Luckily she wasn't injured. Naturally it happened in the bathroom in the middle of the night. We've tried to avoid this situation by giving her a commode in a convenient place to use during the night. Evidently she's not using it. In addition, the paramedics couldn't get in (med-alert bracelet) so he had to come in through the bathroom window. My dad couldn't get in the bathroom door because she was propped up against it. When I found out the next day, I tried to convince my dad to take the bathroom door off and put up a curtain instead since it's not the first time she's fallen or gotten stuck in the bathroom (it small, and she uses a walker). He didn't like that idea but after much discussion he finally want for it but insisted we leave the door on as an option. Since my mother has dementia, she will continue to shut it. I also put a key outside and let the ambulance company know. Neither of them really think this all is a big deal. It's frustrating so I made a dr. appt for her next week, I'm going to ask the doctor to do a full workup and diagnose for strokes, dementia and other brain-type problems. This kind of thing has started to happen about once a month with either of them, some issue or other. The suspense is really a drag and the fact that I have to argue with them to straighten things out afterward is really no fun. It's draining. I'm in my 40's so I don't have any friends that have gone through this so they really can't relate to what I'm talking about.
I will certainly post updates after next weeks appt., thanks for your responses.
He died.
If your parents want to be "independent" they need to make accomodations to their status as elders with health issues. They cannot and SHOULD not foist their charade of independence on the shoulders of their adult children who are trying to make a living.
When my mother's "emergencies" became too many and too arduous to handle I told her I couldn't do all this running around anymore, that she needed to move someplace safer. She fussed, but she listened, eventually.
She raised me, so she knew that I was capable of just walking away if she wasn't going to compromise and cooperate.