Feeling like the floor is giving under her when she walks. Any advice?

I read the question without seeing who it was from and thought, "Gee, this sounds like JessieBelle's mother!" Sorry to see you are still dealing with this.

It is the dementia. I know that doesn't help a lot. Would it help to have an inspection and a certificate that the floor is safe? Or would she just want another opinion? Since her phobia is not reasonable I guess we can't expect reason to persuade her.

Depth perception is impaired by dementia. That might impact how far she is expecting he foot to move and when it moves more or less than that amount it feels like the floor is receding or advancing. If you've ever climbed a flight of stairs where the final step was shorter or taller than all the others you may have had that experience yourself.

I'm trying to think how to "go along" with this to comfort her. If it were my husband I could have said, "That darn dementia fools with your depth perception sometimes. That's why the floor seems to move. I'm so sorry. It is not your fault, and the floor is safe. Do you want the wheelchair while you are feeling this way?" But I seem to remember that your Mom is not too keen on acknowledging her impairments.

How about something along the lines of this ... "Mom, I think I've finally found something on line to explain the floor problem. It is not about the floor at all! It is about a change in barometric pressure! Only very sensitive people can experience this. It is perfectly safe and normal, but it does feel very weird to those who can sense it. Usually it is women past 60 who are sensitive." Just some malarkey to help her feel special and convince her the floor doesn't need fixing.

Hugs to you, dear lady. If you ever figure out anything that helps, share!

Wrong anatomy Jessie, how could a woman know anything about floors (except how to was one) ;P

What does her doc say about her unusual gait?
Does she look down while walking? Poor depth perception?
Neuropathy in her feet? Balance issues?

Jessie, I believe the issue with floating floors is that they're not nailed down to a subfloor, but are nailed or connected to each other. This can leave a small pocket of flexibility for those walking on the floors.

Windy, you're the expert on construction - can you help us out??

Stage floors for dance are floating floors; I'm sure the floors in grocery stores are not because they're so hard and inflexible.

Perhaps you could tell your mother that, in an effort to address her concerns, you checked with the contractor who did the floor support work a few years ago and learned that he used a special sub floor construction especially for her so that she wouldn't have to walk on hard floors, and could feel a little bit of "give" that makes it easier on older feet and legs.

We gave her an out so she could save face. I mentioned the things talked about here last night -- depth perception and change of feeling in her feet -- made it feel like the floor was giving under her. She accepted it today. Maybe I can talk her into wearing some good shoes soon... or maybe I'm hoping for too much. She loves slippers.

Jessebelle, trying really hard to put myself in the mind of a dementia patient, is it at all possible she is trying to say something else, even about something else?
Could she be saying she is slipping on the floors and then would only need rubber bottomed slippers?
A stroke patient often repeats a word replacing it with their own word, but that is not what they mean to say. Something similar could be going on with your mom, but I don't know about dementia. I do hope she feels reassured.
Could someone tell her she is right about the floors, but we are just going to live with them because we like old floors?
Maybe they just need waxing?
Just another perspective, but you know your Mom. You seem to have been very thorough with checking her gait on a video. Good job!

Babalou, the doctor hasn't said anything about her walk. None of them have. She has spinal stenosis, so is badly bent. She looks down when she walks and has a side to side transfer of weight. He feet are wide apart and her steps are small. She holds her left arm bent and held up behind her bowed back when she walks. I asked her last doctor to watch her walk, but it didn't go anywhere. Her doctors change every few months now in this unstable healthcare environment, so I have to keep up with which doctor said what when. (Wish she had one doctor like it was in the old days.)

Am I correct in assuming that this is a floating floor? If so, that may be what she's sensing.

Jessie, add that the contractor said what your mother has been experiencing when walking is exactly what would be expected, and that there is nothing wrong with the floor.

Today brought a surprise. My brother dropped by. Turns out my mother had called him to ask him to come check the floors for her. He has done this before. When he came today, he jumped and walked about a bit and said things seemed fine. She accepted it. I told him that she would probably forget what he said soon and start talking about the floors again. Today's Tuesday, Aug 11. Let's see how long my brother's reassurance lasts.

Isn't it strange that she'll believe him that the floor is okay, but she'll get mad at me for saying the same thing. I lack credibility, I guess. :(