Mom's phone is working again. I'm sure she'd love to get calls (she won't talk long:)
Unlike Dad, she is in her room a fair amount.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Mom still in Willowbrooke
Sorry I haven't updated this in a while. Spoke with Liz last night and she filled me in on the current status.
First of all, Mom is still in Willowbrooke since she hasn't shown signs of improvement. Though they transferred her phone to the new room, it hasn't been working right. Is supposed to be fixed by today(?) Anyway, if you have tried to reach her and haven't been able to, that might explain it.
Since Willowbrooke can handle people with needs like Mom's, she no long needs the full time aide. That's good from a cost perspective, though I imagine she misses the company. The move to Willowbrooke is hopefully temporary, the idea being that if they get her on the right medication she will show some improvement (less falling, etc.). So far, though, the Parkinson's medication they've tried hasn't helped. (They could only put her on half dose, since it makes her blood pressure drop.) At this point, Liz is trying to get in touch with the doctor to find out what's next. I guess either she doesn't have Parkinson's or perhaps a different medication would work better.
Along with the falling issue and the problem of her legs getting 'stuck' when walking, Mom also is not able to stand up by herself from a sitting position. She had been having some trouble with it for a while, and according to Liz it seems she can't really do it at all any more. Though she still walks, she also gets around some by wheelchair now if the distances are too long for walking.
The last note on Mom is that the woman in charge of activities talked to her for a while to see what kinds of things interest her, and sadly there isn't much. She likes going to church, talking to family, and watching her news program, but not much else. Shows less interest in things she used to enjoy such as books and puzzles. Hope that changes.
Not much to say about Dad. He seems happy and is pretty stable, for which we are very thankful. Has had some problems with feet swelling and sores on his toes(?), but that is all Liz could think of.
Funny how these posts were all about Dad for so long and now they are all about Mom.
First of all, Mom is still in Willowbrooke since she hasn't shown signs of improvement. Though they transferred her phone to the new room, it hasn't been working right. Is supposed to be fixed by today(?) Anyway, if you have tried to reach her and haven't been able to, that might explain it.
Since Willowbrooke can handle people with needs like Mom's, she no long needs the full time aide. That's good from a cost perspective, though I imagine she misses the company. The move to Willowbrooke is hopefully temporary, the idea being that if they get her on the right medication she will show some improvement (less falling, etc.). So far, though, the Parkinson's medication they've tried hasn't helped. (They could only put her on half dose, since it makes her blood pressure drop.) At this point, Liz is trying to get in touch with the doctor to find out what's next. I guess either she doesn't have Parkinson's or perhaps a different medication would work better.
Along with the falling issue and the problem of her legs getting 'stuck' when walking, Mom also is not able to stand up by herself from a sitting position. She had been having some trouble with it for a while, and according to Liz it seems she can't really do it at all any more. Though she still walks, she also gets around some by wheelchair now if the distances are too long for walking.
The last note on Mom is that the woman in charge of activities talked to her for a while to see what kinds of things interest her, and sadly there isn't much. She likes going to church, talking to family, and watching her news program, but not much else. Shows less interest in things she used to enjoy such as books and puzzles. Hope that changes.
Not much to say about Dad. He seems happy and is pretty stable, for which we are very thankful. Has had some problems with feet swelling and sores on his toes(?), but that is all Liz could think of.
Funny how these posts were all about Dad for so long and now they are all about Mom.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Parkinson's(?) and the Full Time Aide
Liz called last night to talk about what is going on with Mom. I'll summarize it the best I can.
Mom has been falling a lot and, as you probably know, everyone is concerned about this. She also has a problem that I think was mentioned before: she sometimes cannot get her feet to move when she is trying to walk. She'll be walking fine, pause for some reason, and then be unable to start walking again. A number of people have suggested that this and the falling sound like Parkinson's, though she does not have some other typical Parkinson's symptoms. The doctor (on Monday?) started her on Parkinson's medication to see if that makes a difference. Liz tells me that it should be pretty obvious in a few days whether the medication is helping.
Meanwhile, Lima said that with all the falling they don't want her alone and she should have an aide 24/7. So, now she has full time aide. The hope is that the Parkinson's medication will help her significantly such that she will not need the aide for more than a short time. The 24/7 care is not cheap and so far as I know it is not covered by Medicare (if anyone knows otherwise, let us know!). One good thing is that her aide (at least the one Liz mentioned) is very nice and has been good company for Mom.
