Oof - she was found wandering and in hospital now and then going to MC

Holly H

My mom has been status quo for a while now with severe short term/immediate memory loss and confabulations. She stopped bathing and cleaning the house. We've been dealing with that fine. Then Friday someone in her neighborhood found her wandering in the cold with no coat or ID. He called paramedics and I got a call a few hours later once they found her phone. At any rate, she's being discharged tomorrow - 5 days later - no need to go into the details of how awful being inpatient is but geesh it's scary. During her stay, the sweet, calm, takative person she was became combative, scratching and hitting, and stopped saying any words that make sense. She's not even able to feed herself whereas last week she could prepare a meal in the microwave and eat it with no help. Also to be noted, they put her on Zyprexa for the combativeness and some hallucinations while inpatient. She started the med this morning, and tonight she was not making any sense and needed total help eating. Is there a chance that being in the hospital and the medication are contributing to the speech and feeding issues? I am thinking she will be less combative when she gets out of the hospital as she has always hated hospitals with a red hot passion. Am I being too optimistic that she will go back to her baseline of where she was prior to the hospital admission once she gets discharged? She will be going to MC from the hospital, but it is close to me and we have her new room already set up with her familiar furniture and items. I am hopeful, at least for the language and eating.

terei

It could be hospital delirium that resolves after she has left there, or she may not go back to what she was. Only time will tell. My stepfather’s cognition was fine til he was in hospital due to a serious auto accident. His delirium at hospital was frightening, but he slowly regained his normal mind almost immediately after returning home.

M1

So sorry Holly but glad that she didn't die of exposure. I'd be a bit concerned that if the psych meds are not stable, she may bounce back to the hospital in a hurry. Zyprexa can be difficult to manage. Any chance of her going to a geriatric psych ward before she goes to MC? Might at least be worth a careful discussion...

harshedbuzz

@Holly H

Hospital delirium us real. It is possible your DM will return to something closer to her baseline. That said, you have to consider that the elopement/wandering is part of her new baseline.

I had the same thought as @M1, combativeness will result in your mom being sent back to the ER with a strong likelihood that the MCF will refuse to allow her back. I'd ask the hospital doctors for a short geri-psych admission to sort out her psychoactive meds to make her transition to MC successful and easier on her.

HB

Quilting brings calm

My mom fell in December and spent two days in the hospital. By the evening of the day she went in, she had no idea where she was. Thought she had been moved from the AL she’d been in with her spouse to a different AL by herself. That kept getting worse over the two days. She argued with the hospital staff because they wouldn’t let her ‘do her laundry or go to the dining hall’. She got a lot better once she was back in the AL- but it took at least a few days to return to somewhat normal ( for her).

Did the hospital test for a UTI to try to explain the wandering? If she didn’t have one, then the wandering is possibly going to be here to stay. She can’t be by herself with that happening.