Is my mom going to get better?
Need some words of encouragement or success stories after my mom's really rough recovery from TKR. She is 71 years old.
For context, she had her left knee replaced a few months ago and did amazing. She was off the walker in a few days and resumed normal life with minimal pain.
Fast forward to April 30th and she got her right knee done. The first few days I helped her recover at home and she fell once which required EMS assistance. I chalked it up to the pain and oxycodone.
However, as the week progressed it was clear she was not getting much better. She was still weak, falling, lethargic, confused, but refused medical attention against the wishes of me, the EMS, and her visiting PT. On top of that, she was abusing her Ativan while also taking Oxycodone 10.
Finally on May 10th, 10 days after surgery, she fell twice requiring EMS assistance and the second fall broke open her incision so she accepted a hospital visit. They diagnosed her with a UTI and admitted her for four night.
From there, because she lives alone and she was a fall risk, they discharged her to a skilled nursing facility for dedicated PT sessions every day. Well the nursing home facility has been a disaster for a bunch of reasons, and my mom is really struggling with the loss of her independence and being told what to do. She is crying and wants to leave so bad. I worry that her tanking mental health will make her recovery even worse, not to mention her reliance on ativan and oxycodone even though she has a history of substance abuse. They have her in a wheelchair because she is a fall risk so she doesnt do much walking outside of an hour of PT.
I was hoping she could be discharged this weekend which would be a week after she entered the nursing facility but I just found out she had another fall tonight (May 17th) because she got up on her own and tried to use the wheel chair for a walker.
Is it normal to be falling almost 3 weeks after surgery? Unable to walk even with a walker? Has anybody had a similar experience and gotten better? I thought she would recover after her UTI was treated, and she has been on antibiotics for 10 days. I know it's a long recovery but it's hard not to fear for the worst.