So mums bambi legs are causing us all trouble. Bless her spirit but she doesn't remember nor realise her frailty as in her mind she is a perfectly fit and healthy 30 odd year old. Her thigh muscles have wasted so she finds it difficult to stand up herself but once standing she is pretty steady. The issue is her trying to stand up when none of us are there to help her.
And so the falls began. At night. The only time she is left alone, other than taking the kids to and from school.
Mum has a hospital bed now, one of the many amazing things provided by the NHS, which has sides that can be lifted to prevent her falling out. The only problem is if I put these up, she tries to climb over them which I reckon is a greatest risk than her 'just' falling out the bed. So I leave them down, which means mum is free to get out of her bed, alone, at night, with no help.
Which meant when she needed the loo, she would try to to get up and go herself - as any other fit and healthy person would. Only she would fall over. I would hear her cry out for help and find her on the floor, pick her up, help her back into bed and settle her down. One night when I found her on the floor, she had broken her ribs in the fall and it would take weeks to recover. This started another downturn in her health as it was sore to breathe in fully she ended up with a chest infection and her already small appetite for food decreased even more together with her appetite for life. It was horrible to see her deteriorate - again.
