I am new to this site but have been impressed by the support offered. So, I am hoping you wonderful folks can give me your perspective.
I am the sole caregiver for my mother who is almost 93. We have home healthcare coming to the house due to recent bout of pneumonia and a hospital stay. She has been given exercises and is now on a standard walker (she used a rollator for years) and in a wheelchair as needed. Mom will show off when PT or OT are here and do everything fairly well.
Afterwards, she is extremely tired. However, when I am working with her she fights me over everything. I know this is a common problem/situation and have discussed it with her healthcare team. They acknowledge the problem but told me to keep after her or "she won't get stronger." I know they are correct but it is hard to be a "drill sergeant" (Mom's words).
I try to be gentle or cajoling or even silly but it doesn't work. She is sloppy with the exercises and incautious when walking or transferring. For example, when she is walking with me around the house she will have the walker in front of her so that her arms are totally extended and she will even push it away from her. So far I have been able to catch her before she falls. However, I live in fear due to safety concerns. She can't move around without assistance but my life would be easier if she followed my directions as well. She knows and acknowledges that my corrections are how she should be walking, exercising, or transferring but she continues with her methods.
So, I am wondering when do I acknowledge that it is time to stop trying to improve her mobility and simply be available for safety. I am tired of arguing with her everyday and several times each day. Yet, it would be nice if she could achieve a little independence; such as walking to the bedroom without me needing hands on. The therapists have told her this is possible if she does her 'homework.' Other than this, we rub along well together.
For your own piece of mind, stop arguing. Try and keep her safe. Eventually, safety may also be something that becomes too difficult for you. Can you lift her in and out of shower/bed/toilet? If not, it may be time to consider a facility where she has 24/7 help. You then would be free to visit and spend quality time with her, rather than all your time arguing/being a drill sergeant.
My brother, who was diagnosed with probable early Lewy's after a car accident went to rehab for a month. There they had him up and around and exercising and his balance was so improved by their balance exercises. But would he do them at all when he went home? Nope. And in the end I think his refusal and his claims that I was managing his life too much was just as a result of all the losses one after another, and the fear of more losses of al control. He just needed to have SOME control of SOMEthing. And he wouldn't do them at all. I gave up. He was 85. I just simply gave up.
At some point there is not more you can do without changing your relationship more and more and more each day. You can sit with her and tell her that when she cannot be on her feet anymore you cannot keep her at home with you, nor afford 24/7 caregivers in the home (if this is true) and your wishes to make her walk aren't so much being a task master to her as it is to hope you can keep her on her feet so she can stay with you. Perhaps the fear of getting bed bound will motivate her, but this is so sub- conscious that I doubt it.
I wouldn't go there anymore. Or at least I would do it once a day matter of factly getting her up and moving, or I wouldn't bother. She's 93. You are heading toward the inevitability of the loss of mobility. It is hard to accept.
That's just my advice. Others might keep going for it, keep trying. And again, at some point, no matter what you do, the inevitable is right there with you. I sure do wish you luck and welcome you to Forum.
I explained to her that I (58 years old) with my bad back would not be able to lift/turn/move her if she became bed-ridden and would need to place her in a nursing home (her greatest fear), if she didn’t continue the PT exercises to keep her body strong and be able to be mobile. She uses a rollator walker now and has not been doing her exercises. She is completely exhausted after going to a doctor appointment (and she has many), and is currently on the fast track to becoming bed-ridden. I have stopped arguing with her, I did tell her that I was not going to push her to keep up the exercises and that this would be her decision as to whether or not she ended up in a nursing home sooner rather then later. It appears that is not a huge concern for her right now. It just makes me more bitter about having given up a rewarding career that I loved to take her into my home and care for her instead of putting her in a nursing home where she can be cared for.
I feel horrible that she has made this decision, whether she realizes it or not. Do not stress yourself out with this. My relationship with my mom is not the best and hasn’t been for years. I resent having to care for her for many reasons and hopefully you can avoid feeling the way that I do.
My best suggestion is to not argue with her, but you will also need to accept that she is making the choice to do nothing and must accept the consequences. Good luck to you!
So I can just imagine how I would feel at 93. I would be telling people to STOP IT and let me enjoy what I have left in the life.
I would argue with her regarding doing her exercises.. I became a nag .. lost the daughter in me..
I would encourage her, but let it go ..
The way I think of it is this. When we are young, we want to travel, go places, meet with friends, etc. Hence it is in our best interests to be without pain and to take the advice of others on how we can be healthier and live better.
However, when you get to 80s and 90s, you figure you could die any day, so unless you have something to live for, you are not going to work toward improving your health. Saying things like "your pain will go away" may or may not work because as a senior, if it isn't a pain here, there will be a pain somewhere else. She doesn't give a damn to "get stronger" until you show her why "getting stronger" will benefit her immediately.
At the age of 96, my mother didn't give a hoot about how she used her walker, how strong her leg muscles or abs were, etc. until she decided that we would go on a cruise. For 8 months, she ate healthier, did the exercises her PT gave her and took care how and when she walked. I swear she was the oldest person on that cruise ship who walked, with her walker, at the various ports in Greenland.
Once the cruise was over, she declared that was the last time she would ever travel as the plane rides were too difficult for her. Back home, she reverted back to not doing exercises, complaining about her aches, etc and of course, physically, she can no longer walk like she did in Greenland and needs 24 x 7 watch.
So regarding your question, I would back off. There are some of the exercises you need to do to maintain her ability to get out of bed, use the toilet, and walk around. You could turn the exercises into a game. Talk to the PT person to see what alternate exercises you could do that would strengthen the same muscles.
The other option would be to find a tangible goal that she is truly interested in and link the exercises to that goal.
I'm the exercise police. I told her that the day she is unable to walk from her wheelchair to the car, is the day we stop going out for drives.
So far, she is willing to keep up with some of her exercises. It turns out that the exercises also help her stay regular without meds/herbs and also help her circulation so that it isn't painful to sit, stand or walk.
It is tough getting old. It is a lot more work than I, as a child, ever realized.
Your mother will start falling at some point soon. It’s not an if any more. It will happen. It’s important she has a medical alert device so if she falls EMS will come. Get a lock box so that the keys are available so EMS can get in easily without destroying her front door.
Having a home health attendant for four hours a day is a good start for her to get used to having some help for her daily needs.
Try not to get too annoyed or frustrated. I know it’s hard. Good luck to you.
If she does not have dementia then have a talk with her. Let her know that if she refuses to keep up on her physical therapy and refuses to use her walker correctly and pay some care to how she gets up and transfers, that will be on her. You will not be the one who will get injured by her sloppiness, she is. Let her know that if she continues to get weaker from lack of exercise, she will become immobile and will have to get around in a wheelchair. Let her know that you will not be able to take care of her in the home if she becomes wheelchair bound and bedridden. That will mean placement in a care facility.
I read this article (linked below) on this site a while back, and I tend to read it over again, kind of like a reminder that we can’t fix old. It is good to acknowledge their old age, what they’ve accomplished and where they are in their own journey.
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/caregiver-fix-it-mentality-leads-to-burnout-152629.htm