Broken pelvis

mishap I have no experience with this, but you must be worried not being able to be hands on.

Oh bless him, what a shame, I really hope he gets on ok.
From my limited NHS experience it would be a good idea to contact the hospital discharge team. You are correct in thinking they won't want him to block a hospital bed but there should be a system where, once he has received all the necessary hospital treatment, he can be placed in a residential home on a temporary basis. He can then receive all the help and support to rehabilitate him enough for him to be able to return to his own home.
It sounds like your Dad was reasonably independent so it is important for that to be encouraged.
I send you Mishap, and of course your Dad and sister, all my best wishes at this difficult time for all of you

What a worry for you, Mishap. I hope your poor dad makes good progress.

Hi Mishap, my mum broke her pelvis about a year ago, aged 87. After quite a frustrating time (for her and for us!) in hospital, she went back to the home where she had been living for a year or so, equipped with a walker, raised seat and a toilet frame. She also had a physio referral which resulted is an appointment 14 weeks later! Needless to say, we paid privately!! Mum now uses a walker all the time but more for stability than an aid to walking. She can walk well without it when she forgets where she parked it or if someone else 'steals it' and she gives chase.

I imagine your father will need to go to a 'convalescent house' if they still exist in your part of the world. Mum would have had to do that if she had been living on her own. The ones round here seem to be quite good and try hard to move patients on as quickly as they can.

You must feel quite helpless Mishap so have a ((hug)).

Troubles don't come along one at a time do they. I guess it depends how bad and where the break is. My cousin's DH fell off his bike and had to stay off his feet for several weeks. When MIL got discharged once but could not walk they sent her to a "rehabilitation unit" - it was a small NHS hospital (originally a geriatric hospital) with good physio and occupational therapy.
I hope you will be able to get to visit him so see how he is doing.

Thanks for the helpful messages. On the plus side it looks as though it is a clean break with no internal injuries, so it is just a question of keeping his weight off it while it heals - at least thaqt is how things look at the moment. I am awaiting a call from my sister when the medics have reassessed this morning.

14 weeks for a physio appointment kittylester - this really isn't a service! It is disgraceful - in this sort of situation physio is needed straight away to stop someone going off their feet for good. It simply is not good enough!

We will of course pay for a private physio if it turns out that this is what is needed - just as we are having to dip into our savings for my scans and consultations or risk being on crutches for an extra 10 unnecessary weeks.

Dad is otherwise very fit and I hope that he can come through this. I know he will be thinking about his own Mum who did a similar thing whien she was 92 and chose to die rather than lose her independence - she refused all food and drink. He was only talking to me about it on the phone the other day. I hope he can put that out of his mind and try and look forward - it is a bit of a worry.

mishap what a worry for you and your sister,if it's of any help to you the neighbour along from us had similar during the summer and she is 89 yrs old,after the treatment in the hospital the occupational health visitor arranged for her to go into respite care for 6 weeks so she could recover with help and companionship,she then had home care twice a day until she was caperable to continue on her own,she also receives visits every day from the complex warden but its just to make sure she is ok nothing intrusive.

So sorry to hear about this mishap, it must be very worrying for you when you're incapacitated yourself. I'm afraid you're probably going to find yourself playing postcode lottery here; if your dad lives in the right place there will be adequate after-care provision, with good physio, rehabilitation and respite services, but heaven help him if he lives anywhere near me as these services have been pared down to the bone.

Just had a call from my sister and the news is as good as it could be under the circumstances.

The fracture is a clean one and the plan is to get his pain under control and get the physios to work on him with a view to getting him mobile on a zimmer and back home as soon as possible with a package of care. Let us hope it all works out as planned.

He is generally fit and compos mentis - they did a dementia test on him and asked him when the second world war started - he thought for quite a while, then said "Well I think it was September 3rd." - that's telling'em!!!

Nice work, your dad! I hope he makes a good recovery and is soon mobile again. He sounds lovely. It makes me miss my dad, especially at this time of year.