Mum in hospital after fall and dislocated shoulder worried about her progress

One of the first nurses I spoke to advised that on no account should my mum be discharged until there is home care in place and additionally that the vertigo that she has been experiencing - which I suspect was a contributory factor in her fall - is addressed. We have been unable to get any help from the local NHS in deadling with this to date. GP service is abysmal and the local hospital physio clinic hasn't so far given her an appointment for assessment.

Aside from all that, if we can get mum home she will need to have carers coming in daily whilst she recuperates. Mum won't like that one bit as she has always been fiercely independent and a very private person like many of her age group. Between me, my brother and my nephew we will have to make arrangements to be over at mum's as often as possible. They live locally to my mum but I don't - I am 100 miles away and working and constantly on the move. Logistically a potential headache but we have to do it. Longer term arrangements I will have to discuss with mu mum when she is up to it and once she is fully aware of her now limitations. Up until she went into hospital she was managing her home herself and despite the osteoarthritis was walking out to the local shops every other day - with her walking stick - to do her business. As she always says 'It keeps me going'. Not sure if she will be up to that again.

I hope your mother continues to progress and is soon able to return home to continue her recovery. Having spent a couple of weeks in hospital I hope the food is better than I had, the visitors I appreciated most were those who bought in food that were nutritious and tasty but I still struggled to eat because the antibiotics gave me a metallic taste to most foods. I also appreciated short visits as painkillers made me very tired.
When Mil was alive and living with us we had a good conversation about what she wanted should she become ill. She was also in her 90s and it was so helpful to us. Although I'm not yet 80, I've also had that conversation with my closest family.
Fwiw bed moving is often related to progress or what is seen as priority health concern, annoying for relatives and potentially disorientating for older patients but not altogether unreasonable. There was so much pressure on beds that I spent my last night in a corridor which the nurses described jokingly as the departure lounge!

My query too eazybee where will she go on discharge, the hospital will need to be satisfied I expect that she has full support.
drbledu I hope tomorrow you feel reassured.

I have three friends (69s, 70s, 80s) who all had falls and dislocated their shoulders, and it takes a long time to recover. Your mother is doing really well for her age, and the hospital teams are working together efficiently. I think you are expecting too much too soon, and you really cannot expect hospital staff to contact you to let you know she has moved wards; I was moved three times in 24 hours.
When she is released from hospital will there be someone with her full time, because it is difficult to manage in the early weeks with dressing, washing and eating, let alone cooking and house work?

when we went into the nursing home and they had moved fil it used to give us a jolt, he had dementia and was noisy at night so often had to be moved to allow others to sleep. you are getting some information which seems quite informative and seems they know which way they are going, do look after yourself as well. hope she is home soon

drbledu, I hope your mum gets back to her old self soon, it must be such a worry for you and a shock for her too, It takes a bit longer to recover the older we get ...sending get well wishes to mum...

Do hope things improve for your Mum , I am well aware how stressful this is for you. I had always wanted to be with my Mum when she died , she moved from living with us to a nursing home. I had been with her for a few days when a nurse told me how exhausted I was and suggested I went home to recharge. I did and yes you guessed it she died in my absence. Apparently that is not uncommon, so if that does happen to you do NOT beat yourself up about it! In the mean time ask questions, ensure she is given the very best care and don't be fobbed off just because she is 92. Thinking of you 💐💐

Oh this took me back to my mum being in hospital. The times she was moved wards without telling me , I could write a book !
I’m sorry they’re moving her so much it is very unsettling for them. Also we seemed to loose a dressing gown in the process. I stopped buying new ones, she just wore a cardigan.
Compared to our experience you sound to be doing really well as in speaking to Drs and nurses my experiences were very different. I’m pleased they’ve identified her infection and hopefully now she’ll be on the correct antibiotics. Good luck to your mum and you.

Went into the ward today to see mum and she wasn't there - they had moved her to another ward and not rung to tell me. You can imagine what went through my mind!

She has been handed over to a new team and the new doctor called me in for a chat to update me on what they are doing. Turns out that my mum doesn't have a urine infection and that the antibiotics they were administering were not strong enough. Doctor says that she has pneumonia infection but they are hopeful that the new anti-bios will do the job - although at my mum's age it is an up and down procedure and you have to monitor from day to day.

Did manage to get her to eat today and take some drinks (Ribena seemed to do the job). Even had a little chat with her about her grandfather clock ... but she was pretty tired with the infection and having been moved and messed about with all day by yet more doctors and nurses. Staff seem nice enough and I have their reassurance that they will keep me updated with any developments. I can call in to the ward and check at any time.

Just hoping for the best but cognisant that it could be touch and go.

The older we become, the longer it takes to recover.

The shock of this will take its toll and time to get over.

Well I went to see mum today and she was awake, talking and more conversational and making efforts to move herself in the bed - until she realised her limitations……

I had a chat with the nurses about what had happened yesterday and they seemed surprised since my mum’s notes from recent tests had been overseen by a consultant in the ICU who advised that there were no unduly concerning ‘infection markers’. They did some more bloods and tests and took my mum down for another CT scan on her pelvis today and will look at the results for further treatment.

