My mom is having her knee replaced

[gja1000]

Thanks everyone!

[judy]

She is great! She has such a strong will. Bless her heart.

[lynne b]

Gayle, hows your mom doing with the rehab? i hope she's doing good, she'll be dancing out there before you know it.

[gja1000]

Hi Lynne and All,
My daughter felt that mom was getting a little depressed and she was not eating well - and the food was not all that appealing either. We were basically taking her 3 meals a day - it was quite a chore running back and forth. So, Brooke decided to bring her home.

She had a doc appt yesterday morning, so Brooke went up and checked her out before the appt. They said she had made great progress (and she had) and that it was fine for her to go home. In fact, we had the choice of inpatient or out patient rehab, so she could have been home the full time - but going to rehab for a week was really good for her mobility.

Things went great yesterday during the day, she is getting around very well. But toward the evening she started to show some confusion. I thought she was probably dehydrated and we started getting her to drink and the confusion cleared up, pretty much.

But during the night, she was up and down all night and sometimes she would use the bedside commode and sometimes she walked into the bathroom (which she was not supposed to do at night because she has to go up and down a small step to and from the bathroom.

My daughter tends to over dramatize things so when she called me this morning, you would have though the world was coming to the end. And in fact, mom was pretty confused this morning - again, some dehydration from overnight - and just from changing environments - even though it was changing to home. I know that older people have increased confusion when their enviornment changes - so I wasn't too surprised, although I did think her mental confusion would probably be pretty mild. She's very clear and sharp normally.

Today during the day Brooke kept telling me about how she was saying odd things. She wanted to take a shower and Brooke wanted me there when she got her in the shower (she is able to shower herself sitting in her shower chair). Brooke said she asked her a dozen times if she could get into the shower and didn't seem to remember that Brooke said they had to wait for me. Again, Brooke dramatizes things, so not sure how many times she actually asked.

We got her in and out of the shower with no problems and she was absolutely fine and clear as a bell the whole time I was there (go figure). Brooke knows that she can do it herself now - but will always wait till her husband is in the house, just in case.

Home health will come tomorrow - not sure what all they will be doing beside physical therapy. I told Brooke if mom is up and down all night again tonight, to ask for a sitter for a night or two. I think her mental status will clear up in a day or two, but a nighttime sitter would give Brooke lots of peace of mind!

Anyway, it sounds worse that it really is - I think things will be fine in a day or so. Mom's mobility is great and she says her knee feels better than it did before surgery - so we are making progress on that end, at least!

[DianaB]

I know that with you being a nurse that you'll make sure that your Mom has the best of care. I think that it's great that you understand all that's going on with her. I'd probably be the same way that Brooke is!! I'm glad to hear that your Mom's home. She'll be back to herself in a day or two, I'm sure.

[gja1000]

Thanks for the encouraging words Diana! She's been better late this afternoon and is still clear and doing well here at 10:30PM. I just talked to Brooke and she said he helped her get dressed for bed and into bed. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she sleeps better tonight than last night!

[Marilyn]

So hope that the confusion is a thing of the past now. It's great that you do have an understanding of what is going on. I, too, would probably be like Brooke and be overly concerned.