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My Mother has advanced dementia and has worn a brace on her leg since she was 9 years old due to polio, she is now 91. 5 years ago she fell and fractured her hip, since then she has been in a wheel chair and has not walked or actually needed her brace. She has gained about 20 lbs. and now the brace is too tight on her leg causing the blood circulation to be cut off, her leg to swell twice the size and her foot to turn red, blue and green. Doctors have told her not to wear the brace, which is not needed now, but in her mind she thinks she still walks and must wear it. I have tried talking to her about it, removing it from her room, making deals with her and nothing works. My concern is she will get ganggrene in her foot and have to have it cut off. What to do??? BTW her reaction to not having the brace on is to become hysterical, screaming, beating her head against a wall or beating her face with her fists and or going out into the yard yelling for the police to come save her.
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Hi again anonymous,
I would love for you to keep us updated as it is hard dealing with aging parents with dementia. Keep us posted and best of luck at the doctors appointment.
Melissa
August 22, 2010 - 8:49amThis Comment
Hi Anonymous,
Thank you for your question. I am so sorry to hear about your Mom too. Dementia is sometimes very hard to deal with when aging parents can no longer think for themselves. Are you caring for your Mother in your home? In her home? In a residential facility?
Yes, I agree with you that removing the leg brace is essential since it is cutting off her circulation. Since it appears that her long term memory is still in tact(she feels as if she still needs the brace), have you tried to get her another one that will allow for the weight gain just to keep her happy and feel as if she is still caring for herself? If she is wheel chair bound and she obviously finds comfort in knowing that she needs her brace, I think this may be something you should look into with her physician or maybe finding another one that will be better suited for her size now.
I hope this idea may help. Keep us posted.
August 21, 2010 - 9:00amThis Comment
Thank you for your reply. Yes, I am taking care of my Mother in my home. She has recently moved in, within the last 6 months. Thank you for your suggestion, we have an appointment next week with a new Dr. to see about fitting her for a new brace. I will let you know the out come, thanks again.
August 22, 2010 - 12:47amThis Comment
I think the suggestion is very good and I will try it.
August 22, 2010 - 12:49amThis Comment