Roy Brock paid a visit, brought b'day box of candy. An interesting part of the conversation was when H. piped up with a question for Roy - "How are those nursing homes, anyway?" ... Roy had been discussing Ruth's visit to a rehab center, I do not recall if he used the term "nursing home", don't think so, but he may have ... I feel that this shows her awareness of what lies ahead and may be preparing herself for it ...
H. experienced some discomfort in her right hip just sitting in the chair ... she wanted to change position to relieve it, but she was unable to effect any change, and I was unable to help her ... frustrating for both, hard to tell level of discomfort(pain?).
Of note is H.'s periodic immobility ... getting more frequent ... cannot stand without assist , once standing, cannot move her feet to walk. getting into either the hugo or bed is especially tricky as she cannot lower herself slowly and ends up plopping herself down ... on the hugo, this is dicey because it must be braced correctly by the caregiver or else she may end up falling .... getting into bed is similarly difficult, if she is not positioned correctly and plops too close to the edge, her center of gravity may take her to the floor. Very close supervision required in both cases.
Thinking this thru - if she becomes totally immobile, I know that I am unable to lift her on/off various surfaces ... I can barely help her scootch her butt away from the side of the bed so she is not so close to it ... I do this by lifting her hips as she provides some muscle power to move herself over ...
5 comments:
Last week I contacted a medical supply company who can provide a hospial bed free of charge to Medicare folks who qualify. Mom would surely qualify with congestive heart failure diagnosis, according to the woman I talked to. There is only one choice of bed - nothing fancy and not as comfortable as a regular bed. The head and foot of bed both can be raised and lowered via power. Raising and lowering the whole bed is a manual crank but the woman said once the bed is positioned for Mom's height we wouldn't have to change it all that often, if at all.
We could get one of those very thick mattress covers to make it more comfortable. I think it would be good for Mom to be able to raise and lower her head and feet.
If we want to go this route, they can bring the bed over this week and assemble it. We would have to move Mom's current bed out of the room first, though.
What say all of you?
i think this is a good idea. i am able to remove the current bed out if they come this week... just need advance notice so i can work around my work-meetings.
I put a call into Dr. Pugh's office and have gotten the "order" for the bed. Also asked if they knew if Medicare might cover the cost of one of those thick/memory pads for the bed. They are used in situations where people spend a lot of time in bed (bed sore preventative, etc) Still need that information.
I'm for a bed move and replacement. It is quite dangerous for Mom now getting in/out of bed in particular. She sounds like she is even weaker than when I saw her the weekend of August 31.
I'm all for it. Let me know when you need help.
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