. You need to see what the doctors say first.  Urine infections in the elderly can cause confusion like your mum's.   

Good that you have a visiting rota set up between you & your sisters, you will be able to keep each other up to date on your mum's progress. Takes a bit of the strain off you all as individuals. Though I'm sure you are all equally worried about her. Take care of you too, though. 

[honeybun]

I know how hard this can be so sending you a

 


Honeyb
X

[Pennyfarthing]

I'm sorry to hear this too Greyhoundgal. Hope she is soon on the mend.

[Greyhoundgal]

Thanks ladies - I've been in touch with her surgeon over at Papworth and he has said he will get in touch with the hospital where she is now.  It's a combination of things I think, most of her medication has got in a muddle over the last few weeks, water tablets, thyroid tablets which coupled with her low sodium/potassium levels are making her very confused.  Apparently she was a little brighter yesterday when my sister saw her and I'm going over there tonight.  Need to speak to the ward about referring her to Social Services, it has to come from them (called them at lunchtime) as she will certainly need short-term care one way or another.
Silverlady, I'm glad your OH is ok now - I can't praise 111 highly enough, they were marvellous.

[CLKD]

Hopefully your Mum will continue to improve.  Make a list of what you think she will require when she is discharged?

[andius]

So sorry to hear about you mom  It is difficult to see and deal with your parents in a situation like that.

My F-I-L had a similar confusion, incontinent incident when he was about 90.  He lives in another state 9 hours away by car.

My husband's stepmother called us, but there was little we could do as they had already come to the house and taken him to the hospital for the big workup of tests.  They found low sodium, potassium and nothing else.  They started feeding him those nutrition supplement drinks.  Eventually he refused them and said whenever he swallowed, his nose ran mucus so he didn't want to drink them.  He said he couldn't taste anything anyway so why eat?

Turns out he had a fungus infection in his sinuses so he wouldn't eat and that is what caused his salts to be out of whack!  He had sinus surgery and antibiotics and got back to normal within a month. He is going strong now at 93....went to the gym to "work out" today! I am not quite sure what he does in his work out but at least he gets out and about.

I hope your mother improves quickly and that she returns to her normal self. She is very lucky that she didn't break a hip in that fall!

Andius

[CLKD]

   ...... and I'm wondering whether to walk to the post box: or not 

[Greyhoundgal]

Went and saw Mum last night - she looks dreadful!  Her colour has returned to normal but she's just so sleepy all the time.  They did another CT scan yesterday afternoon - would that be to check for a stroke?  Her surgeon had emailed me so I took his reply in to go on her notes - they hadn't notified him of course.......also asked to be referred to Social Services which the staff nurse said she would do.  She's on a pureed diet and the speech and language person had been out to check if there was a physical reason for her not eating, nothing showed up. BP was normal as is heart-rate but she has a catheter as she can't get out of bed.  They had apparently given her a new drug yesterday to see if that made her a bit more awake - it had worked initially apparently but by the time we were there at 7 it had worn off.  She was asleep for most of our visit apart from waking briefly when I held her hand, then she just lay there gazing up at me much in the style a small baby/child does when you hold them.  I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about all of this......