Any advice on what help I can provide for my Mum who may have broken her dominant arm?

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I can't do much for her at the moment as she's away on holiday. She phoned to say that she fell because she didn't see a step, she has problems with downward peripheral vision. The company that she is with has a doctor travelling with them so she is being accompanied to get the arm x-rayed. I haven't heard from her since 11am our time, which I suspect means it's bad news.

So, what would be useful to put in place for her for when she gets back? Is she likely to need help with bathing etc? She's pretty self-sufficient and didn't need much help when she had a knee replacement for instance, but she's 81 now and probably likely to heal more slowly than when she had her knee done a decade ago.

Not sure if you could get gp to refer for OT assess for any aids at home on her return?
Think about her getting dressed in am night etc so skirts she can pull on when getting dressed and just lift when going to the loo? Some grab handles at loo and shower as she may feel unbalanced.

Anti slip matt in shower
Any meal delivery service for short period of time?
A travel kettle so lighter for her to lift for drinks or a kettle tipper?
You can get some cutlery that can be operated one handed....

Ouch poor thing. I would buy clothes that are easy to get on like cardi, buttoned nightie, pull up skirt or trousers, slip on shoes. A travel kettle is easier to lift, online food delivery with ready meals if she likes them. Would she like a cleaner to go in once a week for a short while, plenty of inco bedpads to put down on the bathroom floor to soak up any water if she gets in a pickle. A couple of arms slings for support, a plastic arm sling for bathing, small cusions to support her arm, plenty of hand cream and painkillers.

Fortunately the bathroom is perfect for her as she had it re-done before the knee replacement. The shower is wet room style with a non-slip floor and there are grab handles every where.

A kettle tipper is a great idea as it will be less steady with her right hand (she's left handed).

Meals should be easy enough, there are lots of places to get nice microwave meals.

She has a lovely cleaner who used to be my uncle's carer before he died, so she might get her to come in more frequently. Although DB and I are reasonably close by so can also drop in to help regularly.

If she has it in plaster you can get showerproof cast protectors which are brilliant (Google/Amazon).

How is she getting in/out of bed?

Ouch! What about things like a key turner for her door keys - I find doing small innocuous actions really difficult with my non dom hand. Perhaps a pick up stick, so she doesn’t have to over balance? A thick padded neck/shoulder sling was invaluable for mil as the thinner ones out too much pressure on her neck, plus a sling reminded her to not do too much with her plaster cast on - like washing up! An apron /house coat was great too as the large pocket meant things could be put in there whilst pottering around.
might be worth an hour of your time tonight, pretending to only have one hand and do things around your house to see what you may need?

I don't know if getting out of bed is a problem yet. She sleeps on the RHS of the bed and it's her left arm that she's broken so she could just roll onto her right side and push up without an issue. We'll have to see.

Good idea about the key turner. Although I'm not sure if she'll need it as she lives a bit remotely and can't really go anywhere without driving, which she won't be able to do. So anytime she leaves the house there will be someone there to drive her, and that person can deal with the key.

Good idea about cast cover for the shower.

Just a thought - can you gain access to her house? Maybe have a look at her furniture and swap things around like if she sits and has a table on her left hand side for tea/books/remote control- you maybe be able to put it on her right hand side. Little things to make her homecoming easier/more straightforward? Maybe some Velcro fastening style shoes and slippers etc.

Re bed you can get grab sticks that can help with getting out of bed.
Oh and make sure that she has good slippers with good grip!

My DM broke her wrist of her right arm in January of this year. It was in plaster for 5 weeks and she was really limited in what she could do. She stayed with us for the five weeks as the cast and the pain meant she struggled with so many things. Over time she became more independent. A cast cover was invaluable for showering. Even things like cutting food, putting on socks, opening her medication etc was impossible at first. It took her time to get any level of grip back in her hand. Physio once the cast was off was very helpful.

Also she could do things like microwave meals at first as she couldn't get them safely out of the microwave or get the plastic off. She wasn't able to do that until she was almost ready for her cast to come off. My DM is incredibly independent and was very shocked by the things she found almost impossible.

And maybe a grabstick to help with getting dressed or if she drops stuff.

Can you programme a mobile for her or show her how to use the voice recognition bit to make calls/ use short cut button?

@ApolloandDaphnemade good point re difficulty with meds, you can get a 'pill bob' that can help with opening medication, maybe pharmacy would consider a blister pack too so less to open?

So things like these

It will all really depend on how much movement she has in the fingers of the arm that is broken and that will depend on exactly we're the break is. Because myDMs was her wrist the cast came down very low and she had virtually no ability to use her fingers at all and when she could move then they were very sore. She only had her non dominant left hand. She had to tip shampoo straight into her head, she couldn't dry her hair etc. there were just so many things that became impossible for a while. It was a small triumph when she could put her socks on by herself! I am preparing you OP for maybe having to have her to stay with you for a while!

A small trolley on wheels will be useful so she can transport things around for example a basket of washing or a heavy bottle.

It will be useful for things that are too heavy/difficult to carry with one hand.

When I broke my dominant shoulder I was very fortunate that my hairdresser got the junior to wash and dry my hair once a week for free. . I could wash it myself but it was a morale boost to have it done properly (and not by my husband who had no clue how to dry my hair😁)

So the good news is that she phoned while I was pick DS up from college to say that it's not broken. She still can't use that arm, or even move it much, but the doctor said it should improve a lot within a week or so with rest. She's not due back home until the end of next week so hopefully it won't be too painful for her to fly.

Fortunately she's on a Nile cruise, so she can take it easy and stay on board the boat to rest while others go off on day trips.

I'll talk to her before she comes home and see what help she might need and whether she can use her arm. She will be well looked after until her trip finishes in Heathrow, but she then has to fly on her own back to Dublin. If she's still in a lot of pain then maybe DB or I can fly out and meet her in Heathrow.

And thanks for all of your suggestions, she might still find them useful if she doesn't get full mobility back for a while.

That’s good news! Hopefully swelling and bruising will diminish quickly and she will be more mobile and pain free.

Things that I found really hard when I broke my wrist were

washing my hair
making the bed/ changing bedding
washing up
doing up zips/ buttons on coats
doing up a bra
pulling up trousers, even joggers, though joggers were easier
than zips

washing my body was fine, I gave up the thought of baths and showers and went back to washing with a flannel

just read your update, that’s good news, hope she manages to enjoy the rest of her holiday. Is it worth asking Heathrow customer services for her to be escorted through heathrow as a vunerable passenger so she gets help with luggage transfer etc.

I'm so pleased for her. Sorry for my worst scenario posts!

ApolloandDaphne worst case scenarios are fine. I find it calming to be able to plan for all eventualities, particularly when there's nothing that I can do in the moment.

viques I think the holiday company that she's travelling with will organise help for her through the airport if needed. She has travelled with them a lot and they are very helpful. They organised a wheelchair for her when she was travelling back from a holiday after she was very ill. (We now think she could have had an early case of Covid. The holiday was a train journey across Africa. The whole group travelled through Heathrow and Dubai airports in January 2020 and a third of the group got terribly ill with high temperatures about a week after arriving in Africa.)