sleeping during visits

LCW1996

At the last couple of visits to my dad at his memory care, they have brought him up to see me and he is sleeping in the wheelchair. On Friday they brought him and as we tried to talk to him and get him to open his eyes, he would answer us but never fully wake up. This was at 10:15 in the morning.

I have tried different times of day, as I know he takes naps. Sometimes I go and he is alert (at least as is possible for him.) But this has happened to me several times over the last few weeks. Despite repeated attempts from me to try and get him awake, he will not wake up. 

I always worry that maybe he is dehydrated or there is something else going on. After the visit on Friday, they called me Saturday morning to tell me that they found him on the floor of his room at 7:30 AM. Since he is on hospice, they notified the nurse but as he did not appear to be in pain, they decided to monitor him.

So what should I do? And what conversation should I be having with the staff? He is starting to decline and has had a few falls in recent months.

Thank you.

M1

LCW, sounds like they are handling it fairly appropriately, though obviously best to avoid falls when possible--I might ask if a bed alarm would help in that regard.

With true Hospice, to me the only relevant question becomes, "Is he comfortable?"  If he is, great.  If he's not, what can relieve discomfort?  Little else matters.  I wouldn't worry about dehydration or trying to diagnose anything else.  His physical comfort is what matters.

MPSunshine

Hi, LCW, With both my dad and mom, they wouldn't generally drink up a glass of clean cold water. No, with my dad it had to be cold ginger ale. With my mom it had to be a "sunset" (orange juice with a splash of cranberry juice atop sparkling water). Then they would drink. Dehydration can cause all kinds of weird behaviors, sleeping is only one of them. However, old age can cause that too. My dad was fond of taking naps at all hours of the day or night; he was generally easily roused, same with my mom. I would just make sure they had a pillow to support their head and soft surroundings. And allow them to awaken on their own.

Cynbar

Could he be overmedicated? It might be time to look at what he is taking, when he is taking it, and if there are any drug interactions that jump out. Ask for a printout, look it over, discuss with his hospice nurse and maybe a pharmacist if you have one you know. Usually hospice works on cutting down on too many meds, but it's worth checking.

aod326

Hi LCW. Definitely check the meds, especially if they've recently changed. Is there a reason you think he may be dehydrated? I could tell with DH when he was dehydrated, because his eyes would look a bit sunken. 

During his time in MC, DH had very similar experience as your father.  I would visit daily, although almost exclusively window visits, as the 5 months he was in MC were all during COVID. As the weeks went on, he would generally be in the chair (later wheelchair), with his eyes closed. He would sometimes sort of respond, the main response being that I found if I laughed, he would often laugh too.

He also went through a period of being on the floor , by the bed, when they went in during the mornings. They didn't think he'd fallen, although they did a full eval each time, more that he'd deliberately chosen to lay on the floor. One day I arrived at his window and he was laying down at the side of the bed, seemingly quite OK.

So I'd say definitely investigate the other possibilities, such as meds; however, it may be the general disease progression.

Good luck.