i need her to walk again. my mom is 78 years old. she got sepsis, kidney failure, lung failure, heart failure in nov. 2016. she went from all that to now her condition is stable. however she is starting to say weird things. she has a lot of pain throughout her body. she doesn't want to move because she is always in pain. the doctors have given her nerve pain and seroquil for her mental status. she lost a lot of muscle mass in her legs but her upper body seems to be strong. how can i help my mom move again? can she move again from being in the bed for 3 months? before she went into the hospital she was able to walk. help please.
My mom's nh worked very hard at managing her pain. She was sensitive to a lot of drugs, and that made it hard, but they did it! I think that is what I'd really focus on if I were you. If the pain were managed well your mom might be willing to move more and possibly even do some therapy. Talk to the director of nursing, and/or bring it up at the next care conference.
They can't continue with physical therapy if she is not cooperating and showing at least some progress. Insurance is very strict about that. (This prevents an unscrupulous rehab from keeping patients in therapy indefinitely, just to collect insurance.)
Does your mom use a wheelchair?
Google "sundowning".
Any time someone is totally bedridden for even a couple of weeks, no matter how old they are, the muscles in the legs will start to freeze up. Being bedridden for 3 months, it can take months to get the legs working again. But the brain needs to cooperate. With Dementia, sometimes it can't.
What are the doctors telling you the reason your Mom is bedridden and unable to re-learn how to walk? Can your Mom talk, read, eat, dress herself?
There are simple exercises she can try but which ones depends on her current abilities... will the doctor order physical therapy?
One site I have found that mirrors a lot of the exercises my mom was shown is eldergym, google it.