Hospital Delirium

[miller77]

Hi all,

I hope this post is allowed in here...

My grandfather fell over in the night about a month ago and unfortunately broke his hip, he's 86.

Before the fall he was of sound mind, no dementia etc, still driving and pretty active.

Since the operation, he developed hospital delirium which has got increasingly worse over time. He has also lost an alarming amount of weight, sounds different when he speaks and in general, looks like a completely different person.

He's been in hospital for almost a month now and after a family meeting this week, Social Care sais that he should go into a home for a few weeks as 'respite'. We fought this idea as we feel he would have a better chance of recovering if he were at home and I honestly don't think he would ever make it out of a care home.

He's coming home today and we have a good care package in place however my nan has dementia and doesn't seem to grasp how serious his condition is.

The question I'd like to ask is if anyone else has been through a similar situation with this awful hospital delirium? Did your loved ones recover? Do you have any tips on how we as a family can support him with this condition?

Thanks in advance,

Louise

Hi Louise, im so sorry your grandfather and your family are going through this. We had this every time my poor grandfather had to go into hospital, he too was very active, still driving etc.

Most times it was to do with his potassium levels, have they been checked? Also I think being in a strange place, fear of being unwell, missing home etc is not good for anyones mental health.

My grandfather always got 'back to normal' within a few weeks of being home, slow process but he got there in the end so I really hope yours does too. I know how scary it is my grandad used to rip iv lines out when he was really distressed.

I hope everything works out, take care.

PlumChum, your message has made my day that there is hope that he'll recover in a few weeks.

He's been a nightmare in hospital, also ripping IV lines out and the hallucinations have been terrible. I feel so sorry for him!

Over the moon that he is coming home today, just worried about him falling over as he is so unsteady on his feet and sways like a tree in the wind!

Thanks again for your kind and reassuring words :)

Delirium is very familiar to me my 82 year old mother went into hospital for a straight forward knee replacrment on the 22/8 and developed delirium she's still in hospital after developing pnreumonia . The consultant now seems to think that the op unmasked dementia . My mum was fit prior to the op she has changed so much ripping out canulas , removing her clothing , speaking is very confused she doesn't know that she's in hospital . I don't feel she will ever be the same again and neither do the doctors . I feel that delirium is very common in the elderly and awareness is the key to prevent this happening we as a family are heart broken