Re: Re: Falling

[Guest guest]

hi there,

many people may disagree with me, but our neurologist said that when dad

falls, his brain doesnt realize he is falling, like he is a drunk, so if we

couldn't stop him before he got to the point of no return, we just let him go,

beucase if we panicked and tried to catch him, he would panic and hten fight it,

and all of us would wind up hurt. dad fell for many years, but the from 8/04 to

he finally broke his hip in 7/05 he rarely got hurt, didnt hit his head, but he

didnt fall in the bathroom. one of the most important things to remember is

they have orthostatic bp, which means when they go from laying to sitting their

bp drops, so they need to sit a minute to let their bp stablilize, same thing

from sitting to standing and standing to walking. we used to make daddy take 3

deep breaths when changing positions, breathe in thru the nose, he loved roses

and gardens so we would say smell the roses daddy, and then out thru the mouth

blow out the candloes, that would also help

keep his oxygen level up high too, he didnt need oxygen until the last 6 months

of his life.

i know it sounds cruel to not stop them from falling but our neuro was right,

he didnt fight the fall it happened so fast he couldnt react. so he didnt break

arms etc. we knew he his lewy lean was to his right so we always stood on his

right side to support him and that helped keep him from falling. now when my

dad fell it was a major fall, he was 6'3'' he was a tall man. only 2 times did

he have a severe fall, both times fracturing his right hip, but the first one it

wasnt a severe break. just a slight fracture which we opted not to do anything

as he was still able to walk, etc.

the most dangerous room for dad was the bathroom so we handicapped it, each

wall has a handicap bar on it for him to hold on to, there is one at an angle

near the toilet, high towards the seat side of the toilet and angled lower to

the base of the toilet, that way he can hold the high part to sit and the low

part to start to stand. also all 3 walls on the bathtub have handicapped bars

in it. and since my dad was so tall i had the shower curtain rod removed and a

metal pipe installed into the studs that dad could hold on to, he felt more

secure holding high than low, he could use that to get in and out of the tub adn

hold on to it while he was being washed and dried.

i hope some of this helps, hugs, sharon

Imogene Ward wr'ote:

Hi Norma, Falling is part of LBD, because the patient has

Parkinsonism along with it. I am sorry this is happening.

How to remedy it, I don't know. My darling man is just showing signs

of falling. He is most wobbly. This morning he sat on the floor

looking in the bottom of a closet, and couldn't get up. He asked me

to help him, and stuck out his arm. I grabbed the back of his pants

and told him, " Now let's go up! " Later I realized that he knew what I

meant. Many times he doesn't know up and down, in and out, etc.

I have a nice walker with a seat and a basket, and have tried to

encourage him to use it, but he won't. The thing that is hard for him

is when he rises. He has to stand a minute before walking, or he will

fall. We need some type of rails that he can grab when he stands.

Love a bunch,

Imogene

>

> All,

>

> One of the women in our support group wrote this:

>

> " .just wanted to say that my husband has fallen twice in 2 days....

he

> wasnt hurt.. just scared...seemed to come out of nowhere..he fell

on top

> of 3 people in a movie theatre lobby.... then tripped the following

day on

> a rug...does this happen withLBD.. is there anything i can do about

it? he

> is having a harder & harder time walking.. getting in & out of bed

etc.. we

> do exercise alot stretching etc "

>

> (Her husband is not on Aricept or Sinemet since he doesn't want to

take

> anything.) I didn't have this particular problem with my Mom. Any

> suggestions other than having him walk with a cane, walker or

wheelchair?

>

> Thank you all.

>

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

Hi Everyone - We think they help, too. As always, not enough time to research

everything, but if I could, I'd look at how the study was conducted, were these

folks' ambulation changed in any way, did they have the same kind of transfer

assistance they had pre-use, etc? And, what were the results? I grant research

its important role, but from our organization's end, the cost is worth it if we

can spare one resident a fall. Glad to hear they are being used elsewhere.

Peace, Lin

Myrna wrote: They use them at the VA home were my

husband is living. They really think they help.

Myrna (70) in Sullivan,Missouri USA

Caregiver for Husband Jerry (72)

Diagnosed AD 1997, LBD 2004

Entered VA Home January 2008

Married 52 years, Stage 3, Sometimes 4

Re: Falling

Lin - of course when I went to search for hip protector undergarments

I found a study that says that they're not useful... I listed below,

but I'd say wearing those undergarments doesn't hurt (no pun

intended.) I found a few sites that sell them - although quite pricey:

http://www.hiprotector.com/hippad.html

http://www.mtsmedicalsupply.com/pages/hipprotectors.cfm?vp=1

http://www.alzstore.com/alzheimers/safehip.htm

http://tinyurl.com/yvm2v4

Here's the study saying they're not useful:

Efficacy of a Hip Protector to Prevent Hip Fracture in Nursing Home

Residents

July 25, 2007

Conclusions In this clinical trial of an energy-absorbing/shunting

hip protector conducted in US nursing homes, we were unable to detect

a protective effect on the risk of hip fracture, despite good

adherence to protocol. These results add to the increasing body of

evidence that hip protectors, as currently designed, are not

effective for preventing hip fracture among nursing home residents.

Source: http://tinyurl.com/24lycj

>

> Hi Everyone!

> At the care center where I work, we provide heavily-padded-at the

hips undergarments for men and ladies. They are excellent for

protecting the hips of those prone to falls - are put on over

underwear and can be hand-washed from time to time as needed. They

come in different sizes, and our docs, nurses and physical therapists

love them. So do families and residents - they have prevented many

fractures. They aren't really obvious under clothing, and provide

another bit of peace-of-mind for those who are still ambulatory but

for various reasons tipsy. They are available through medical and

therapeutic supply catalogs for about $70. If prescribed, some

insurance carriers cover them. When families are willing, we also

provide wrist, elbow, knee and ankle pads for the elders. The parlor

sometimes looks like we're hosting a group of aged skaters, but they

sure save pain, grief and expense.

>

> Hope this is helpful.

> Lin