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My 93yr old father fell in Sept, spent 12 days at home in pain because ER would not admit him and finally thru social service help he was admitted to rehab until Oct 28, 2014. He is now home in our care and the nights are the worst. He doesn't know where he is at, moving around taking depends off and removing tube from cath bag. I am on constant alert all night to hear if he is on the move without his walker. Constipation and fissure pain have now taken over the back pain for sure. No appetite, very hard to get him to drink water, etc. I am thinking he should be weaned off methadone and some mental health changes might reverse. During the day, he does seem to make sense and watch tv and listen to talk radio. I have brother who has MS in the house also, so I am totally on overload right now. I myself had to have arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct 22, so I am trying to get well myself. This fall has taken us to a new level of care and I am seriously thinking about him living somewhere with all these new conditions and symptoms. Any thoughts please??

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Thanks for sharing your ideas. Update is that we retuned to er on Nov 9th for constipation pain and dehydration. Took care of that and we went home that night. I am trying to weane him off methadone and we see primary care doctor on Wed. so hopefully I can get more of my questions answered. I am seriously going to start looking into other living arrangements for my father first and then possibly my brother. My father did mention going into a Veterans Home but I have not called yet to find out what the details would be. Not sure my brother and father belong together in the same facility even though they have been together for 30yrs here in the house. Might be time for a change for everyone involved for a little peace of mind and happiness. I am always open for comments so please feel free.
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My first impulse is to say that either one of your charges goes into respite care or you will need to go into rehab to escape and let your knee heal.

But, methadone can in fact increase confusion and constipation and they ought to have a plan to wean it off and provide some other pain control, e.g. injections, or less sedating meds...and for heaven's sake, they should at least have given and Rx for Miralax, or that new wonder drug to reverse opiate induced constipation if its covered.

And maybe you have options to get some home health or aide help?
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I agree with Ba8alou - you poor woman! Your dad needs more help (in my humble opinion) than you can be expected to give - at least right now. If you have other options for him, get him somewhere so you can at least heal yourself and have some respite from staying on alert all night with your dad! Otherwise, you'll go down too, and you don't want that to happen.
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You poor woman! What does his doctor say about his mental condition? Does he have a diagnosis of dementia?
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