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Swollen feet and ankles

Aging Well | Last Active: Feb 12 8:39am | Replies (112)

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@casey1329

Sadly it's the norm I think in all nursing homes. My mom was in a rehab/nursing home for a few months and not only to they request that you stay in a wheelchair but if you are older they put you in diapers. My mom was getting in constant trouble because she tried to get up and go to the bathroom. She was never the same.
Now my brother in law is lucky in many ways. The place he is in is very clean, does not smell and has an excellent caring staff. He can get physical therapy a few times a week if he wants to go. It can't compensate for being wheelchair bound but it's better than nothing.
I am very sorry to read about your health problems but I admire your spirit and determination to continue with regular exercise. You sound like a strong person...good luck !

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Replies to "Sadly it's the norm I think in all nursing homes. My mom was in a rehab/nursing..."

I'm very glad to hear about the many positive aspects of your BIL'ss nursing home. You're right that those factors can (to often are) be quite different.

My mother (almost 100) is quite disabled (blind deaf, pretty advanced Alzheimer's) and she is in a memory care center where she too can only get around in a wheelchair. (As you probably know, by law so as not to "restrict" the patients, she isn't strapped in either there or in bed (I find this incredible).

She is constantly falling also mostly when she is trying to get to the bathroom (despite her diapers). Since my SIL is trying to avoid getting her moved to a nursing home because of the hugely increased cost (not counting medical care and special attention, her present facility costs close to $100K/year - can't imagine what a nursing home would be in her area.

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Forgot to add that they also would put bed rails on her bed (I have them!) - also legal issue, but at least they finally thought to lower the bed with mattresses and pillows around it.

Don't know why I didn't think of that right away in connection to your BIL maybe because of the age difference and because she's in a facility with a different name ("memory care").
Her quality of life is pretty much nonexistent not even counting the constant falls, including fractures.

Private (often franchised) care facilities are big business these days, however poor their care is. Often they escape fines, and when they are found out, they just change the name and re-open it as a different place.

Apart from all the other negative features of this system (her place is quite nice too as far as these things go), her care has almost completely bankrupted what remained of her estate which was to have been bequeathed to her children and grandchildren. (Earlier housing was quite luxurious for decades - assisted living in a large apartment with TWO bathrooms!).

I'm sure she would never have wanted any of this to happen.

Many thanks for your kind words. They are very appreciated.