I am the primary caregiver for my grandma. I spend every single day with her and have for the past few years. She’s 95 (96 in a few days) with dementia but has been in pretty good physical health. She’s able to use a walker and get around the house pretty well on her own. Still able to bathe herself too. Usually has a pretty healthy appetite too and loves coffee. About a week ago one night she had trouble sleeping. Couldn’t get to sleep until about 3am. When she finally did fall asleep, she didn’t wake up until almost 1pm. Since then, ALL she is doing is sleeping. She will wake up for about 2 minutes and then go back to sleep. She’s barely talking and won’t eat. Doesn’t even want coffee. I’ve gotten to the point of just giving her ensure drinks and making her drink them. She doesn’t have a problem swallowing, she just says she’s just not hungry. She swears she’s not hurting and she doesn’t feel sick or bad. She’s just kind of “numb” feeling. Meaning she has no energy or desire to do anything. If I do manage to get her to stand up it’s such a struggle for her to walk to the next room. Yesterday I finally got her to drink water and eat a full meal and she stayed awake with me for a while last night. Then this morning she got out of bed on her own and came out for breakfast and lunch too. Ate both meals. Then she took a nap for about an hour and it was right back to not being able to move and not wanting food and just falling asleep.
At this point I’m not sure what to try. And I don’t know if there’s something actually wrong, or if it’s in her head? I can’t tell because she swears she does not feel bad at all.
Any suggested are so greatly appreciated!
Increased sleeping
Decreased need for food or water.
both by the way are indicators for Hospice when they are recertifying someone on Hospice.
The big concern with increased sleeping is that she should be repositioned at least every 2 hours. And every 2 hours she should be checked to see if her briefs need to be changed.
If your grandma is not on Hospice you might want to contact a Hospice in your area (who ever is POA should do this)
Hospice will provide a bed that will help to minimize pressure sores. They will also provide any other equipment that you would need to care for her safely. They will also provide all the supplies you need. And a Nurse would come 1 time a week to check on her and order any medications she needs. They will be delivered to the house. A CNA will come at least 2 times a week to help bathe her, change bedding and order supplies. And you can request a Volunteer that can sit with her if you have to go out. A Social Worker and a Chaplain would be available as well.
My SIL keeps saying she's nearing the end, but then she will have a good day so who knows? And she's doing purty good compared to my dad in a nursing home with 10 thousand issues. It's just a day at a time at this stage of the game.
anytime i've seen this (sudden weakness, not wanting to get out of bed, just wanting to sleep, no fever), it was because of a severe UTI. drinking water is very important (both to prevent UTIs and to treat them). however, when the UTI is very severe, antibiotics are needed.
if you can, get a doctor (home visit). please try to avoid hospitals (she's soon 96). she might want to stay home, no matter what. let her celebrate at home. bday soon!! :) :)
96 and hospitalized can be very dangerous (easily catch more infections/problems in a hospital).