DH delusional. Worse by the day. My good friend, who is an RN, stopped by last night and could not believe the acute changes in his mental status. She suggested that I call 911 today and have him evaluated. Has anyone had any experience with this situation?
Could be anything, dehydration, meds need adjustments, diabetes. You need him checked out to rule out things that could be treated. Call ASAP. Let us know how he is doing.
If I had a vote, I would go with your friend's assessment and call 911. You have babies to protect. They can become dangerous so fast when they get delusional. I knew my Mom was out of it when she whacked me because she was calling me by her sister's name but had no idea she would go violent on me.
Myrtle, I am one step ahead of you....just got off phone with PCP, who said DH definitely needs to be admitted to a geri-psych unit to be evaluated. So, I am keeping it together for the boys' 1:00 basketball game and then I will take DH to hospital. Thank you. I will check in later. xo
Christine, stay safe. I did call 911 and he ended up in a geri-psych hospital (local hospital doesn't have a psych ward). Be advised, if they admit him more than likely he will be there for at least 3-4 weeks, maybe more. My husband was in for 3.5 months.
It is interesting to me that this snowballing need for a medical evaluation is right on the heels of your instinct that the time for placement is near. It was my experience, too, that I sensed the changes even before I could quite articulate what I was sensing.
My husband spent 5 weeks in a geripsych unit, but this was a month or so after he'd moved to an ALF dementia unit, because his aggressive and paranoid behavior (which I was seeing signs of at the time of placement) escalated. Luckily, after successful med management, he was able to return to his place at the ALF.
If he ends up with a stint in a geripsych unit, for med adjustment, it could be the right time to have a placement ready for him when he is discharged. It could make for a simpler transition.
myrtle, typically when a person with dementia and aggressive behaviors goes into a geri-psych unit, it takes time to determine which combo of meds work. And the meds themselves take time to accumulate in the body to start working. So yes, it takes a while. Unfortunately, no one ever tells you it will take that long and most families are told that the stay will be 2 weeks...not true in most cases.
Yes, a UTI could be causing the delusions...or perhaps another type of infection or the meds he's on.
Thanks, LFL, that process explains why the hospital stay can be so long.
I hope they test for a UTI or other infection before they start giving him drugs. I would hate to see someone taking psychiatric drugs if all they need is an antibiotic.
Hi everyone. So DH urine test came back borderline. Dr does not see anything medically that would cause this decline. Hospital is keeping him in Geri psych unit to adjust the meds. They just gave him a trazedone sp? Because he is pacing and had his coat on to leave. Just waiting for the bed at this point. Thank you everyone for posting. I sincerely appreciate your help.
This might a blessing in disquise for both of you. They may make bed available for him in a long term place as soon as they treat the UTI. Talk to the social worker at the hospital. They should be some help in finding a suitable placement. Do not wait too long. arms around you and the family
Don't take him home, no matter what they say or do. They may well pressure you--do not fall for it. This is your opportunity to get a placement, and hospitals are mandated by law to come up with a safe discharge plan.They cannot put him out on the sidewalk. Be pleasant but absolutely firm that you cannot take care of him at home. They cannot send him back to your home if you refuse to take him. They will have to place him. It is much, much easier to get your loved one placed from the hospital than to take him back home and then try to place him. Let them put him in the first available NH, and then later on if you are not happy with that place, work on getting him transferred to another NH.
Forgot to say upthread that when Larry was alive he seemed to go on forever and forever with an excruciatingly, slow and gradual decline…I was pretty sure I was going to die before he did…but when downturns came, they could be sudden and severe--seemed to come out of nowhere.
The points made by elizabeth* reflect my experience. Despite employing a private care manager, basically nothing happened for months. That is, nothing happened for my husband. On the other hand, I visited facilities and the only outcome was a nicely padded bill from the care manager.
The reason I bring this up is that everything changed dramatically with a hospital admission. Even though I was told that my husbands medical situation was interesting to the clinicians, there was only a limited period of time that his inpatient status in a critical care unit could be justified by insurance. The hospital social worker moved mountains.
Yes, there was an initial attempt to have him return home with in-home care. My guess is that insurance wants to try this first. I expressed concerns about my physical safety. Live in help was not possible for a variety of reasons. The hospital social worker had him placed in a rehab facility within days and, similar to what emily* mentioned, his transition to an ALF was facilitated by the rehab social work staff.
Thank you all for the advice. DH is no better after being treated with antibiotic. He is still delusional and lashed out at nurses verbally and physically and security had to be called do they could inject cyprexa which you may know is dn anti psychotic. Psychiatrist just called to tell me that he was complaining if chest pain so they did an EKG which showed a t wave which I guess suggests some sort of event. I was at hospital this morning from 7 30 to 11 30 but had to get home cause boys don't have school due to snow and one of them has the flu to boot.
Well, we all have t waves on our EKGs. There are four or five different t wave abnormalities, which can mean different things. You need more information. Are they getting a cardiology consult, or anything like that? Did they draw any blood to check the cardiac enzymes? Are they talking about doing a cardiac catheterization? Did they check his potassium levels, and do you know if they were within normal limits? See if the psychiatrist has any more information.
Christine0815, I absolutely agree with the others who have suggested your DH being placed directly from the hospital. It will take the matter out of your hands and you have enough on your plate with your boys. He will surely have to be placed sometime in the near future and it will be an easier transition for him and for YOU if you can tell him the doctors think he needs a "period" of extra care. Hugs around you. I know how difficult this can be and I did not have little ones to take care of. Please consider your boys and yourself. They need you and you know that your husband would want that too.