Mum Takes A Backward Step

Mum Takes A Backward Step

In the natural progression of illness, I suppose backward steps are inevitable, but it still hurts when they happen.

After all the efforts we made, nearly six years ago, to get Mum strong and confident to weight bear and push hard down with her hands on the bed/arms of the chair, etc., to help to lift herself up, over the past 5 months, Mum has gradually become less able to do this. It is a real struggle to get her to stand briefly, twiddle round and sit either on the glider, bed or back in her chair.

She tends to start the manoeuvre, and you can think she is going to follow through with the instruction to turn, but at the last moment, even though she might be standing up and almost there, instead of turning that extra small degree, she may suddenly try to sit down again; and this could well see her landing on the floor. It also means you have to be ready to "catch" her, and she is heavy; she may not be that tall, but she has some weight to her, and we cannot always be sure of holding on to her. It is a very nerve wracking situation. The carers are also concerned for their own safety - trying to support Mum means they may also suffer an injury.

I don't know if it is mainly because she has lost more strength in her legs, or that the dementia stops her from processing the information and the guidance we are giving Mum, but either way, it has become dangerous to carry on, and a decision has been taken that in future, unless she is clearly very alert and able, on most occasions Mum will have to be hoisted.

I do accept this. We have always had a hoist in place, and it has been used in the past, when Mum was unwell, or if she did not feel strong enough to try and get up under her own steam; but it still upsets me to know that very soon there won't be this choice for her, and it will be a permanent backward step.