I am sad reading about your mum's predicament. My soon-to-be 96 dad is in the same boat. He has used a walker since a bad fall 16 months ago that left him with two crushed vertebrae. Just today, I took him to emerg because he can't poop. They did workups, and found that he has two collapsed disks in addition to those two broken vertebrae. He's in abject pain, and his bowels are rebelling. Now he needs opioids to numb the pain, which also encourage constipation. A lose-lose. Plus the opioid is with Tylenol, so bad for the liver.

You mum will continue to fall. Whether it's a slipping vestibular system, dehydration, low sodium (very common in seniors, also called 'hyponatremia'), low pulse needing a pacemaker, or a pacemaker that needs reprogramming, or low blood pressure when standing (vasovagal syncope or 'postural hypotension'), or just that her inevitable and inexorable loss of muscle mass and sensation will make her slide and shuffle her toes more, meaning she'll stumble more often over those throw rugs..........................................................do you see where this is going?