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Can't you show the doctors her previous neuropsychological evaluations and say how her untreated mental health issues with likely effect her recovery from her broken hip (such as she won't follow through on physical therapy or take her antibiotics if she is manic)? Can you imply that if her broken hip causes her future problems or death you will blame the hospital and doctors for providing substandard, inappropriate care because they ignored her mental health issues knowing that it would effect her recovery from her broken hip?
Will her primary care physician intervene on your behalf? Or the neurologist who did the assessment? Or some other doctor that you have a relationship with?
Perhaps, just putting a copy of that report in her hospital file and giving a hard copy to each doctor may persuade them to take action (highlight key points).
Perhaps you can even consult with an attorney who deals with medical malpractice and see if they have any ideas for you. I bet that there is something that you or your dad are able to do to persuade the doctors to help your mom now instead of just passing the buck to the rehab facility.
From what I understand, we can do all of that, but we need to do it when we get her to the rehab hospital, which is the next step, probably happening tomorrow.
IIf nothing else, your mom's time in rehab might provide a bit of respite for you. I'm sorry to hear you are having to deal with this now.
Hopefully when she gets to rehab, she will begin to comply with therapy. When my mom was in rehab the first time, the team warned me that she might be discharged for noncompliance. Thankfully she turned it around.
Hugs to you!
My mom tried to hit someone last night!
Come on, Mom - behave!
Actually, she's better now that the anesthesia is out of her system and she has eaten several meals. She was really weirded out the first 48 hours.
From what I understand, we can do all of that, but we need to do it when we get her to the rehab hospital, which is the next step, probably happening tomorrow.
If she is going to a full service hospital for rehab they would have geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, etc. on staff and her neuropsychological reports would be helpful to you & her husband in helping her get appropriate medications and treatments. I was worried that while they said "hospital" they really meant a skilled nursing facility or a teeny, tiny hospital that specialized in rehab and did not have other doctors on staff. If that was the case, you may have "missed your window of opportunity" if she was released from the full service, larger hospital to a place without those specialties.
It may have been a blessing in disguise that she tried to hit someone because that helps you & your dad prove the point that she has/may have mental health issues beyond just recovering from the anesthesia.
If she is going to a full service hospital for rehab they would have geriatric psychiatrists, neurologists, etc. on staff and her neuropsychological reports would be helpful to you & her husband in helping her get appropriate medications and treatments. I was worried that while they said "hospital" they really meant a skilled nursing facility or a teeny, tiny hospital that specialized in rehab and did not have other doctors on staff. If that was the case, you may have "missed your window of opportunity" if she was released from the full service, larger hospital to a place without those specialties.
It may have been a blessing in disguise that she tried to hit someone because that helps you & your dad prove the point that she has/may have mental health issues beyond just recovering from the anesthesia.
Good luck to you.
The rehab center she is going to is a part of one of the major healthcare systems in this area and a branch of the hospital she's currently in. There are doctors on staff and she will see one every day she is there, in addition to the other healthcare professionals on staff. All of the above are a part of the healthcare system she's with now. So I do think we will be able to get her some of the more intensive care she needs from a neuropsychological POV. I hope so.
The rehab center she is going to is a part of one of the major healthcare systems in this area and a branch of the hospital she's currently in. There are doctors on staff and she will see one every day she is there, in addition to the other healthcare professionals on staff. All of the above are a part of the healthcare system she's with now. So I do think we will be able to get her some of the more intensive care she needs from a neuropsychological POV. I hope so.
That would be great, Kathryn! Hopefully your mom settles in okay. How long of a stay are they projecting?
The rehab center she is going to is a part of one of the major healthcare systems in this area and a branch of the hospital she's currently in. There are doctors on staff and she will see one every day she is there, in addition to the other healthcare professionals on staff. All of the above are a part of the healthcare system she's with now. So I do think we will be able to get her some of the more intensive care she needs from a neuropsychological POV. I hope so.
That would be great, Kathryn! Hopefully your mom settles in okay. How long of a stay are they projecting?
They are planning to move her from the main hospital to the rehab hospital (just down the road a bit) tomorrow and they project a stay of about two weeks, depending on her progress. She has always been a big walker (regular walks almost every day) for decades and they think this will really increase her chances of a decent recovery - maybe even to something as simple as a cane, possibly a walker but definitely not a wheelchair. In fact, they said the only time she's going in a wheelchair is to get from the hospital bed to the hospital van! Keeping our fingers crossed.
The hitting and aggression is not uncommon after anesthesia is administered to an elderly person. My 110 lb. late Mother had general anesthesia for a knee replacement at age 89 and had to be tied to the hospital bed because she was so violent the following couple of days. The anesthesia, IMHO, also rapidly increased the advance of her beginning dementia, so that she had to go to an AL facility within 3 months. I hope your Mom can get the appropriate treatment for her neuropsychological issues as her hip heals as well.
Often mental health issues are ignored in hospitals even thought they are driving everything else! My mom had dementia and I believed untreated depression, the latter most of her life. My sister didn't think it was worth addressing, but I'm so glad that we did. A doctor did find a medication that worked for her. We actually noticed that she talked more and began to laugh again.
The rehab department where I worked had psychologists for people who had been through trauma, like a spinal cord injury, that was life changing. Turns out that the patients who are resistant (like many young men) to talking to them would not use a word like "depression", but rather "stress". There doesn't seem to be a stigma to saying that you are stressed, heck who isn't?
Maybe this turn of events will bring her mental health care whether she wants it or else!
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