She has a difficult time getting out of her chair, even hard chairs. I can't determine if it is her arms or her legs that are the more weak. She is still living in her home with a caregiver 4 mornings a week. She watches tv almost all day every day. I have tried to encourage some exercise at home but she says she forgets. Her balance is not good either. Any suggestions? Thank you.
Very good. I hope the review is helpful.
Getting *slowed up* was a term I read on a chart I found online: Canadian Clinical Frailty Scale. I have LOs at various points along it. Their reasons differ for their slowing up.
Yes muscles can weaken with reduced use. But our heart & lungs power us with blood & oxygen. Our brain drives us - mood & motivation are key. Becoming *slowed up* can be multi-factored.
Sometimes we do do have to alter our expectactions.. to except some conditions cannot be cured, but looking for clues can't hurt.
you have to tell the caregivers it is part of the job.
Unfortunately, falls are inevitable with the elderly. They are also the cause of rapid decline, or the rapid decline is the cause of the falls.
My yoga teacher, at age 82, was very fit and could still do The Crow. That's the pose where you balance on your hands, lift your bent legs and tuck them inside your elbows. She emphasized in all her classes that upper body strength is vital to survival. If we could drag ourselves to the phone or the door after we fall, we could get help instead of dying on the floor.
Why don't you look into a physical therapist for mom? I'm concerned about her only having a caregiver 4 mornings week. That isn't nearly enough for the state she's in now, and she might not be able to get help on her own if she's so weak.
You say she has dementia...well that is the reason she "forgets".
And recovering from a broken hip along with dementia there could be a fear that she will fall again, the fear of the pain she might have,.
After my Husband broke his hip I did have caregivers that would take him for a walk around the neighborhood. On weekends I would take him to Sam's or Costco and he would walk the store. (the fact he got to sample some foods kept him going around the store. 🤣)
But on the other hand your mom has dementia, she is going to decline, she will forget how to do many things like walking, standing, feeding herself this is part of the disease.
If mom is compliant with PT maybe the doctor could order in home PT that would get her moving a few days a week and if it helps the order can be repeated.
You suggested exercise and she says she "forgets" to do it.
You are going to waste a lot of time trying to get a resistant person to voluntarily do something they aren't interested in doing. Been there, done that.
You need to ask the caregiver to take her out for walks, or encourage her to get up and do tasks with her whenever she's there. Maybe your Mom needs another aid to come in the other days to get her up and moving. The family caregiver for my very elderly Aunt used to walk her out to the mailbox and up and down the hallways at least once a day. She was 101 and used a walker. I think that's as much as you can expect.
In the end, your Mom may still make reasons why she isn't doing any of it. Has she been tested for dementia and memory loss? Please have tempered expectations and try not to project your concept of what she "should" be doing upon her. I know it's hard to watch the decline. May you receive peace in your heart on this journey.
https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/articles/sit-to-stand/
So if your mom isn't moving around now there's a REASON. And I would encourage you to both go to her doctor, start with bloodwork, look at weight, consider bone density scan, Then request an evaluation by a physical therapist.
Sit and speak with Mom. Ask her the why of the seemingly "choice" decision to not move around more? Is there pain? Where? Weakness? How's the diet? etc. This is an exploration you two will take together. There are good balance exercises to help her as well and when faithfully done they will help, though balance is always an issue; we are feathers in the wind no matter what we weigh, and it's difficult to recover from tripping on something; we WILL go down.
Good luck. Do tell her that you fear for her mobility, and that once she IS immobile she may end in care, something neither of you want for her. So far I clean my own home, do my laundry, do my garden. And that is in the interests of keeping me busy, active and keeping the bones moving so they can be nourished, keeping the muscles as good as they can be for age, and keeping the tendons stretched, as well as maintaining general strength, attitude and etc.
And you know what, for me, TV during the day is a no-no.
How is your mom with sitting down and getting up from the toilet? Getting into and out of the shower? I had grab bars installed for both. There are also higher toilet seats. I raised the height of her bed a little bit to help there.
My mom also can’t lift anything more than maybe 4-5 lbs. and can’t really use the oven anymore because she can’t lean down over and hold a pan with food in it. She is also losing strength in her hands.
I tried a few times over the past few years showing my mom very easy exercises myself, and also sent her YouTube links to same, and gave her two-lb hand weights but she never does any exercise and refuses even in-home PT.
What if you told her this truth — at this rate it’s very likely she may fall and hurt herself, then go from hospital to rehab (where PT is likely) and then to AL or SNF. But if she does PT now, it might improve her chances of falling less and also hurting herself less if she does fall. I don’t think it would work with my mom but just throwing it out there.
Is her house wheelchair accessible? Because it sounds to me like she might wind up needing a wheelchair. Maybe a walker first?
I use all this to remind MYSELF to exercise and stretch! Use it or lose it. Here is a test about this very issue:
https://youtube.com/shorts/KIXzy6tqQS8?feature=shared
I am 59 and just did 11 in 30 seconds so feel like I should practice this more.
Good luck!
She has fallen twice in the last 2 years, both times requiring surgery and rehab stay. We tried PT for a few weeks after that but she would forget to go to the appt. Then we had PT come to her house but after a few weeks she said she didn't want to keep having it. I like your idea about telling her that if she wants to stay living at home, she will need to continue PT.
Thank you.
A physical therapist can do an evaluation of mom, however, if her PCP writes an order for home health.
Bestof luck to you.
Remembering to do her exercises at home was a big struggle the last time we tried PT. She tested out of PT rehab after surgery. We tried to continue the PT but she was not enjoying it so we discontinued PT. I think I will try to mention about restarting PT if she wants to keep living in her home.
Thank you for your thoughts lealonnie1.
Have you spoken to mom's doctor about getting her Physical Therapy?
Can you enlist the caregiver in getting her to practise the balance exercises that the PT will give her?
Thank you for your thoughts BarbBrooklyn.