I've recently become a caregiver to my grandma. She can't get into bed and has to wake me up every time she goes to the toilet. If she tries not to wake me she falls out of bed cause she can't get herself up into the bed. She ends up perched on the edge and falls out. Its not that i mind being woken up but when i am a 24/7 care giver its rough with no sleep. She is getting depressed and that worries me the most. If she didnt expend so much energy on simple things she would not feel so tired and maybe would have the energy to get up and out while she still can. The biggest problem we have is getting her IN the bed. Now I get behind her and pull her in. She gets up several times in the night and can get up and to the toilet but can't get back in to bed. Any ideas?
If she needs to urinate so often has she been checked for a UTI?
The decline you are seeing is not normal after joint replacements so talk to the Dr and try to find out if there is something else going on.
There should be close to full recovery from knee replacements in about six months.
Why is she getting up so often during the night?
Have you considered how much fluid she's consuming in the evenings?
Have you tried a bedside toilet?
I'd invest as much as possible in addressing her nighttime mobility issues, because a fall can cause a fracture that makes it very difficult to come back from in a senior. If funds allow, I'd invest in an overnight person to sit up and watch her.
As far as her knees, did she make that decision on her own? I am fairly certain a surgeon would request a family meeting prior to any surgery especially with an older person as the surgeon knows that person needs more support & would need to involve the family. Plus a patient needs to walk after hip surgery-if she had bone on bone arthritis they have to fix her knees first or she would have great difficulty post hip replacement if her knees were causing so much pain. Just think if the hips were done with bad knees. Talk about immobility!
Hard decision either way. A lot of people put off those knee replacements until they can't handle the pain and conservative treatment has been tried and no longer works (cortisone shots). Did she attend rehab after her knee surgery? Did she have both at once?
I used a baby monitor (audio and video) with Mom so that I knew when she got up. I would watch to see that she made it back safely. Sometimes she would fall. As time went on, I had to help her more and more with the whole toileting procedure. Eventually she forgot where the bathroom was- just a few steps from the bed. So sad. The monitor was very helpful for me. It panned so that I could see all of the bedroom but not see her on the toilet, just the doorway going in.
My gram had purchased a new high bed as well and we had to insist on the hospital bed.
I started taking care of my gram 2 years ago and waited as long as I could to keep her dignity and independence. I came up with a few ideas to help her like putting a big orange piece of ducktape in the favorites button I the remote. I programmed all the channels she watched and she only had to hit the one button and it was easy to find for her. Always called her diapers "panties".
I was very blessed that God allowed her to decline slowly so that I could grow into my role and do the best I could for her, as I'm sure you will also.