Mom has been off hospice for 8 months. Her Dr will not talk to me, as a poa, even though for last 3 months mom's feet have been swollen and turn blue. Her arm bruise and now she has a cut and more brusing. She needs a person to see her more often than weekly.
Have Mom’s legs elevated to help reduce the swelling . She has poor circulation causing her feet to turn blue also .
As far as the bruising , elderly people bruise easily . They are called purpura and the skin can tear easily as well , which you have called a cut .
All these are common maladies of someone your mother’s age . There is nothing the doctor can do . And a broken hip and femur take a lot out of an elderly and is often the beginning of the final decline towards death .
You aren’t going to find a doctor willing to come to the facility to see your mother other than whatever doctors already have privaledge to see residents at the facility .
Your only other option is to have her seen at another doctor at his/her office . That would require you to hire a medical transport to get her to the office and back .
I’m sorry , but what you have described is common signs of decline . Maybe she would qualify for hospice again .
My Husband would bruise so easily and it would lead to a skin tear.
I prevented the skin tears for the most part. As soon as I saw a bruise I would brush or spray the area with liquid bandage. This seemed to be enough to prevent the skin from tearing.
Elevating the feet and legs can help with the swelling.
BUT all this has 1 thing in common....
Poor circulation.
And it will get worse.
I would call Hospice either the same one or another (or call both) and ask for an evaluation.
A doctor seeing her more often is not going to make the condition any better. She is going to continue to decline, circulation will get worse and skin will begin to mottle.
Some things that might help:
Elevating the legs but if there can be leg wraps that help massage the legs might help the circulation.
If she does not have an alternating pressure mattress that would also help in keeping the blood flowing and relieving pressure from typical pressure points the heels, calf, hip area, shoulders and the back of the head.
Changing her position every 2 hours is crucial. You do not have to do a lot even a slight change will help.
Making sure there are no wrinkles in any of the bedding and if possible in her clothing.
But in the meantime, make sure that the staff at her facility are keeping her feet elevated as she obviously has a circulation problem.
What are the staff at her facility saying about these issues and what are they doing about it, as they should be addressing your concerns?