Posts by coastalangler84

Angela Wright said:We’ve got one of those hydraulic hospital beds at home [...]
But even then, she can barely hold a position for 20 minutes before whichever arm she's lying on starts hurting like crazy.

So yeah, switching positions every 10 minutes or so is totally fine. 🙂

From what I've dealt with, the biggest thing is just watching that skin—it gets super sensitive from being down for so long and because of the swelling. There are all sorts of creams and lotions out there specifically for preventing pressure sores, and my mom actually really liked that Diana cream from CVS. It helps a bit with circulation (sort of a warm-then-cool sensation), but definitely test it on a tiny spot first. We ended up mixing it with some Decumil and another stuff (can't remember the name, honestly)—just using that "maybe this one has a magic ingredient the other doesn't" logic! 🙂 The swelling didn't go away, but after two months of being bedridden (she was down for almost five months total!), her skin stayed perfectly clear without any issues.

Just a heads-up though, my situation was pretty different since she was still pretty cooperative until the last few days (except when it came to picking food, where I had to play chef to find something she could stomach), and I also lucked out because it happened while I was on vacation.

Angela Wright said:I’m honestly terrified of giving her anything that might mess with her mental clarity, because even right now, talking to her feels like a struggle.

That’s exactly why I brought up the perks of using a Fentanyl patch (though you definitely have to check with the docs first since everyone reacts differently).

Angela Wright said:I was actually thinking about getting a massage therapist over to do some lymphatic drainage, but her doctor told me it wasn't a great idea in case there are any blood clots hiding in there that could get dislodged... but part of me is just sitting here thinking, what’s the worst that could happen? She can only die, right?

You really have to rule out thrombosis before even touching lymphatic drainage (you know, through those hemostasis tests or whatever blood work they run). You seriously can't play around with that stuff—a clot can cause so much trouble and really make things go south 😢

In this situation, I think focusing on changing her positioning should be the priority... and you gotta get creative! Like, try different ways to prop up her arms or legs, or shift how her torso sits. Besides the physical help, it actually helped me feel closer to my patient in my own experience, because we were working together to figure things out and find solutions...

First off, I just gotta say this thread is awesome. I stumbled onto it by accident, and honestly, I could've used this info a few years back... 😢

Angela Wright said:My mom is dealing with some really heavy swelling in her wrists and ankles, [...]

Has anyone dealt with this kind of edema before? Any tips on how to get rid of it or even just tone it down?

It all comes down to what's causing the swelling—it could be "just" circulation issues, or maybe lymph drainage getting blocked by growths...

Angela Wright said:Right now she isn't feeling much pain except for her hands and feet, which seem to be hurting pretty bad.😢

That's definitely something to look into. There's a specialized pain management clinic over at MD Anderson Cancer Center, and those folks can give some seriously smart advice. For us, using the Fentanyl patch was a game changer—it handled the pain (with the occasional little bit of Percocet on the side), and Mom stayed totally clear-headed, which we weren't even expecting since it's an opioid. She was even taking charge herself, making sure the patch was applied right and marking the box to keep track of when she changed it 🙂 Obviously, you have to be super careful with the dosage: start with the lowest dose possible and stick strictly to the instructions on when to swap them out.