Hi there, I hope this is the right section for posting this.
Im posting on behalf of my Nan (who is blind and has late stage dementia she is 96) 3 weeks ago she was taken into hospital with a broken hip they had to replace the ball as the break was older than 5 days, she was in pain the very next day but it took the hospital a week to work out it had popped out (she was starving herself and not drinking because of the pain) they manipulated it back in and everything was good but it has come out again and they can't put it back in now they are saying there is nothing they can do and she will just have to take pain relief. It is coming out while she is in bed she hasn't even tried walking or getting out of bed (she was perfectly mobile before she went into hospital)
Is there really nothing that can be done we are scared that if she is in pain she will just starve herself to death, she has stopped eating and drinking again now.
What a loving grandchild you are to reach out for her. You must love her so very much. Hopefully someone has some advice. I'll be thinking of her and sending loving thoughts to her and you.
Poor lady how awful for her and for you. Wish there was something I could suggest other than putting pressure on your doctor. Where does she live?
Cheers Richard
She lives in the Dudley area
Hi leelee, I'm so sorry to hear your grandmother's plight, what a worry!
All I can suggest is that the social services must be able to help her. Does she still live in her own home on her own or does she live with family? If she lives on her own I'm sure she must be able to have some kind of daily carer come in to see she has enough to eat and drink.
If she is still in hospital at the moment, the staff there may be able to help to get her the attention she needs.
Good luck.
hi leelee,
I am so sorry to read about your nan --
I am sure they gave her nutrition through IV - I don't know what to tell you -
It might be that your nan might not survive another surgery and there is a high risk that the ball will come out again -
Is there anybody you can talk to ? her doctor should be able to give you more information -
Leelee, I am doing volunteerwork in a senior citizen home - many of them are well in their 90's - they are so fragile of body and strong of mind -
falling is high risk especially when they are confused ...
I am sending Reiki healing rays to her and to you - I hope they can keep her comfortable -
you are a wonderful and loving soul - be with her as much as you can -
big warm hug
renee
Oh my goodness, I feel for both of you! The doctors should have your Nan on pain meds strong enough that she shouldn't hurt too much. Talk to her doctor about increasing her dose for now. She should have a physical therapist to help show her simple exercises that she can do while in the bed. It sounds as though she is emotionally very down, which is understandable for what she has gone through. It also sounds as though you are doing your very best for her. I'm sure just having your support and being around is helping her. Wishing you both the best!
Thank You
She is still in hospital at the moment and when she well enough to leave she is going into a nursing home
Thank you I'm hoping she is on some strong pain meds for now I will know more tonight when I go and see her. She does have physical therapy but she doesn't follow instruction very well because of the dementia and pain she can't understand why it hurts
I have just found out they are trying to get her to take paracetamol but she wont take anything oraly if she is in pain , surely she should be getting something a little stronger
That is terrible! If she can't take anything orally, they should be giving her meds through an IV. She must be in excruciating pain! You need to say something to the doctor immediately.
We will ask for stronger pain meds tonight she was on a IV because she was dehydrated I have no idea why she cant have pain relief through that
She can - when I had an allergic reaction to the morphine after my hip op they gave me two iv's at the same time into a cannula in my hand - one saline and one liquid paracetamol which is much quicker to get into the system for pain relief. Hope this helps. Your poor nan.
Sam x
So sorry to hear this very sad story. I don't know about anything that would help in your Nan's case and hope someone else does.
Normally exercise is recommended to get the muscles around the hip really strong before you go in for surgery so that 'muscle memory' kicks in after the operation and things get back into place quickly but this is obviously not something you could arrange for your Nan.
I do hope you manage to get her some help.
Good. I know you will, but make sure the staff know about her problem and make sure they pay attention to her food and drink needs.
So sorry for your mom's pain and problems!
So you are saying that she had a partial hip replacement, with only the ball and stem? And the ball won't stay in her own acetabular cup made of bone? My husband's father broke his upper femur when he was 96, too! They did a partial replacement of the stem and ball, and it worked fine. I am sure, though, that if it hadn't stayed in, they would have put in a prosthetic cup as well and made the replacement a full one. When a person's leg is just hanging there and the person is in pain, they HAVE to fix it, no matter what the person's age is. We are in the U.S., and my father-in-law was on Medicare.
Leelee,
So sorry to hear about your grandmother and what she has to endure. I, too, think the hospital staff must keep the IV and administer pain meds that way.
Is it possible that they didn't use the proper size ball? She probably isn't moving that much to cause it to pop out this frequently.
I will keep you, your grandmother, and family in my prayers.
Kristen
Yes that is the procedure she had we will know more later