My mother fell and broke her arm (just above the elbow) in March. Since then she has been in a "cast" which is made of molded (curved) hard plastic and attaches to the upper and lower arm with Velcro straps. There is a hinge at the elbow that the doctor periodically adjusts to allow more movement.
When she first broke her arm, she was told to keep her hand elevated to avoid all the blood draining down to her hand. In short, she didn't do what the doctor told her to do. Her hand swelled and turned all sorts of colors.
I tried to get my mom to move into a nursing home (short term) but she'd have nothing to do with the idea.
Her doctor set up in-home physical and occupational therapy. The aides called me (I'm her POA) because it was obvious to them that my mom couldn't take care of herself while still living in her apartment. With their help, we finally convinced mom that she needed to have 24 hour care and she reluctantly went into a nursing home where she was able to receive the help she needed plus could get physical and occupational therapy on site.
But, because she had to pay for this herself, she left after 3 weeks and went back to her apartment. She's been there for about a month now and has not had any therapy at all and I doubt that she has been doing the exercises that she'd done while in the nursing home (all of the weights and sponges she'd been given to use have been stuffed into a drawer.)
I also noticed that my mom isn't using that hand at all to grasp things (like the handle of her walker or the handle of a grocery cart). When I mentioned this to her, she said that it hurt to do so and was content to just rest her forearm on the handles.
After about two weeks back at home, she started complaining that her hand hurt, her fingers were numb and she couldn't sleep. We called her bone specialist who made an appointment with a hand specialist and, last week, I took my mother for a nerve test, xrays and a meeting with that doctor. We were told mom now has carpal tunnel syndrome.
She has more exercises she's supposed to do and was given rigid wrist splints that she's to wear at night.
Since she didn't do her exercises before and probably isn't going to do any exercises now, what will happen?
She refuses to listen to me. I've told her that if she doesn't use those muscles, she's going to lose use of them.
She also refuses to take Ibuprofen (which the doctor said she should) or will take 1 pill in the morning and believes that it will be enough for an entire day. She believes that if she takes more she'll become addicted.
Any suggestions?
P.S. I did get her set up for in-home physical and occupational therapy again, which will start tomorrow.
If she's uncomfortable taking pills, try to get her to take as many anti-inflammatory foods as possible. They aren't as powerful, but they will help.
There are some that are much worse than others - refined sugar for one. If you can control her diet and reduce some of the inflammation, she may begin to feel a sense of hope.
Your mother may feel overwhelmed with aging and its side effects and feel that it's "no use". I wish I had some suggestions but right now I don't. I know it's hard to get someone to cooperate once the mind is set and made up. And that's the first step.
Do you think you could get her to go to a therapy facility? She may enjoy that more than home PT. Typically the therapists fuss over older people, so perhaps that attention might break the stalemate. Perhaps just getting out and socializing would be an incentive to continue with PT.
And perhaps you could take her someplace special after the therapy sessions - use them as the basis for a reward. Sometimes we go to the Dairy Queen for our rewards - it really does help to set a good mood of course, all that sugar in the DQs helps as well)!
I don't wish to be blunt or insulting, but has your mother always been resistant to cooperation? Or did it start after the arm fracture? Unfortunately, this seems to be the key to recovery, and I know it's really difficult when someone doesn't want to do what's necessary.
I'm wondering also if she's in denial about the state of her arm?
Wish I could think of something to help but right now I don't have any really good suggestions, but I do hope others will offer good advice such as Maggie has done.
So the carpal tunnel will probably clear up.
As for the carpal tunnel....whether is goes away on its own is rather dependent upon what, exactly, is causing the carpal tunnel symptoms. The carpal nerve runs down the forearm & through a narrow "tunnel" of bones as it passes through the wrist & branches out to feed the fingers of the hand. As we age, that tunnel can narrow from wrist fracture, arthritis, etc. Any narrowing of that tunnel will compress the nerve & cause the tingling & pain that is so characteristic of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. The rigid wrist splints she was given are designed to cock her wrists back to open up that tunnel & relieve her symptoms.
From what you've said, I suspect your mother's carpal tunnel is not from a physical defect of the tunnel but from significant & ongoing swelling & inflammation brought on from the fracture well above the wrist (at the elbow) that her lack of cooperation continues to compound. The therapy that you've arranged for will help but, without her cooperation when she's not at therapy, the improvement is likely to be slow & minimal. Unfortunately, like the old adage about leading a horse to water, you can arrange for desperately needed elderly services & therapies, but you can't make them cooperate, participate or follow doctor's orders. I know it's little solace but I know full well what you are going through with a parent that's refusing everything they need, insisting everything is "fine" & convinced they are capable on their own when they're not. Sadly, I have no magic answers for you any more than I do for myself. All we can do is hope that someday when we lead our elders to assistance, they will drink.
We die.
IBP is toxic to the kidneys.
Everyone carries pain differently.
If she chooses not to do the prescribed exercises~that is her choice.
Getting in home PT & OT setup is the best you could do & you have done this.
sometimes everything has to be let 'crash' in order to get any help for them. They have to fall and stay fallen, they have to be judged incompetent. That is the only point you can send them somewhere despite all the protestations.
Sometimes I wonder if the easiest is simply to disappear. If we care, that is impossible. but sometimes, we wonder.
Your mother may be eligible for some home physical therapy if her doctor will recommend it. Every time my mother is hospitalized she gets PT and OT paid in full by medicare and Blue Cross.
I'm a firm devotee of the Popeye diet!
I had my wrist therapy at a doctor's office; the therapist had a machine that bombarded my inserted hand and wrist with ground up corn cobs. No, this isn't some new age thing. The corn cobs apparently acted as a massage, loosening up the tension in my hand and wrist. Then the therapist gently massaged the affected areas.
I've seen ads for portable TENS units, so perhaps one of the therapists can bring one if he/she feels it's advisable. If your mother feels better right away, that might be a turning point for lessening her resistance to PT.
Good luck - let us know how the PT and OT visits worked out.
Ferris knows.....Hi there....