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General health

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Original poster

93 year old with increasingly swollen left leg - is this urgent ?

25 replies

gingeroots · 03/05/2013 08:34

My mother has congestive heart failure and AF and chronic kidney problems ( and other stuff ) .

Over the last couple of weeks her left leg has been getting increasingly swollen .
I've seen both her legs like this before but an increase in diuretics and keeping her feet up sorted this .

I think it's likely that she's recently reduced the time she keeps her feet up so I guess this might be a factor .

She is a little more breathless than usual so I'm thinking probably her heart is struggling even more .

I have GP appointment booked for 20 May ( though doubt they'll be any help ) but wonder if it's ok to leave it this long ?

And what is significance of only one leg being affected ?

Any advice gratefully received .

OP posts:

timidviper · 03/05/2013 08:36

I think in view of her age and health I would not want to wait over 2 weeks. I would ring the surgery and ask for advice from the GP, most surgeries have a telephone advice/triage system now.

NotTreadingGrapes · 03/05/2013 08:39

I would say at 93 anything is urgent.

No medical knowledge here, but I'd get her seen as soon as.

Hope she is OK.

ivykaty44 · 03/05/2013 08:42

I would get her to a&e with a swollen leg that is getting worse and with her health conditions

rubyslippers · 03/05/2013 08:43

potential for DVT?

i would get her to A & E especially with the breathlessness

as PP's have said with her medical history i would seek help

ivykaty44 · 03/05/2013 08:43

also the breathlessness and the swollen leg are not good together

BabsAndTheRu · 03/05/2013 08:47

Don't mean to alarm you but this is very urgent, get to A&E now. Breathlessness and swollen leg, could be DVT, PE, or worsening of congestive heart failure. Call an ambulance now.

LIZS · 03/05/2013 08:48

definitely urgent - could be DVT . Get her seen today .

MumnGran · 03/05/2013 08:50

BabsAndTheRu is spot on.
The symptoms require urgent medical review. A & E as quickly as you can.

AttilaTheMeerkat · 03/05/2013 08:52

This warrants a visit today to hospital for her to be further examined.

Both the breathelessness and oedema (fluid) in the legs can be serious.

tiktok · 03/05/2013 08:54

Hospital. Now. Phone on the way to say you are coming.

DowntonTrout · 03/05/2013 09:04

My father had this, same health problems. At the very least she needs to be seen today, by her GP or at hospital.

The breathlessness is worrying. Does she not have a heart nurse allocated to her? We had a BHF nurse who visited once a week but who we could call at any time. When Dad was struggling one day, despite us ringing the GP and the hospice manager paying a visit (where he was due to go when the time came) the heart nurse took one look at him and called an ambulance. My GP still tried at this point to block him being admitted to the hospice.

I would say it is serious, the swelling and breathlessness mean the heart another organs are not coping. Also trust your instincts. Even though I was told by two professionals that people could go on for years like this, I knew it was more serious and the heart nurse confirmed it. Sadly Dad died the next day. you must get her seen.

Original poster

gingeroots · 03/05/2013 09:54

Ok ,read and understood .

OP posts:

BabsAndTheRu · 03/05/2013 10:12

Good luck gingeroots and hope your mum is okay.

Sirzy · 03/05/2013 10:13

Hope she is ok and you can persuade her to go to A and E this morning.

NotTreadingGrapes · 03/05/2013 19:47

Any news Ginger?

Hope everything is OK.

Original poster

gingeroots · 03/05/2013 22:22

Thanks for all your replies .

I phoned the GP and they came out and did a home visit . I nearly fainted - it's usually a long lecture about "we can see 6 people in the time it takes to do a home visit " .
And they say that on auto pilot even when I've offered to bring her up to surgery !

Anyhow ... GP is hoping it's cellulitis and that it'll respond to antibiotics .
But I have clear instructions about monitoring it and going to A&E if it gets worse ,or it it's still the same on Tuesday .

Though I think if it's no better by Monday I may have to bite the A&E bullet then .

I am tending towards it being cellultis ,mum was flushed and hot today . Though the leg in question wasn't . And I hope she will be ok on oral abs and it's not so entrenched that it's going to need IV .

Thank you all so much for help . Please send keeping her out of hospital vibes .

