My Mom is 86 and has severe osteoarthritis in her knees (as well as osteoperosis) She is also very unsteady & not a candidate for knee replacement. Mom uses a walker and is in assisted living (thank god). Here is the issue: Mom can barely get out of a chair, off a toilet and so forth. This becomes a major issue when I take her out. I'm a petite gal (with pre-osteopena) and while I manage to help her up, I'm becoming increasingly concerned and stressed that one day I won't be able to, or even if I'm holding her she is going to lose her balance (or her legs will collapse) taking us both down. (Mom weighs about 140) Mom also gets extremely panicky~ she's starts flipping out, screaming that I'm not holding her etc. This obviously adds stress to the whole situation. It's getting to the point where I dread taking her out cause I'm afraid. I feel bad, but I really fear something is going to happen (she's fallen in her room several times, and it always takes two people to help her) I should also mention that Mom is incontinent so going to the bathroom is a given while we are out. She uses the bathroom's handicap stall if available but sometimes the seat is too low for her to get up from. Also, once she's up she'll also start crying cause she is in so much pain (initially anyway) I just don't want to take her out anymore~ I feel horrible for feeling this way. Her assisted living facility is very nice and she does have opportunities to get out~ so it's not like she'd be a prisoner....thoughts/suggestions???
I will definitely look into having someone from the ALF accompany us- that's the ideal as she really likes the help there and is very amenable to their assistance.
Re: PT - we've gone down that path several times. Part of the issue is her knee is literally bone on bone. She gets cortisone shots- helps a little bit. She had kidney issues so can't take. NSAIDs. Hydrotherapy would be perfect for strengthening - I'll have to look into that.
Also takes Lasix that doesn't help,obviously, with the peeing issue. She does wear diapers; and of course that helps however, it's not the answer in that I certainly do not want her in a soiled diaper when we are out. That just seems dehumanizing.