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Gabby18 Asked March 2021

Mom is picking, she broke her hip and she doesn't sleep, she's up all night. Advice?

My mom broke her hip in December.
She was staying with my sister because she didn’t have steps. 
She picks all day and won’t take a shower or wash her hair.
I have cerebral palsy and going up and down steps is killing me but she refuses to shower.
I don’t understand.
Gabby

lealonnie1 Mar 2021
Since you put this question under the Alzheimer's & Dementia category, I will assume your mother has dementia. Not wanting to shower or wash her hair, not sleeping and picking all day are all classic symptoms of dementia. Since you have a disability yourself, you're in no position to be caring for a woman with a serious disability like dementia which normally reaches a point where even people without disabilities are unable to handle the stress and chaos that accompanies it. Why did you take on such a burden? Your mother requires more care than you're capable of giving her, so it's probably time you look into placement for her in either a Memory Care Assisted Living facility if she has money to private pay, or in a Skilled Nursing Facility with Medicaid if she does not. 24/7 assistance is what she needs with dementia as it continues to worsen. She can start wandering out of the house at night and get lost, try cooking on the stove and burn the house down, mix chemicals together to clean & asphyxiate herself..........the list of possibilities is endless, really. Managed care will provide her with a safe environment, meals, activities and other elders to interact with who are all in the same situation.

Read up about it at alz.org to see what you're facing and so you can understand what dementia is all about.

Wishing you the best of luck.

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