Broken Leg and Audio Monitor

Tippy()

My mother lives in her home of fifty years.  She has care providers 24/7. We visit her on weekends and some evenings.

Over a weekend when family was not at my mother's home, she broke her leg.  None of the four care providers who were working over the course of the weekend have come forward with when it happened.  It is upsetting.  

She has come back home from surgery.  We are thinking of getting an audio monitor or daycam in her room to monitor her when we are not there.  Does anyone have experience with monitors?

Also, any suggestions for arms exercises to keep her body circulation healthy while she recuperates in bed for the next 6 -8 weeks?

Best,

Quilting brings calm

Tippy.  It may not take much to break a leg at this point in her life.  I fell forward one day, stopped myself with my hands.  I did not hit my back, but I did jerk my back.  A couple days later, xrays taken, a physician assistant  said it was muscle related.  12 days after that fall, and another set of X-rays,  I was told it was actually a L3 vertebrae fracture( my second bone fracture of the winter).  So it’s possible that she fell alone in her room and no one even knows how or if  she fell.  They just know that she began complaining of pain.  Does your mom has osteoporosis and has she taken medication in the past for it?  Some  of that medication increases the chance of a femur break. 

SusanB-dil

Hi Tippy - I agree with Quilting that it could be she is just getting frail.  I do understand a monitor for your peace of mind, though, but sorry, not familiar with any.

For exercise - check with her doc.  They may be able to recommend something, and base the exercising on her ability to do them.  One that does come to mind is similar to "peddling a bike", only with your arms instead of legs, but again, depends on her ability, and do check with doc even for that one.

Rescue mom

Tippy, I also agree with what quilting said. My mom was in a facility for years. I actually saw seniors fall, get up and seem ok, and turned out later they had broken bones, but nobody could tell at the time. Their “falls” are usually more like “slid down” or “folded”, not a face-plant as we often think of falling. I can understand how something can happen they did not see. A room monitor might help you watch, regardless.

But about the exercise…did the surgeon or hospital send any advice/recommendations home with her? They usually do, IME. Or at least advise home health services, or home PT? If she’s going to be in bed for weeks, given her age and injury, seems like some professional help would be in order. Maybe call the hospital or doctor and ask?

harshedbuzz

Tippy--

I am sorry to hear your poor mom broke her leg. 

Unless you have some reason to believe her caregivers are a bunch of liars, I would take it at face value. Frail elders can break bones, especially if there is already underlying osteoporosis. My MIL stumbled into a door and broke a clavicle, a few weeks later she broke 3 ribs reaching for a TV Guide to show my BIL. 

I don't know that a monitor would offer an additional layer of safety. Is someone from the family going to be watching all the time? 

Dealing with her being bedridden is a challenge. Unless she's in a later stage of dementia, I would have expected her to go to a rehab facility or be assigned in-home PT. Did she have surgery or a cast? Is she supposed to remain in bed? TBH, I would be more concerned about her skin breaking down than circulation especially if she's already in a later stage.

HB

Wild-West

Hi Tippy,

So sorry about your mom. We use YI Home. It came with two cameras and connects to apps on our phones.

Wild

mommyandme (m&m)

We use Wyze Pan Cams, have for three years.  We have four of them. They can be purchased individually and are very user friendly. I love them and they’ve helped a lot!

As far as exercising goes, I look up “chair exercises for seniors” on YouTube.  My mom likes to do those with me. I imagine you can filter your search down for just arm exercises.  Even just a google search for arm exercises for the bed ridden. 

Hope you find solutions soon.