There was also some talk about whether she could/should move out of assisted living and into the unit that provides a higher level of care. Currently, there are no openings like that in Lima (where Dad is) so she would have to go to a different facility. I think we all hope she can stay in assisted living, but we'll see.
Anyway, that is pretty much it for now. I expect to report back once we know whether the new medication is helping.
Oh, and Liz spent a lot of time with Dad yesterday going over all the cards and letters people sent for his 85th. Thanks to all of you who did that!
Mom has been falling a lot and, as you probably know, everyone is concerned about this. She also has a problem that I think was mentioned before: she sometimes cannot get her feet to move when she is trying to walk. She'll be walking fine, pause for some reason, and then be unable to start walking again. A number of people have suggested that this and the falling sound like Parkinson's, though she does not have some other typical Parkinson's symptoms. The doctor (on Monday?) started her on Parkinson's medication to see if that makes a difference. Liz tells me that it should be pretty obvious in a few days whether the medication is helping.
Meanwhile, Lima said that with all the falling they don't want her alone and she should have an aide 24/7. So, now she has full time aide. The hope is that the Parkinson's medication will help her significantly such that she will not need the aide for more than a short time. The 24/7 care is not cheap and so far as I know it is not covered by Medicare (if anyone knows otherwise, let us know!). One good thing is that her aide (at least the one Liz mentioned) is very nice and has been good company for Mom.
There was also some talk about whether she could/should move out of assisted living and into the unit that provides a higher level of care. Currently, there are no openings like that in Lima (where Dad is) so she would have to go to a different facility. I think we all hope she can stay in assisted living, but we'll see.
Anyway, that is pretty much it for now. I expect to report back once we know whether the new medication is helping.
Oh, and Liz spent a lot of time with Dad yesterday going over all the cards and letters people sent for his 85th. Thanks to all of you who did that!
Monday, June 20, 2011
Birthdays and yet more falls
We all got together for birthdays on Saturday at Liz's (dad was 85 -- thanks to all who sent a note!). Beautiful day and we had a great time. Neat to get Mom and Dad out. I think they had a lot of fun and it was good for all of us to see them, though we kept them up past bed time.
Dad seemed the same or better than the last few times I've seen him. Mom is having more trouble. It took a long time just to walk to the house from the car because her legs simply would not move for her. Once she got rolling, it was not too bad, but if she stopped it was hard to get them going again.
Then she fell later that night (@ 2 AM) on the way to the bathroom and again the next afternoon by the elevator. According to Liz:
Brenda (the nurse who called after the second fall) said she thinks Mom mostly falls backwards and lands on her back. She looked up the results of the urine test from last week (apparently they did some other tests as well, I don't know what), and the results of all were negative. Too bad, in a way. She said the symptoms remind her of Parkinson's, so I think I'll ask the neurologist about that this week. I believe they must've ruled it out earlier on, but what's to say that something new hasn't developed? Anyway, there aren't blood tests for this sort of thing, so it's possible it wasn't obvious earlier. Or something. Who knows.
Dad seemed the same or better than the last few times I've seen him. Mom is having more trouble. It took a long time just to walk to the house from the car because her legs simply would not move for her. Once she got rolling, it was not too bad, but if she stopped it was hard to get them going again.
