My mom is 88 yrs old. She's always been very tired, lethargic, depressed. She's on meds for these problems and sees an internal med doc plus two specialists. For the past 6 months Mom sleeps about 18 hrs a day. I'm able to get two meals a day with some fluids in her but she wants to go right back to bed most days. Occasionally she has stayed up in a lift chair but falls asleep - that's okay with me since she is upright and avoids fluid pooling in her lungs - but most days she demands to go back to bed. On two different occasions I put her to bed at her 8 p.m. bedtime and just let her sleep until she decided to wake up the next day. Finally at 7 p.m., both times, she woke up, had something to eat/drink, and then went right back to sleep again. She does not have a UTI but I can tell when she becomes dehydrated as her urine output decreases and her urine has a terrible odor to it. Lab checks return normal and with increased fluid intake, the foul odor disappears. Her word-finding is much more difficult over the past 6 months plus her memory is fading much more rapidly. Up until about 6 months ago, she could tell family stories and recall names of family and friends. Not able to do that now. So far we're managing her at home okay with the help of a walker and one of us helping her. My thing about taking care of relatives at home vs facility placement is safety - when it becomes unsafe for them to walk with their assistive devices or they have extended periods of bowel/bladder incontinence, the docs have agreed that placement is warranted. Excessive sleeping is a new one on me. Pedal pulses are strong, arms and legs are warm, no pain complaints. Should I just let her sleep and get her up for a meal 3 times a day or should I enforce some way of keeping her sitting up for a few hours? I can't sit with her 2-3 hours at a time as I have a job from home and a 70-yr-old husband who needs a little help now and then. Any ideas? Thanks a bunch ahead of time!
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