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Elderly parent

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  • 06-12-2016 1:02pm
    #1
    remembering
    Registered Users Posts: 258 ✭✭


    Hi all. Just wondering If anyone has been in this situation before and what they did.

    Elderly parents. Mum is 80 and very fit and father 85 (not as fit) He constantly falls asleep at the drop off a hat. He gets up in the night and falls and bangs his head and at times quite bad. He keeps sayin he won't get up but he can be very stubborn. This can even happen in the day so she can't be with him 24/7 either. Not sure if it's a good idea to talk to a doctor as we are worried about them and we think our mum hides a lot of these falls etc from us. Any advice about we can do would be appreciated. Thanks


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    #2
    Minera
    Registered Users Posts: 179 ✭✭Minera


    Talk to your gp they may be able to organise help for your family. There's no actual way to stop your dad from getting up at night but an alarm mat can be got, it goes off when someone stands on it. But it's a massive invasion of privacy and it may reduce your dad's independence. Speak to your dad's gp they will have all the information you need.


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    #3
    remembering
    Registered Users Posts: 258 ✭✭remembering


    remembering wrote: »
    Hi all. Just wondering If anyone has been in this situation before and what they did.

    Elderly parents. Mum is 80 and very fit and father 85 (not as fit) He constantly falls asleep at the drop off a hat. He gets up in the night and falls and bangs his head and at times quite bad. He keeps sayin he won't get up but he can be very stubborn. This can even happen in the day so she can't be with him 24/7 either. Not sure if it's a good idea to talk to a doctor as we are worried about them and we think our mum hides a lot of these falls etc from us. Any advice about we can do would be appreciated. Thanks

    Thanks a mil - will go to doctor first and see what she says


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    #4
    uck51js9zml2yt
    Closed Accounts Posts: 18,268 ✭✭✭✭uck51js9zml2yt


    Do your parents have a home help who can come into them a few days a week to check on them and do some odd jobs around the house.
    Might be worth asking their GP about getting a referral. Also get in touch with the local community nurse who can call in and assess their situation....all with the approval of your parents of course. You dont want someone just turning up on them.


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    #5
    Tom Mann Centuria
    Registered Users Posts: 10,967 ✭✭✭✭Tom Mann Centuria


    If the reason your dad is getting up, is to use the loo, maybe your gp could give him something for that (could be prostate related frequency) or the phn could get him a urinal /commode so there is no distance involved?

    Oh well, give me an easy life and a peaceful death.



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    #6
    Teyla Emmagan
    Registered Users Posts: 5,641 ✭✭✭Teyla Emmagan


    My granny kept getting up in the night until she got so weak she couldn't anymore. At that stage she had a hospital bed to keep her in and is now in incontinence pads. She just wanted to go to the loo but the falls were getting dangerous. No one wants to pee on themselves so it will be very hard to stop your dad. Could you get him one of those yokes you pee in they have in hospitals. So he can go without getting out of the bed? Feel for you, I know how difficult it is. You should get the local community nurse in to assess him and see what could be ordered from the HSE to help him (like a walker).


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    #7
    remembering
    Registered Users Posts: 258 ✭✭remembering


    Teyla Emmagan wrote: »
    My granny kept getting up in the night until she got so weak she couldn't anymore. At that stage she had a hospital bed to keep her in and is now in incontinence pads. She just wanted to go to the loo but the falls were getting dangerous. No one wants to pee on themselves so it will be very hard to stop your dad. Could you get him one of those yokes you pee in they have in hospitals. So he can go without getting out of the bed? Feel for you, I know how difficult it is. You should get the local community nurse in to assess him and see what could be ordered from the HSE to help him (like a walker).

    He's not getting up to go to the toilet. He's a really bad sleeper so he gets up a lot during the night and sleeps a lot in the day time. He could be standing up in the kitchen and then nods off and falls. My mum is going to talk to doctor to see if meds need altering. It's not nice getting old. Thanks for all the replies. If the meds don't work when changed, we really will be worried in finding a solution. He can be a bit stubborn and he will say he won't get up and then he will. It's a hard situation


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    #8
    Rubberchikken
    Registered Users Posts: 5,083 ✭✭✭Rubberchikken


    it's very hard to see parents getting old. your dad is probably railing against it as many do. but he will have to realise how dangerous it could be if he had a bad fall.
    a chat with his gp/phn should help.
    good luck. getting old sucks *sigh*


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    #9
    pea be
    Registered Users Posts: 59 ✭✭pea be


    Thefalling at night could be because of low blood pressure .... Which is normally low during the night.

    Yes to getting a commode near the bed, some sorry of low level lighting, and remove anything that he could trip on.

    Very difficult stage where petiole want to keep independent, but are not quite able to physically.
    However for their own wellbeing, it is best to Help enc
    ourage independance as long as possible.


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