Knowledgeable answers only...?

Question

My 87 yr old grandmother fell and hurt her back. She has been basically bed ridden, on muscle relaxants and pain pills for the last 3 weeks. She has not had a bm since her fall, she is hospitalized and they are now going to disempact her manually. She has stage 4 kidney disease, osteoporosis, along with a few other problems. I was wondering what are the chances of recovering to the level she was at before the fall? She was very independant and could take care of herself. A few in the family seem to think once they get her to poop she will be back home and normal and able to function on her own. Are they giving her false hope? Are they just ignorant to the perils of being old. I just want to be informed so I know what to expect.

Answer 1

As a nurse I know that being bedridden can be devestating to someone of your grandmother's age. The frail elderly lose muscle at a rapid rate when they are not up and moving around. It's really important to get her up and around as soon as she can tolerate it. Even just to sit in a chair.

There's no way to know but I would guess that the chances of a return to independent living are less than 50%. But that said, my 80 year old neighbor was in a coma for 6 weeks and has now returned 100% to her previous level of functioning and living independently. I also had a former neighbor who had both of his legs amputated from diabetes at 79 and learned to walk on prosthetic legs using a walker. Pretty amazing.

Answer 2

Its really tough to say. A dangerous fall for an elderly person can really do some permanent damage, especially since they do not heal as quickly or thoroughly as younger people do. Did she fracture her back or any bone when she fell? It seems like with her osteoporosis that would be a big possibility and complication.

I have two different views on this matter. My grandmother fell and broke her hip at the age of 83. She was quite healthy before her injury. She had to have a full hip replacement surgery. Now, 6 years later she is still living on her own and teaches classes at a local community college.

My husband's grandfather fell at the age of 66 after being knocked over by my in-laws dog. He wasn't very healthy before the injury and suffered from several strokes and Parkinson's disease. He never recovered from the fall and eventually passed away.

There is no such thing as giving your grandmother false hope. The more she believes that she will heal, the more likely it is to happen. If you tell her she is not going to be well she will become a self-fulling prophecy and may give up on life. Continue to give her hope and positive thoughts.

Good luck and I wish the best for your family.
PS Cricket was my screen name first!

Answer 3

She is 87 years old. Elderly people take 3-5 times longer to heal. Was she very active before the accident? What was her health condition before the accident? The medications and the lack of mobility has caused the constipation. The longer the feces stays in the body, the more toxins it will get reabsorbed into the body. She needs to heal completely before she can begin to "get back to normal" and lead a normal life again. I am surprised the doctors didn't give her a stool softner while on the muscle relaxants and pain pills to avoid fecal impaction. Good luck. Have positive thoughts. When she is better, help her get up and move around. Walking is one of natures best way of getting the bowels moving. The other is fiber. There are plenty on the market to choose from.

Answer 4

Cricket:

I just went through something similar with my Great Grand Father - In Law. He was a very independent 94 year old man, who read the news paper every day (cover to cover). One day he fainted for no apparent reason and we took him to the hospital. The doctors saw that he was loosing blood internally, through a hole in his Colin. Our options were to either let this event take its course or do an operation to repair the damage.

We opted to conduct the operation (which went very well), however the recovery was the hard part. He did not produce a bm for a week and also was not eating (due to aspirated esophagus). One problem lead to another, and he eventually went into shock and passed away from phenomena, because we had a DNR clause.

This is not going to be easy for you. Just make sure you have a strong family support and try to make your grandmother as comfortable as possible. If possible, try to think of what is best for her, as opposed to what is best for the family.

I wish you the best of luck

Answer 5

I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.
Don't fear though. She could easily get back to her old self, especially if she has her family backing her up.
Unfortunately, pain killers do cause constipation. In some cases, this is critical if not dealt with.
I am really supprised they did not give her some Polyethylene Glycol. I've known people with back probs on heavy, heavy pain meds and severe constipation who went from going once every two weeks to normal human being in just 2 or 3 days.
It's even just been released for OTC!
It's just a tasteless and odorless powder you put in any drink once a day and I've never met anyone who it didn't work for (myself included).

It's not like a stool softener or laxative (which can be very invasive).

I hope your grandmother feels better. Hang in there.

Answer 6

Depending on the severity of the back injury, your grandmother may be able to return to her usual level of independence but may take time and medical intervention for this to happen. Impaction is fairly common when a person has been bedridden for a period of time. However, at her age, much depends on her optomism and determination to recover. I wish her the very, very best! Loving family support will help her as much as anything. Keep her feeling that she's loved and important to the family.

Answer 7

I agree with keren, I also work with the elderly. It is important to get her moving. If she is not able to tolorate getting out of bed range of motion exercises will help. Start slow and gradually increase. Once she is able to get up start with a few steps and increase as tolorated. Her Dr. will likely prescribe therapy with a physical therapist that will start in the hospital and continue once she is released. I wouldn't rely on statisics as everyone is different, some peoople just have more motivation and will. She will likely need some level of care once released from the hospital such as help with cooking, housework, dressing and such. So just be patient and encoraging.

Answer 8

I think it is good to be optimistic. in fact that is going to be the key here. Take it one day at a time and enjoy and love your grandmother while she is here with you. and remember anything can happen with love and care and medical attention.