My mother is 91 year old. She is being cared for in a private facility and has dementia and/or alzheimers. She fractured her leg in November and has not been able to walk since, even with therapy. She was being transferred to a wheelchair daily, until recently. Last Sunday, she woke up with a swollen hand and we thought she had broken it somehow. The hand was x-rayed and it was determined that she had arthritis. But the next day or two, she began getting pain in her extremities and neck. It hurts her just to touch her or move her even slightly. She is also barely able to speak and does not move any part of her body anymore. When I attempt to lift or move her head to reposition her pillow, she cries out in pain. She barely lifted her arm once, but that was all. She has squeezed our fingers slightly a few times in the last couple of days. Both hands are swollen and very hot to touch and it hurts her to even move her fingers or hands. Her speech is unintelligible at times and very labored. She does not see that people are even in the room and asks if they've left. She has become unable to chew and now her food is being pureed. She eats very little and can barely open her mouth at times to receive even liquids. The nurse practitioner said they could hear rattling in her chest. She is currently on oxygen. Yesterday, she was sleeping and when she opened her eyes, they were rolled up in her head. She has been asking about people that died many years ago. The hospice staff does not know what is happening. I just don't understand that about a week and a half ago she was sitting up in her wheelchair and feeding herself (it was labored due to her shaking, but she managed). She also had what we believe to be a couple of TIA strokes in the last year and a half. Is it possible that she has had a stroke? I am dumbfounded.
posted on
Wed, 8 Jul 2015