My father is in a rehabilitation facility due to a fractured hip from a fall. He has developed a bedsore on his backside, which he says it's very painful. They come and turn him every 2 hours so he is not always lying on it. He also has a recliner.
wouldn't it help if some air got to the wound? I thought if he was lying on his left side for example, and even if someone made a little hole in the back of the depends where the sore it, that might help. if he has an accident the urine won't go to the back will it?
any help is appreciated. thanks!!!
The visiting nurse told us to put liberal...LIBERAL...amounts of Lantiseptic on it. It's an extremely effective moisture barrier. The pain was gone in a couple of days. The sore (it hadn't opened up yet) was gone in a week.
I would call his doctor in a heartbeat to see what he recommends. If he's relying on the doctor at the nursing home, I would want to speak to him personally. (If it's like the nursing home mom was rehabbed in, the nurses try to shield the doctor. But he can't hide from meeee. ;)
I wish you good luck. Pain is a horrible thing to live with and good on you that you are asking questions and watching out for him.
To save a patient's life, turning much more frequently is not only necessary, but to fail to do that is negligence amounting to criminal negligence, since the failure to do it can lead to a patient dying!
Surgeons and their hospitals charge enough to be able to afford a higher staffing level and so they should provide adequate coverage.
BTW - you are not correct when you say "We all know what causes bedsores."
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There are a lot of people that do not know that. Do not stifle the spreading of valuable and life-saving information.
I cannot conceive of anyone defending this kind of inefficient and uncaring nursing attention. Special beds and mattresses and pads are readily available to prevent the very consequences you accept as inevitable.
Perhaps you have given in too easily. That is a mistake for which our loved ones will pay.
But mine will not because if I have to I will do it myself, as I have done for literally hundreds of post-stroke and paralysed patients during my years as a nurse.
I have seen lazy careless doctors and nurses and not allowed them to continue their sloppy careless ways to the detriment of patients.
Caring for the sick is a sacred duty that demands our very best at all times.
You can have a wound care nurse visit your patients at home if transporting them would cause more damage. There is a way to treat patients, and then there are better ways, but finally there are the BEST ways, and that is what we have to put in place in spite of all the naysayers and 'I-know-betters' in the world.
Give them the very best, and do not be satisfied with anything less.
I wish you well.
My Mom just passed away from the deterioration to her back side. The Doctor made me look at the opening and it was not a pleasant sight to see all the way though to her pelvic bone, etc. He suggested a feeding tube, a tube for eliminating bowel excrement, a catheter, and many other keep her alive type equipment.
I told him NO for that is not the quality of life she would want to be hooked up to machines - she just wants the "little white pill" to prevent her from pain and suffering to join her beloved husband.
She rallied her last day with Hospice informing me this was not the proper setting for Mom because she was sitting up, talking, eating her pureed food. As night came she told them she was very tired and wanted to go to sleep, they asked if she was in pain and she retorted "My butt hurts!." So they gave her a pain reliever and nightly sedative to ease her into sleep-the "little white pill".
When they checked on her at midnight they found she had peacefully passed over in her sleep. They listed her death as dementia, not the complications of diabetes, bedsore, or loss of will to live. But she is now with her beloved husband and other family and friends that went before her to make her passing easy and special. Mom and Dad are now dancing together to the oldies/swing era music they both so love. Thanks for the great, stable, positive, and fun, upbringing you gave to us. Love You Mom and Dad.
There is a powdered product that you can get online called Decubamine. You add it to their food or smoothies and it also speeds up the healing process. It is expensive but worth it.
Yes ma'am. I got too ruffled. We took great care of our mom. I took offense at being chastised by someone who doesn't know me nor anything about the care we gave. This is a great forum and we are here to help one another not criticize. I am now caring for my MIL and learned a lot from caring for my mom. I was not aware if this site eight years ago when mom was still alive, it would have been a huge blessing to hear what others are doing/going through.
I read this site everyday now and have for the past two years. It has helped me in a lot of ways. I apologize to the community here for being rude.
I did post the positive things we did for mom, those seem to be overshadowed by my taking umbrage to Ronnie, again I apologize.
I concocted a smoothie that my mom enjoyed that helped with her healing. It was between 1500 and 2000 calories and she could sip on it as she felt like it.
High protein drink, a scoop of ice cream, a container of yogurt, a cup do half and half, a scoop of the Decubamine, and sometimes a candy bar. Puréed together in the magic bullet. Maybe not " healthy" but she loved it and often other than breakfast it was all the nourishment she would take. Towards the end of life sometimes the rules must be thrown out the window. I cherish everyday she was here and it was truly a blessing to be with her.
Unfortunately, bedsores for someone who is stuck in a wheelchair, doesn't ambulate and goes from wheelchair to bed and back again are a part of life. They require constant, vigilant care. We persisted and persisted and persisted and persisted, even to the point of calling the corporate headquarters of the NH to get this attention to mom and it's true: the wheel that squeaks gets the oil.
Also: hard but true: patients who get regular visitors are going to get more care. For awhile I would pop in at different times of the day so no one could say for certain if or when I would be there; miraculously mom's care improved.
About 10 years ago my dad developed a tiny little bedsore. His physician wasn't even positive it could be called a stage 1...it was more like a stage 0.5, I guess. Whichever it was, as I recall it took close to a YEAR to heal at home, even with the cream treatment recommended by the physician. Why did it take so long? Maybe because all we were doing was treating the bedsore, not also addressing the problem that had led to the bedsore. (Fortunately, back then my dad was a bit more mobile than he is now.)
Whereas about a year and a half ago (during a period of time when Dad was no longer physically able to attend the day care he'd been attending in recent years, where he'd get up and move around often throughout the day), a watchful home agency caregiver with a nursing background alerted us that Dad's skin appeared to be nearing a NEW breakdown. (For my dad's particular case, the main issues appeared to be the length of time he was spending in chairs during the day vs walking and the fact that he doesn't shift his weight while he's sitting. Whereas...for another patient the main issue might be something else, such as urine touching skin for too long a time.)
First, we confirmed the seriousness of the problem by taking Dad for an exam with his dermatologist. Next, we made some changes at home. Thankfully, my dad's skin went back to normal-looking skin in a short period of time without a new bedsore ever developing. And according to the physician, the skin had been near a breakdown, just as the caregiver had advised. What worked in my dad's particular case was 1) For daytime, an alternating air cushion, which he sits on while he's in his wheelchair or recliner during the day and 2) for overnight, a ROHO overlay for his mattress that I found online. Note that me just turning him during the night was not helping sufficiently, as confirmed by physician exam. (Note that this is just what worked for my dad with his particular medical circumstances and another patient might need an entirely different approach.)
We were SO fortunate.
Don't let any facility tell you there's nothing that can be done to prevent a bedsore or that they're doing all they can if they really aren't. Seek out medical professionals who have solid expertise and success in preventing and treating pressure sores and get yourself seriously educated on this topic.
Then, keep fighting until you get your loved one's skin protected. It's 2014. There is more knowledge now and solutions that simply weren't available 10 or 20 years ago. But not everyone's up to speed. You have to be.
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