Then she fell later that night (@ 2 AM) on the way to the bathroom and again the next afternoon by the elevator. According to Liz:
Brenda (the nurse who called after the second fall) said she thinks Mom mostly falls backwards and lands on her back. She looked up the results of the urine test from last week (apparently they did some other tests as well, I don't know what), and the results of all were negative. Too bad, in a way. She said the symptoms remind her of Parkinson's, so I think I'll ask the neurologist about that this week. I believe they must've ruled it out earlier on, but what's to say that something new hasn't developed? Anyway, there aren't blood tests for this sort of thing, so it's possible it wasn't obvious earlier. Or something. Who knows.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Yet Another Fall
Just got this from Liz:
Just a short report here - Mom apparently had another fall last Fri. morning. I got a message from the nurse, but it was too late to get hold of them for any details. The message said they had found her sitting on the bathroom floor, checked her over, she looked OK, no head-bumping this time. When I mentioned it to Mom, she said it wasn't a fall, that she was sitting on the toilet, having summoned them to help her with changing her pants. Today when I was over there, I said to her that she seemed to be having much more trouble moving around than usual, and she admitted that her side hurt quite a lot. So I looked, and she has a large blackish bruise (with a bit fading to yellow) over her left ribs under her arm, right under the bra line. We went to the nurse's office, and they think the looks of the bruise matches the timing of the Fri. fall, which Mom apparently doesn't remember. We made arrangements for her to have some Tylenol regularly for a few days (and they gave her the first dose), then we went to CVS. But she was having trouble moving her limbs well again. It reminded me of her condition the morning of Uncle Tom's funeral service, when she was coming down with bronchitis. Remember how her limbs didn't seem to move "on command" and she was so-o slow? It's very worrisome. The walker got a bit too far out ahead of her a few times, and she got "frozen" and couldn't make her legs catch up. I was sorry we had even gone anywhere - I didn't let go of her arm the whole time. She did say that "things had gone downhill" recently, which presumably means "since last Fri. morning," but she doesn't really know. She said the bruised area was causing her difficulty with many actions, like lying herself down on the bed and standing up from sitting on the bed, so I hope that pain and stiffness is the cause of all the sluggish movement. I went back to the nurse's office later (by myself) and told them I was worried and asked them to keep a closer eye on her than usual for a few days. Because of the fall, she is already having her vitals checked daily, so they will notice if her temp rises (if she's starting some other infection). They also said that if she is still complaining of pain tomorrow or so, they may see about a rib xray.
Just a short report here - Mom apparently had another fall last Fri. morning. I got a message from the nurse, but it was too late to get hold of them for any details. The message said they had found her sitting on the bathroom floor, checked her over, she looked OK, no head-bumping this time. When I mentioned it to Mom, she said it wasn't a fall, that she was sitting on the toilet, having summoned them to help her with changing her pants. Today when I was over there, I said to her that she seemed to be having much more trouble moving around than usual, and she admitted that her side hurt quite a lot. So I looked, and she has a large blackish bruise (with a bit fading to yellow) over her left ribs under her arm, right under the bra line. We went to the nurse's office, and they think the looks of the bruise matches the timing of the Fri. fall, which Mom apparently doesn't remember. We made arrangements for her to have some Tylenol regularly for a few days (and they gave her the first dose), then we went to CVS. But she was having trouble moving her limbs well again. It reminded me of her condition the morning of Uncle Tom's funeral service, when she was coming down with bronchitis. Remember how her limbs didn't seem to move "on command" and she was so-o slow? It's very worrisome. The walker got a bit too far out ahead of her a few times, and she got "frozen" and couldn't make her legs catch up. I was sorry we had even gone anywhere - I didn't let go of her arm the whole time. She did say that "things had gone downhill" recently, which presumably means "since last Fri. morning," but she doesn't really know. She said the bruised area was causing her difficulty with many actions, like lying herself down on the bed and standing up from sitting on the bed, so I hope that pain and stiffness is the cause of all the sluggish movement. I went back to the nurse's office later (by myself) and told them I was worried and asked them to keep a closer eye on her than usual for a few days. Because of the fall, she is already having her vitals checked daily, so they will notice if her temp rises (if she's starting some other infection). They also said that if she is still complaining of pain tomorrow or so, they may see about a rib xray.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Dad is Home
Talked with Liz. He came home yesterday afternoon. Doing OK on the major things, but his bedsore is worse. Sounds like is was very tired and went right to sleep.
On another note, Mom had another fall yesterday morn. I think nothing too serious, but she banged her knee and head again. Sounded like it may have had to do with the fact that her bed is kind of high so she can't sit on it with her feet on the floor. The PT folks are going to see what they can do to remedy that. Mom did get out for a long day with book club friends after that and was pretty shot by the end of the day according to my sources.
On another note, Mom had another fall yesterday morn. I think nothing too serious, but she banged her knee and head again. Sounded like it may have had to do with the fact that her bed is kind of high so she can't sit on it with her feet on the floor. The PT folks are going to see what they can do to remedy that. Mom did get out for a long day with book club friends after that and was pretty shot by the end of the day according to my sources.
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