My mother in law was recently taken to the ER with severe back pain. A CT scan revealed what is believed to be some type of cancer in several vertebrae, plus one is fractured. Doctors say she needs a PET scan which must be done as an outpatient. She is unable to walk and is pretty much confined to a bed now, so she opted to go to rehab in hopes of getting better so that she could get the PET scan. That doesn’t appear to be working. Day 4 of rehab, she slept most all day and on day 5 (today) she doesn’t make sense when she talks, isn’t sure what time of day it is, or even what day it is. She is confused and will repeat everything you say.
She has COPD and is supposed to be on a bipap machine each night, but she hasn’t used it in at least a month.
Is the build-up of CO2 causing her erratic behavior or has the cancer spread to her brain?
Should we insist that her regular physician come see her in rehab?
Please take your mother in law to the doctor. She may be confused due to a UTI or another medical situation. I hope her confusion clears up soon.
I would talk to the Director of Nursing and review what meds she is on to try to figure out why she is sleeping so much.
Hace her tested for a UTI, which can cause behavioral symptoms.
Did they scan her head, or only the bit of back she told them was hurting? What other investigations did they do?
Yes, insist that a qualified medical practitioner comes to see her in rehab to take a full history and carry out a full assessment. Now. Yesterday. As soon as possible.
[seeing red on your and her behalf, sorry].
PS Build up of CO2? What build up? Put a pulse oximeter on her finger. If you get a startling reading, put it on her toe. If it's still a worry, jump up and down and make a fuss. Bi-paps are helpful but if her oxygen reading is low that won't be the big factor.
I was able to get her on it for about 10 minutes this morning, but that's all she would tolerate. She's even letting her breathing treatments (DuoNeb)sit on the table. She used to be adamant about getting them every 4 hours.
Her O2 ranges from 84 to 98, depending on which finger you can get a reading
We don't now if this is how she wants it or the CO2 is clouding her judgment.