I've noticed that DH leans waaay back when he is not functioning as well...he was extremely tired yesterday and was walking very slowly and leaning backwards. If he was a clock, his belly button would point to 12:00 and his shoulders would point to 10:00!! Strange way to describe it but that was my first thought. Has anyone had problems such as this? I did read a thread on leaning but doesn't sound exactly what we're experiencing.
Audrey, that is so odd. I cannot imagine how his BB could point straight up and his shoulders back over to 10:00. My husband leaned farther and farther into a bent-at-the-waist posture. I'd always remind him to "stand like a soldier"..in order for him to stand up straight. (He COULD stand straight, just wouldn't). As with so many, his poor posture would contribute to balance which led to falling as time went on. I'd visit Memory Care Centers frequently, and bent postures, leaning, etc, was commonplace.
For a little while, after one of my DH's trips to the hospital with a suspected TIA and everything cleared up and tests were inconclusive, when he was tired he would walk with his knees slightly bent and his body leaning backward. He said he had to do that to stay on his feet. Then it went away. Drs. had no input. I chalked it up to a wiring disturbance. Now, a couple years later, some of the time he walks with knees slightly bent. Sometimes he'll be leaning slightly forward. If tired he leans to the right--the shoulder droops, sometimes even lists that way in motion. He has Va D and I believe that as the brain tissue sustains additional microscopic damage, I'm seing more wiring problems in his physical abilities.
Nancy, DH's BB is not pointing to 12 as I said..I should have said aligned with 12. I didn't state it correctly. The leaning back so far looks dangerous to me. I have no idea how he can stay on his feet but so far he hasn't fallen. I'll speak to the neuro on next visit.
carosi, I'm hoping my DH's leaning will go away as yours did. We never know what is next, do we? I guess it makes life very interesting.
My husband leaned (and sometimes fell) backward almost from the onset of his FTD. Now that he is in a wheel chair, he leans extreamly to the right, often with his right hand touching the floor. We pull him up and right back over he goes. We put a pillow in the chair beside him and it helps, but not a lot.
Does anyone know why they LEAN so far over in their wheelchairs. I visited Memory Care facilities before my DH passed away, and I noticed that so many of them leaned as you described. It doesn't make sense, when you think about it. It's not like they are falling OUT of their chair...just leaning over the side of it.
I'm thinking it's full body muscle weakness, similar tosingle sided wekness from Stroke. Even in dementias, not vascular, we're still dealing with the destruction of the nerve muscle; nerve body position breakdown. Just my idea.
For some they may start to lean due to pain. If sitting one way causes pain, then they main lean to relieve the pain/be more comfortable and just keep going. Remember that if they are not active and sit or lie ,most of the time muscle will get week/atrophy and that could be the reason for some of it.
My husband leans to the right as well. He has had several mini-strokes and they affect his right side and right leg. However, he can still hold his head up. When he dozes in his chair, he head leans to the right until his chin touches his chest. When you try to put a pillow between his head and his shoulder, he pulls it down to his lap!
I have been told that the head leaning to the right is normal, and that they will get to the point that the position is permanent at the last.
My husband has started doing this and the staff in the ALF and I are afraid that he is going to keel right over backwards. He has become very unsteady, and extremely rigid. He cannot bend at the hips to sit down, and when we put him to bed he cannot straighten out his legs once he is supine. He falls asleep while eating, standing, sitting and has even fallen when he apparently fell asleep while standing. He has developed some other strange habits such as rapidly bouncing one leg up and down and obsessively twisting his shirts and buttons.
Has anyone else seen these behaviors and can suggest what might be next?
Marche, could it have anything to do with medications? My husband would lean far backwards, or sometimes to one side, when walking while he was on Haldol, the only way they could manage his care at a certain point. His neck was also stiff. When we weaned him off the Haldol, the stiffness and leaning mostly disappeared too. The leaning came back for a short time, just before he became unable to walk.
Thank you, marg78*, for your kind comment. My husband has indeed fallen several times (once hitting his head on a door frame) due to the backwards leaning and rigidity, but because he is still mobile there is little we can do to keep him from walking around and falling. I am going in to the ALF two to three times a day to feed him, change him, do the laundry and put him to bed; I will admit that this routine is taking its toll.
We lovingly call him Lazarus because on several occasions he has seriously looked as if he were dying, only to resurrect several hours later and start walking again. It has all been alarming enough to initiate funeral planning and arranging for a post-mortem neuropathology exam of his brain. I feel rather strongly that there is more going on than just AD. These are not fun days, but I take heart in what you, elizabeth and myrtle have written about reinventing oneself and, I guess, live a bit vicariously that way.
I do wonder if I will survive this, and if I do, will it leave me as cynical, exhausted, and apathetic as I am now. I have become a different person now and one I hardly know.
I am so sorry that this has happened to your husband, Marche. I know how worried you must be, always wondering what you will find next. No wonder you are exhausted and depressed. You are doing a huge job, and it’s hard to take care of yourself, too.
Rene fell several times while at home. Once he blacked out, fell and hit the hinge on a door frame, tearing his ear half off, and needed a plastic surgeon to sew it back together again. Falls are scary because we know they can do a lot of damage.
Could your husband’s doctor at least call a specialist to check him out, or would this be more than your husband can deal with?
Can the ALF not make it mandatory that he MUST get around in a wheelchair? It would seem to be safer for him overall. After Rene’s many falls he was never allowed to walk alone unless the physiotherapist and his assistant took him for exercising. Otherwise he was put in his wheelchair, and I walked him a lot. The grounds were nice, and after feeding him, he was toileted (lift), I brushed his teeth, and then he was mine for the rest of the day until bedtime. I would wheel him to a bench under the trees, put on his music, and that seemed to give him the most peace and he would fall asleep. Then you could have a bit of a rest too. I wish something like that could happen for you and your husband.
Your love for your husband comes through in your posts. Of course seeing him in this condition leaves you stressed and anxious, because you can’t see anything better going forward. Your job is to be there and love him and protect him as much as you can. God bless you for all that love and care.
You WILL get through this, Marche. This is a hardest part of all, and you will know afterwards that you were there when he needed you most. This advice is not too helpful, but hopefully the other ladies can offer something more helpful.