
My 96-yr old Mom (who lives in the house next to us) has been rapidly losing her mobility over the past 1-1/2 weeks due to undiagnosed leg pain. Two weeks ago she was gardening every day, going up and down a full flight of stairs for laundry, cleaning on her own, ironing and cooking 50% of her meals. Now she can barely get out of her recliner or bed on her own, and can barely take steps, even using the walker with me supporting her.
She has osteoarthritis in her back, and arthritis in several other places. She has an appointment at the orthopedic Pain Clinic but not until mid-August. Her primary doctor won't prescribe anything for her without an appointment. Not sure my Mom will be physically able to go to either of these places. I don't think I want to take her to Urgent Care or the ER...
She did sleep in her recliner one night, but should I encourage this as a solution? Or would a hospital bed be better? It would need to raise and lower, plus adjust at the head and knees.
I looked for used ones on craigslist and Nextdoor, but it was slim pickings and no mattresses.
All input and insights would be greatly appreciated!
Since this post I have been unable to convince my Mom to go to her primary for imaging; or go to Urgent Care for imaging or go to the ER. She is adamant about waiting for her Aug 19 Pain Clinic appointment. Up until recently she was in so much pain, in spite of the Tylenol, that she really wasn't mobile enough to even get down steps or into a car. Last week I showered her (seated) -- and she had to step over the old fashioned tub for this -- and it ratcheted up her pain a lot afterwards, so I was pretty sure she couldn't do stairs or a car for the appointment. I couldn't convince her to use a medical transport either. I had the aids make her do the heat/ice treatments each day. We kept ahead of the pain with the Tylynol (although it never took it completely away).
This past weekend she has improved and has less pain so is moving about more without her walker and doing more things in her house on her own. At one point I had the AL discussion with her and I think this put a flame under her desire to regain her ADLs.
She likes sleeping in her recliner -- hasn't requested her bed or any bed at all.
During my forum absence I decided to try her on CBD/THC gummies. She insisted they didn't work but then asked for them every day ;-) The thc was the synthetic kind (delta-9). Now I have a source for some Indica made by someone I know. Will start a small dose tomorrow. My Mom's been eating Tylenol all this time, is not interested at all in opioids.
97, thanks for asking about my Mom. It'll be interesting to see what her imaging shows. I'm hoping she's a candidate for some sort of non-drug therapy, like ablation. I'll post more after the 19th.
I think this is way too long to wait for a diagnosis of acute pain in someone who was only days ago so active.
I would go to urgent care.
Hospital beds are notoriously uncomfortable. If you think it's hospice time, you can get them to bring her one for free.
What worked very well for my mother was an adjustable bed. While it won't raise and lower, it will lift her torso up and adjust at the knees too.
Good luck!