Quite a bit of company for mum today - me, my nephew and an aunt and cousin - mom seemed a bit fatigued by it and she is very depressed. We are all trying to encourage her and keep her spirits up.

All in all not the day I was expecting. Keeping my fingers crossed for improvement.

"The worst comes to worst" presumably you mean she dies. At her age she must know she will die quite soon .Please reassure her she is getting all the care from you and the hospital that she will need . It's probably not reassuring to try to tell her she is not going to die.

Please don't worry quite so much. Your mother can be hydrated and nourished intravenously whenever she needs it.

Morphia is a wonder drug! It's side effects are well known by doctors and nurses.

Geriatric wards perhaps have a poor image, but there are good reasons for specialist wards . Aged (geriatric) patients usually have several chronic health conditions that need treatment or alleviation all at the same time and this is what a geriatric ward is good at.

So sorry to hear your latest news. I think you’re right not giving your mum the full information she needs to concentrate on eating and drinking. At least the Dr is aware of what’s wrong so hopefully they’ll be checking her obs carefully.
Good luck to your mum. Hope the antibiotics start to help.

drbledu23, I'm sorry to hear about your dear Mum. I just wanted to let you know that when my husband was very ill with sepsis which was not responding to the usual antibiotics, his treatment was
'escalated to Tazocin' ( that's from his discharge letter) which made all the difference. I hope your Mum gets a suitable treatment soon.

I hope you get better news today.

I saw mum today and she was awake, having a little supper and drinking water like there was no tomorrow. The nurse said she was doing much better today and they were encouraged. She is off the codeine and taking her usual paracetomal for the pain - she sustained a slight fracture on her shoulder.

However, my relief at her improvement was quelled when the consultant call me and my brother out whilst they took my mum for a scan. He advised that she has a serious urine infection (sepsis was mentioned) which so far is not responding to the antibiotics. He may call in consultants from intensive care to advise alternative treatment … but he warned us that she might take turn for the worse at any time. My mum suspects something is amiss and I could only tell her about the infection and that the doctors are trying to treat it - which is true - but am feeling awful about doing that in an effort to not unduly alarm her. Asked her if she wanted me to stay with het for the night but nurse said not to do so - they only permit it in crisis situations. Just that before mum went down for the scan she said she was scared and did not want to die - have never heard her say that before - I had to reassure her that she was being looked after and it just a scan.

My brother is totally matter of fact and unemotional about all this but I cannot take these events in this way. If the worst comes to the worst I don’t want it to happen without me there to hold her hand if you know what I mean. - I can’’t break my promise to be there for her.

Am going to see her again tomorrow and just hoping for some better news….

I can remember the shock of falling and dislocating my shoulder and banging my face. It was excruciating.
Does your Mum have anyone to look after her at home? It takes a while to recover and it's difficult to do anything. I wasn't admitted but couldn't complete many tasks for a few weeks afterwards, my arm was in a sling in case it dislocated again. Even getting dressed was difficult.

I hope she isn't discharged too soon.

Sending best wishes

Thank you everyone for the advice and kind wishes.

I am going to see her this afternoon (have been away working for 3 days). My brother and nephew who are local have been visiting each day but they don’t ask questions and take things at face value. I am like my mum and like to get to the bottom of everyone especially where the NHS are concerned. If mum was not under morphine/codeine she would probably be discharging herself as we speak…..

Will keep you posted

My Mum was falling and on one occasion she fell in the bathroom and lost consciousness. Ambulance called and took details over the phone and in their ' wisdom's concluded she had vertigo. It took about 4 hours to arrive and paramedic confirmed it was ' just a bout of vertigo' After scans I was told she had a stroke. During her hospital stay I had to push hard to get any information about her condition I felt they simply didn't care ! She did recover fairly well after that ,sadly died a few years later. I just wanted to ask you to trust your instincts regarding your Mums care. After this initial hospital stay Mum was admitted again and fortunately it was a far better experience for her and me! Please don't be afraid to question.
Although the years have passed I miss my lovely Mum every day. 💐💐

So sorry to hear about your mum and I can understand your worry. It does sound as if it’s the drugs making her tired. If she’s not used to taking anything stronger than paracetamol, the drugs you mentioned will have really affected her.
Morphine affects everyone differently. My mum had many falls and lots of hospital stay's,
morphine used to make her so confused and sleepy I didn’t recognise her.
Hopefully they’ll keep her in one place now because moving them around at that age doesn’t help at all. Please let us know how she gets on. Wishing her a speedy recovery.

What happened with your mum Shelflife?

Do keep us posted . Good luck.

I do feel for you , I had similar experiences with my Mum . Hope you get answers tomorrow when you speak to nurses/doctor. Don'tbe afraid to voice your concerns . A hospital stay for very elderly people is very difficult and they often become disorientated. It's a very distressing time for you and I know you are thinking about her welfare all the time and trying to manage your personal life. I wish your Mum well and I hope you are taking care of yourself. 💐💐

My mum rarely takes any medication other than paracetamol - strongly averse to taking drugs. Could be the drugs are having strong effect on her. Worried that she is hardly eating as I don't want her to start going downhill.

Am going to speak to the nurses tomorrow and hopefully doctor in charge of her - been difficult keeping up since she has moved ward three times and each time handed over to a different staffing. Some continuity would help.