My Grandma recently fell and fractured her hip. She is refusing Physical Therapy.?

Ironically I work in rehab therapy, but when someone refuses it is there right. She did all the cooking and light housework in her home before this and my Papa is lost without her. My grandma has been acting strange. ie: in the hospital room she made my mom take down all the flowers and pictures of the doctors because she said she thought it was for her funeral. She also thought she saw my family on TV toasting with champagne saying,"the witch is dead." Last night she was sent to an outpatient facility and would not let the nurse take her blood pressure stating that she was leaving. She called my grandfather latter that night telling him that if he dose not get her out of there she is going to call 911 or a taxi cab. She has already stated that she will be refusing rehab. It seems she is causing this on herself because the only way for her to get better is to be a particapant in therapy. Help!

My Grandma recently fell and fractured her hip. She is refusing Physical Therapy.?
This might certainly be explained by a bad reaction to a medication which is common in the elderly. Anesthesia and narcotics can cause personality changes, hallucinations, paranoia, etc. If this is not your grandmother's normal personality, I would bring it up with her physician and try a medication change if possible. Or, if due to anesthesia, the behaviors may simply wear away with time.





Please talk with her surgeon or physician.
Reply:Okay, First how old is your grandma. This could be signs of Alheimers that you guys have not picked up on before. OR it could be b/c she broke her hip and the pain is bad (even after surgery) and they have her on a pain medication that is altering her abiltiy to think clearly. When my mom was in a car accident and broke her pelvis, they had her on one medication that made her soooo mean, (which was not her at all) So have your mom or dad look into what is causing these "mental status changes" it could be something as small as tweaking the dose of her pain meds, or changing the type she gets. Also, some meds react differently with different patients, so it is a possiblity that the medication making her hallucinate and think your family was on the T.V.
Reply:Hon this happens a lot to people who have a hip fracture. The pain is soo intense their mind starts to have weird thoughts. I have seen this before. Most people do get better - her doctor will adjust her medications and she will be all right. It does take some time so be patient with her.





Maybe she thinks the rehab place is a nursing home!!! Older folks are scared to death of those places!!
Reply:She sounds like she is very confused possibly Dementia or even a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) She has obviously been bedridden. Is she on Antibiotics ? Sometimes when The elderly fall it can lead to a decline. Or you are only noticing this now.
Reply:I would go to the social worker affiliated with the hospital that your grandmother is in and tell her all of this. She may be able to come up with a plan that will effectively convince your grandmother to stay for the physical therapy. It's only about a week's worth of therapy, isn't it? Whatever is keeping your grandma so resolute about not going to P.T. is possibly going to come back to bite her. She NEEDS to go to P.T., no two ways about it. (unless, of course, she is telling the social workers that someone in her immediate family is a physical therapist who is going to work with her upon her discharge from the hospital....)



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