I have an elderly aunt in a care home. I talk to the doctors and nurses, but many of the staff don’t speak very good English, and the doctors aren’t usually there, so I usually have to gauge her physical state by how she hugs me. Lately she’s taken to hugging me with only one arm and not rising from her chair to do it, but she still hugs me tightly with some strength. She’s clean and well looked-after.
Are there any other tell-tales for which I should look?
Would one of the performance status scales be of any use?
Is she not able to communicate, or not very well? Obviously, she’s still “there”, or she wouldn’t be recognizing you and hugging, etc.
If she’s only hugging with one arm now, she could have had a stroke recently. I think you need to leave a message for the doctor who sees her to contact you. Make sure they understand that you are the person who has authority to find out what’s going on, and that you want answers, ASAP.
Good luck. And you know, I’m sure, that some of us will follow this thread to see whether there’s anything else you need advice/ideas/whatever on.
There was an article in the New Yorker last year called “The Way We Age Now.” Google the titke and New Yorker.
It discusses how the feet can give a lot of warning signs.