FTD Complications

mwoolley · July 3

Yesterday morning, around 2:00 am I awoke to a crash sound coming from our kitchen. My 76 year old DW who has FTD and has an inverted sleep cycle, meaning she sleeps most of the day and gets up during the night, had fallen in the kitchen while getting a drink without turning on the lights. I rushed to the source of the sound and found my wife on the kitchen floor, unable to get up. She said she thought her leg was broken. I immediately called our daughter, who lives a few miles from us, and 911 for fire rescue services. Kudos to fie rescue! They were in our apartment within minutes, assessed the situation, gave her an IV, and summoned transport services. She was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken femur very near her hip. She had surgery to put a screw into place to hold the broken bones so healing can occur. She will likely go to a rehab facility next, until she can regain her mobility.

The interesting thing that happened during the fire rescue visit was she could recall correctly her social security number but could not remember her age. That reinforces the FTD symptoms of good long term memory recall but poor short term recall. From another viewpoint, our social security number remains constant, while our age does not.

jgreen · July 3

Dear @mwoolley

I am so sorry about the fall and broken femur. Glad your wife is recovering from surgery.

Please contact a social worker at the hospital about next steps. From my understanding, Medicare will cover 30 days of rehab (and hopefully she progresses). If she is not a rehab candidate (unable to understand/follow physical therapy regimen) then she may need to be placed in a nursing home. Medicare does NOT cover nursing home care. So you need to know your options.

Do let us know how you and DW are doing. Take care.

easy23 · July 3

My DH was in sub-acute rehab and Medicare plus the supplement covered 100% for 100 days. His dementia prevented him from following PT instructions, but they were able to keep him due to the nature of his injury.

I hope she heals soon! A broken femur takes a while.

Jgirl57 · July 3

ouch! Glad she tolerated surgery and hugs for a speedy recovery

mwoolley · July 4

She had the surgery and is recommended for rehab care to get her walking again. The anesthesia, however, has sent her much deeper into confusion. The trauma of breaking her leg, being transported to the hospital, and having the surgery and pain meds are a toxic mix for dementia patients. Dealing with an overload of confusion now.

mwoolley · July 8

After arriving at the rehab center for therapy to get her walking and able to function again, she called me begging to come and pick her up. She said if I did not do that she would call a cab and leave. I told her she has to get the therapy to be able to walk and get around in our home. She argued she could do that now. Twoof my daughters called her and calmed her somewhat. I will visit her later this morning. i just hope it is not going to be a confrontation and argument. So many elements to deal with at once!

JulietteBee · July 9

I know your pain and am so sorry.

My mom had a surgical procedure last week Monday. She has no recollection of what transpired which led to her need for a hospital stay of 3 days, beforehand. Anesthesia has wiped out even more of her memory, leaving me grieving the mom I had as recently as June 25th.💔

mwoolley · July 14

This has been a huge challenge for my DW and the family. She is confused much of the time and her dementia wipes out any memory of missed PT sessions. Shde is still in pain from the broken leg and surgery and has great difficulty getting out of bed. She wants to come home so she can sleep but I know she would just sleep to death. I told her she has to cooperate with the therapists so she can walk (probably with a walker), shower herself, and use the toilet on her own. Staff has agreed to give her pain medication prior to scheduled therapy so she can tolerate the exercises. She had the prescription for pain meds p.r.n. but will now get them on a schedule.

Oh, and the brilliant folks from our insurance coverage informed us she will be cured and will be released from rehab care in one week! I wonder if they ever have to depend on health insurance for their loved ones!

SDianeL · July 14

So sorry about her fall. While she's in rehab you may want to look into MC Facilities. If she is getting up at night, she will need 24/7 care or she will fall and break something again. Another option is to get a bed alarm and pad for beside the bed so you will know when she gets up and you can get up with her. You won't get much rest that way though.

mwoolley · July 15

Just returned from the rehab center. She is having a bad day. She needed to use the bathroom and the aide did not get there in time, so there was that to deal with. She complains nonstop about wanting to come hime but I told her she has to be able to get out of bed on her own, use a walker to get to the bathroom, and shower herself. The aide had an awful time getting her out of the bed and into the bathroom where she got cleaned up. They put a hospital diaper on her because her pull-ups are hard to get over her swollen hip. I told her she is strong and to use that strength to get mobile again. She had a morning OT appointment and has an afternoon PT appointment. They gave her pain meds so she can do the therapies better. This breaks my heart to see her suffer like this.