I dont think either of us will cope well if it gets to that .

OP posts:

NotTreadingGrapes · 04/05/2013 06:09

Aww bless you both Ginger.

Will send lots of vibes. xx

digerd · 04/05/2013 07:39

I had Cellulitis last year from an insect bite on my ankle. The foot and whole of lower leg swelled, itchy and red. ABs cured that.
I am only in my late 60s, but I did not have increased breathlessness, but then I couldn't walk or move much.

Wish your mum all the best.

Montybojangles · 04/05/2013 08:46

Glad the gp came out. Hope it's sorted with the antibiotics. If she gets any worse or no better I might think of a and e on Sunday rather than Monday. As someone who has worked in hospitals for some time I can tell you by bank holiday Monday beds are full, a and e is rammed ....

Wishing her a speedy (hospital free) recovery.

Original poster

gingeroots · 04/05/2013 09:38

Thank you for the vibes NotTreadingGrapes , your wishes digerd and the insider advice Monty.

OP posts:

DowntonTrout · 04/05/2013 10:06

Sending positive vibes too.

I hope I did not scare you with my post. I wanted to impress on you that waiting over two weeks for an appointment when someone is at this stage in the illness, is just too long.

I hope she picks up over the weekend but don't be afraid to take her to hospital if there are any worsening symptoms. Fingers crossed that the ABs kick in and give some relief. But as I said, it is the breathlessness that would worry me. Does she have oxygen at home? We had that for dad and it really helped towards the end.

Original poster

gingeroots · 04/05/2013 10:32

Oh Downton you ,and others ,said what I needed to hear . It was all really good advice .

I knew really that something was wrong and I needed a bit of a kick and some galvanising to face both my mothers resistance and what I wrongly thought would be a non productive phone call to GP followed by a trip to A&E .

Last time when I was trying to avoid A&E when mother had taken a 2x 3 cm patch of skin off her arm ( and then covered it with a less than savoury cloth ) the DNT ( who see her regularly ) couldn't help ,the GP said stick an elsastoplast on it and when I described the condition of my mothers skin ,told me that it was a district nursing job and maybe they could call next week .

I got there in the end though ( no thanks to GP or reception staff ) and the lovely ,overworked practice nurse sorted us out at the surgery .

Sometimes I lack the energy and it feels like fighting on 2 fronts at once - persuading a deeply unwilling mother without resorting to blackmail or putting the fear of God into her while also trying to enlist the help of DNT/GP surgery or facing the trauma of our very busy inner London A&E .

So I needed all the warnings of urgency that were sent

OP posts:

DowntonTrout · 04/05/2013 11:44

Yes elderly, stubborn parents, who don't want to be any bother, create more bother in the end, by refusing to go to GPs and then making the condition that much worse. Not to mention the added worry for you.

God I loved my dad and miss him so much, nearly three years now. Being able to pass on advice to others from my experience caring for him really helps, if I can share one piece of information that helps someone else then I get comfort from that. He would like that too. Wishing you well.

Allfurcoatandnoknickers · 04/05/2013 13:02

This all sounds so familiar. My elderly stubborn mum had cellulitis in her foot a few years ago. If you catch it early its ok, but the hardest part for us is just getting them to go to the bloody doctors! My mum's notes are about 2mm thick and she'll only go to the docs if she's browbeaten into it....

Original poster

gingeroots · 04/05/2013 20:13

Oh DowntonTrout I feel like that about passing on information .
Sorry about your Dad .

I feel I learnt so much looking after my friends mum ,and watching how proactive and pushy and on the ball my friend had to be .

Elderly health does seem to be a bit of a Cinderella service and their health issues are often so complicated and their meds not reviewed ...

Allfurcoat oh yes to everything you say . It makes me cross and feel bad but sometimes I resort to blackmail along the lines of " do it for me because you're making me worried " .

I also try the " lets try and nip it in the bud because failure to do so might result in hospital admission / stroke "

And also " lets just see what GP says - we don't have to follow the advice /treatment if you really dont want to "

and so on .

My mum was much better today ( after 4 doses of AB's ) ,I'm sure she had a fever and it was making her quite muddled yesterday .

Everything crossed that the improvement continues .

OP posts:

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