I almost cried last night. Yesterday evening mom fell and broke her hip. The orthopedic surgeon says that we got lucky because she broke the bone that connects to the ball of the hip and not the ball and nothing moved. She will get a spinal and he will put in a plate and three screws this morning. She's getting the spinal because of her breathing difficulty. They don't think she could make it through general anesthesia. The doctor wants her to go to the rehab part of the hospital but she is refusing to do this. Doc says she can come home in two to three days. If she does the surgery early this morning she could be up and walking by this afternoon. Dad is trying to not let on but I can tell that he is very upset about this.
I'm sorry to read this. Good thing the "worst" didn't happen, though. Speedy recovery to your mom!
I have a personal understanding about this since my femur shattered and I fell down a flight of stairs in March. I am still taking physical therapy once a week. Please try to convince her to at least a couple of weeks. there are so many things that that you have to learn anew. Most so you do not make the break worse. My hip ball still pops in and out. The pain from the pop could be enough for her to stop moving which is the wrong thing. Make sure that she keeps doing her exercises. That is very important to improve her quality of life.
I hope she recovers quickly. On my last visit my Ortho said that I have another year and a half for a total of 2 years.
Many of the new therapies can be done in water in a warm tank. This is so relaxing and wonderful for therapy! I know first hand. It also hurts less in water as you are buoyant. Try to get her to go. It is sooooo beneficial!
LIghthouse
I'm so sorry to hear about your mum's hip. She seems to be getting the rough end of the stick just now, doesn't she? Is she out of surgery yet? How are you?
Hugs
Kathyx
Thank you everyone for your well wishes. Mom's surgery went well. The nurses convinced mom that she needs to go to the hospital rehab. They have a whole floor where patients stay that is dedicated just to that. Thank goodness she has agreed to go. What a relief. The doctor said that she will need assistance 24/7. She won't even be able to move or get out of bed on her own for at least two to three weeks. Hopefully they will have a spot open for her in rehab. The doctor said that he did three hip fracture surgeries this morning.
Joe,
How are you doing now and what exercises did they give you to do?
Iwantmylifeback,
Thank you for writing about use of water in a warm tank. I wonder if maybe they might consider this for her. She's already had 3 compression fractures in her spine in the past year. It could take the pressure off the back.
Kaybarstool,
I'm much better today. Last night when dad went to the hospital after the ambulance, I was really freaking out. I went to bed and laid down and then when I had to get up to take medication I got one of my magazines and one of my Word Search puzzle books and read and did puzzles to calm myself down. Still very upset though. Can't believe the amount of pain mom has had to go through.
Most, now is walking and OT. OT has a lot of equipment that I work with when I go there on Friday for an hour. NuStep, Tread mill, Knee machine, hip machine, nordic track for walking weight challenge, and some balancing devices.
I'm so sorry Lighthouse. Falling and breaking a hip was my biggest fear when my mother was alive. I hope she mends soon.
When I was in the hospital, I got no therapy. Therapy started in the nursing home. In the nursing home I had Physical therapy twice per day and occupational therapy once per day. It took a number of weeks (3?) before I could could get out of bed on my own. Getting out of diapers was a very big mile stone for me. To do that I had to be able to use the wheel chair, transfer from the bed to the chair to the toilet and back again. I had to have enough feeling to know when I had to use the bath room. Some of the medications I was taking did not allow me to know when I had to use the bath room. About a week after I got to the nursing home I had the cath tube pulled.
PT had an exercise machine called the Ricksha that was crucial to my being able to transfer to and from the wheel chair. Transferring with a walker was the next big step. I started to use crutches a couple of days before I was released. Medicare guidelines pushed the amount of time I could stay in hospital and transitional care.
There are leg lifts and a number of seated leg exercises that I remember doing in PT. Raising your heels, flexing your ankles, range of motion of your knee. when you can transfer to a walker, these same exercises as they relate to the hip are done from a standing position.
I hope that this answers your question better.
Dear lighthouse,
I am so sorry to hear about your mom and her broken hip. It is a very good this that she has decided to go to the rehab hospital.
How are you doing? Is Gus keeping you company?
Try to take care of yourself.
Joe,
Yes, that is exactly what I was looking for regarding the exercises. She qualified for the hospital rehab center. Dad went to the physical therapy session this morning and is heading back to watch the one this afternoon. He said she is doing pretty good in rehab but her attitude is not good. She never was really into exercising. She will stay 10 days and then come home. They are telling us she will need a wheelchair so dad is measuring our set of steps to see which one are easier for her to get into the house and so that they can teach her how do do it. Six weeks healing time. They are not happy with the little bit of food that she is eating.
Carebear,
Gus is hanging out with me big time! And talking a lot too! He loves his brushing time and lets you know if he doesn't get it. As for me, well I got some disappointing news at the dermatologist this week. She said dad has done a great job treating my MRSA surgical site on my back. I can now go to a ban daid, no more gauze and tape. I've had a severe allergic reaction to the tape - she gave me a sterod cream dad puts on the places where the tape was.
Now as to the MRSA, the only thing that will kill the bacteria is bleach. Twice a week indifenetily i.e. forever, I will have to do the following - put a 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of bleach in a bathtub full of water, after showeing, soak in the bleach for 15 minutes.
I'm having a hard time getting my head around the fact that I will have this and have do the bleach thing for the rest of my life. Constantly wash my hands, do laundry all the time, separating it from everyone else s. I am being treated (although not outwardly) as a leper in my own home. They don't want me unloading the dishwasher and touching the dishes. They offer to go to the grocery store without me so that I don't infect the place. The dermatologist said that I didn't do anything wrong. But I blame the two year verbal abuse from my mom and the fact that my dad did nothing to shut it down as contributing factors. It doesn't help that I'm in a Sjogren's flare also. I hope with time to get over this.
MRSA can be killed with the correct high frequency. Take a measure of all interior doors and hallways. Because of the size of our bathroom door, I was not allowed to go home until I was on crutches. Insurance than paid for care in the nursing home until I was able to use crutches.
Hi Joe,
Our home is wheelchair accessible on the inside, it was built that way. I doubt that the bathroom in the kitchen is though, but the half bath off the foyer and the master bath I think are. I'm assuming that we will rent a wheelchair from our local pharmacy. I will say something to dad about the bathroom doors tonight at dinner. Thank you for bringing that up.
Some service organizations have wheel chairs that they lone at no charge. There is a group in Moorhead MN called HEROS that serves the community by recycling medical equipment. There may be a group like that in your area.
Also check your local Masonic Lodge, and Senior Center. You might be able to call 211 and get information from them on your local resources.
Sharon
Lighthouse
I agree with you about the bleach that would freak me out! In fact I would get a second opinion, I can't believe bleach would do good on our female parts.
Glad mom is doing good!
Cricket~
Cricket,
I am going to check with my gyno about the bleach baths. I did read on a MRSA forum that the CDC does recommend them.
My rhuemy wanted me to have the nasal swab to find out if I'm a chronic carrier. She said my GP should have the equipment to do it and if he doesn't, she will send me to an infectious disease. So, I had the test done last week at my GP's lab and am waiting to hear about the results.
More bad news on the home front. Dad's lung cancer is back. He got lucky though because it usually reoccurs in the bone or the brain but his is only in the lung. So, he will have radiation treatments that hopefully will take care of it.
I am so sorry about your dad, will keep him in my prayers.