Worrying about elderly relatives

originally posted by: ancientlight

originally posted by: putnam6

originally posted by: Gothmog
a reply to: ancientlight

I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this, worrying about elderly relatives?

I could be considered an elderly relative.

The doctor thinks she just fainted from exhausting herself too much.

I have done that twice earlier this year pushing myself and became dehydrated .

This is a good point, it can be hard to get the elderly to drink enough water, hell Ive done it and I'm 58. You forget or you don't feel well, then some people have bladder control issues. I don't know what's gonna happen when I get there.

Oh yes, she's always refusing to drink more water, and damn stubborn too !

Try encouraging her to drink early in the day, and decrease or cut out evening drinks.

This helped with my Mom. She didn't want to drink much because she feared not making it to the bathroom in time at night.

I also had to put a baby monitor in her room so I could hear her if she woke up at night. She caved into agreement on the baby monitor, after she had two very nasty falls at night. I took pictures of the scrapes, bruising, and the black eyes, that I used as reminders. She finally admitted that it was not a bad idea.

It has worked wonderfully.

originally posted by: ancientlight
Thank you for this! I will look into these issues , try to persuade her to mention them to her doctor (an impossible task

)
And i will look into a wrist health monitor for her (which she'll refuse to wear

)

If you can get her to wear (and charge) the watch, you can also monitor it from the US. The app doesn't care where you live. I hope she has someone living with her.

And I remember she had a TIA in the past , a while ago, maybe 15 years or so?

Not unusual, and to be honest that's what a lot of your report sounded like.

She was monitored in the hospital here a bit , on Christmas eve, and the paramedics that picked her up did mention possible heart rythm irregularites, though the hospital didn't pick anything up ,and no meds were prescribed. She also snores, don't know if that could be heart problem related.

That'd be the same kind of arrhythmia I have, I believe. And also the snoring - that's sleep apnea and that WILL make you groggy and confused. She'd probably hate the CPAP/BiPAP machine, but I've learned to sleep with one and it reduced a number of problems.

If you can persuade her with something she'd prefer to do (like... if you wear this at night you will breathe better all day and have the energy to make cookies) it might work.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

originally posted by: Byrd

originally posted by: ancientlight
Thank you for this! I will look into these issues , try to persuade her to mention them to her doctor (an impossible task

)
And i will look into a wrist health monitor for her (which she'll refuse to wear

)

If you can get her to wear (and charge) the watch, you can also monitor it from the US. The app doesn't care where you live. I hope she has someone living with her.

And I remember she had a TIA in the past , a while ago, maybe 15 years or so?

Not unusual, and to be honest that's what a lot of your report sounded like.

She was monitored in the hospital here a bit , on Christmas eve, and the paramedics that picked her up did mention possible heart rythm irregularites, though the hospital didn't pick anything up ,and no meds were prescribed. She also snores, don't know if that could be heart problem related.

That'd be the same kind of arrhythmia I have, I believe. And also the snoring - that's sleep apnea and that WILL make you groggy and confused. She'd probably hate the CPAP/BiPAP machine, but I've learned to sleep with one and it reduced a number of problems.

If you can persuade her with something she'd prefer to do (like... if you wear this at night you will breathe better all day and have the energy to make cookies) it might work.

Good luck, and please keep us posted.

Thank you so much! This has helped me calm down quite a bit. Though persuading her will be difficult, I will get my brother involved . If he reads this thread and can talk to her that will help immensely. It's now 4 am, been up since 2am with some restless dream about my mom. Will try go get more sleep soon.
Thanks again!

a reply to: ancientlight

Glad you were there for her, and it could have been dehydration or something else, but it sounds like it could have been a stroke, I would definitely have her checked thoroughly for that.

If you are travelling, if she doesn't have one already, buy one of those light weight transport chairs.

My mother refused one, along with walkers and canes for the longest time. Once she finally gave in, (initially just to use for a short-trip), it was so much easier on her and on me.

You do so much walking and standing in the airport. If she feels fine, she can use it to carry her bags - hers and others. It will act as a walker. That's how you might convince her to use it. She would be helping everyone.