Hello, new here was looking around the internet and finally found a caregiver forum not an ad for an agency. I tend to ramble these days. My question is my Mother had surgery for a broken femur not at the hip, and was advised not to put any weight on it for 8 weeks. We live in Canada in Quebec where the Corona virus is rampant. She has started doing rehab but they need to wait for a doctor to allow them to start standing her with assistance. By the way she was being taken care of when an auxiliary nurse was not paying attention on her cell when she fell and broke her femur at the hospital where she was supposed to be safe.
She came through the surgery amazingly but I want to bring her home but cannot as she still cannot stand, has anyone had experience with someone at this age recovering from surgery.
I personally have witnessed the latter. I will never forget it. That poor man.
I had a dear friend fall and break her femur. It was very traumatic for her, she was 84 years old. It took her some time but you really couldn't tell that she had broken it after the 1st year.
Unfortunatly the break, hospital stay and recovery advanced her dementia pretty dramatically.
She was happy and contented, so it was all well.
I am sorry that your mom is going through this, especially now, it makes everything harder.
Best wishes for a full recovery and no added surprises.
Have you documented the negligence? How do you know what happened?
In lieu of a lawsuit, perhaps the hospital could pay for 24-hour care at your home while your mother recovers. (I'm angry at the situation for you, and am just throwing this out there.)
Why was your mother in the hospital in the first place?
Convince them for free rehab maybe one way... Either way, lawyers may need to get involved... Good luck... Hope your mom gets better.
How old is your mother?
It's going to be a toll for a few days until you both get into a routine. I would consult the doctor and hospital and any family member living in your home.. It's going change the whole house. Are there stairs leading to the house into the house, into the main living quarters? You may want to talk with doctor and social worker to make sure home is safe for mom.
Social services should offer mom a 30 day reprieve. If they do, take it. They will not ask again. 30 days gives them time to rehab her, and you time to figure out if she is coming home with you, or you found a place close by that fits both her needs and yours too.
ASk about Palliative Care, so the physical therapists can come to her once a week or once every 2 weeks. etc. And or Hospice. They will evaluate her for both needs.. Maybe she only needs palliatiave care. They will re-assess her every 6 months to a year...nurse or PT will go to her instead of you taking her to dr office.
Hospice, if they see the need, will evaluate her every 30 days, this is more for people who may need end of life care.. It is not all that bad. My mom graduated 3 or 4 times. The last time, she went to Heaven, but she got a lot of care. Hospice is there for both patient and family..
This may have changed with covid.. you can discuss that at your next meeting. Good luck.
seek out different ways to solving this.. Keep asking your social worker, the doctors involved, etc. Keep inquiring.. KEEP INQUIRING... You may get the answer you need.
If you are not sure what "they are saying",,, keep asking WHY? HOW? WHAT?
AND... NOW WHAT DO WE DO?
Hospital will want to offload for the 8 weeks.
1. My mother was 98 when the let her fall, she is now 99 and in rehab, I have not seen her since March 20th, due to the lock down in our area.
2. I am in Quebec Canada so cannot sue only make a complaint which now do to the crisis will not be pursued.
3. Hospital was free but do not know how much the rehab will cost as she was transferred due to the crisis.
4. So at the moment getting very little rehab, and is getting depressed. The best is when the nurses at the rehab call me and it seems like they are asking me how to treat some of her skin issues due to being in bed for 2 months, maybe if they let me in they I could tell them.
5. My favorite was last night I finally fell asleep the phone rings at 11:45 pm I touched it and hung up by accident saw it was the hospital called back right away and they state they did not call, and it is on my phone that they did.
Sorry no questions some answers to what was asked a a general rant sorry again.
If PQ is like BC there will be no charge for rehab. There also will not be a set end date for full coverage as there appears to be in the US. Dad has months of rehab in Vancouver after having a stroke.
Covid has made everything more challenging. Care facilities are having to limit access to try to prevent the spread, leaving family members worried and questions unanswered.
Can you ask the nurse to use Facetime, Whatsapp or another App to allow you to see Mum and perhaps see the skin issues?
It is not always possible to stop a senior from falling. And sometimes the bone breaks then the person falls. And it can be safer for everyone involved to not try to catch the person when they are falling.
Call in the morning and follow up with the dropped call. It can be challenging to trace who was making a call when a facility has a switchboard and multiple lines will show the same number. I have been at the switchboard end of it and had people say "...Why did you call me and not leave a message?", but they have not identified themselves and I have no idea who in the building may have been calling them. The best I can do is take a message and pass it to all the staff for the right person to follow up.