Does anyone find bruises or cuts on their loved ones and you can't figure out where they came from? I feel so guilty when I see these. As I am here all of the time, I can't figure out when it happens or how.
brindle. if the bruising looks to be at pressure points where they sit or rest arms or legs etc it can be the start of a pressure sore if they sit alot during the day or in bed alot. it can come up quite suddenly. if not this, just hitting themselves due to poor balance could be causing some of it. also you may could check with the dr if he could be anemic which leads to easy bruising. the cuts i have no ideas or than a fall?divvi
brindle... there was a discussion about this very thing a while back. I tried to do a search for it but could'nt find it. As for the bruising, I remember it being called 'senile purpuria' (spelling?). It is just that their skin is quite fragile, bruising easier than a healthier or younger person. As for the scratches, I can tell you that my husband looks horrible. He picks and scratches at everything and I have no clue as to how to stop it. He doesn't even KNOW he's doing it most of the time.
Thanks for all of your input. I think one may be from his ID bracelet and he does use his hands like a fist to get himself up and down. He was low on protein and is now on Boost which I believe has made a huge difference. Most of the scraches are during the night so you are right that he probably doesn't even know he is doing it.
Again, thanks it is always a comfort to "talk" to someone who understands. Love you all and bless you for all you do to help each of us.
I bruise very easily. One doctor told me it was because of the skin getting thin with age and partly because of the blood pressure pills I am on. Right now I have a DARK red bruise on the back of my right hand and I have no idea how I got it.
brindle, please watch the one that you think may be from his bracelet. My husband is in a facility and they wear ankle bracelets that trigger locks on the doors if they try to open the doors. His ankle bracelet caused a sore on his ankle and they had to take it off. Thank goodness he isn't a "flight" risk. The sore healed up but his arms are still bruised due to thin, fragile skin and he bumps his arms a lot while navigating his wheel chair.
When my mom got to a certain stage in this disease, the veins on her hands and arms began to bother her and she would pick at them to try to get them off her hand. My DH is on Coumadin and he does not brusise often, thank goodness. He is on so many meds and up until now I have watched him fill his pill boxes..now I feel I need to check his work. He is pretty stubborn and I have to remind him every night to take his insulin..Now I am starting to worry about his taking the tablets correctly. The other suggestiong about balance is also worth noting. It may not take much of a bump to get a black and blue mark or scratch. I am noticing DH is having some balance issues a little and I know some could be due the diabetes and the neuropothy or if this is part of the AD or both now.
Mimi, I can understand your discouragement re. your husband's balance issues. (It seems we get one hole in the dike plugged and another pops open.) Hypostatic blood pressure (drop in blood pressure when getting up too quickly) is the cause of my husband dizziness. His doctor has put him on a different blood pressure med. specifically for this. Also, the doctor told him to get up slowly from a lying or sitting position. As for bruising: my husband's arms and legs are covered with bruises from the aspirin he takes to prevent further T.I.A.'s. Latest problem here (other than the ex-wife surfacing again and passing herself off as my husband's cousin to gain admittance to the care facility, that plus phoning him umpteen times a day) is athlete's foot. Trying the usual things, will get him to the doctor (who's away for a few days - probably up in Whistler at the Winter Olympics) if the over-the-counter meds don't work.
Mary, I was going to say the same thing. My husband took an aspirin a day and when he started bruising a lot, the doctor said to stop the aspirin because he was more concerned with possible internal bleeding with a fall than his TIA or clogged arteries.
Mary, Is there anyway you can put a stop to the x wife and her antics? I smell a rat here. If I were in your spot, unless you have step kids, I would put a stop to this woman. This is dishonest representation on her part to gain access to your husband. Who knows what motives may be behind this.
Mimi, as Health Care Representative and on the advice of my husband's doctor and with the help of a lawyer, I put a stop to ex-wife's visits last July as he was always agitated after them. (They were married for 14 years, 40 years ago - we have been married for 30.) There are 3 stepchildren, their partners and a grandchild who together have done their best to gain control of his finances. My lawyer will be sending a letter to ex-wife and a different one to the step kids' lawyer, as they have been facilitating visits with ex-wife by taking him out of the facility, supposedly for a car ride but stopping at ex-wife's house, and also by having a meal with her at the care facility and including her in. I expect there will be more problems from then until my husband dies, and then probably for a couple of years after that. Since one of their expressed purposes is to take away committeeship (guardianship) from me and a co-committee), and Heath Care Representation from me, they're only weakening their case and it will be on record it they threaten court action again. As for motives, one definitely is financial, and the other, I think, is mischief making.
I guess I should consider myself lucky. I have a few problems with the two step-childdren and their visits to the nursing home. But I don't have any ex-wife to deal with. She re-married and then passed away. You have my best wishes for you in this ordeal.