Hello.
I am new to the forum and have only just started seeking advice. My dad was diagnosed with parkinsons about a year and a half ago. Since then he hasn’t seen his consultant but they have a review this August.
He had a serious fall about two weeks ago from the top of the stairs backwards right to the bottom. Surprisingly no broken bones but serious weakness and whiplash and head injury that they stitched up. It led to an emergency hospital admission (there was also a medication error during that admission, where they overdosed his parkinsons medicine x4 which is now under formal investigation separately).
Since coming home he’s really struggling:
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Very weak, can barely walk or get himself out of the car or off the couch
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Pronounced stoop/hunched posture, and his neck is very stiff — he can’t stand up straight and needs his walker or mobility scooter which he didnt need before for most of the time
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Low mood, seems massively depressed
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Confused and overwhelmed, saying things like he’ll “be dead soon anyway” when we suggest insuring things etc. He is scared of falling depressed at living and very angry. He has past denial he is just miserable and it’s so hard to see and taking it out massively on my mom who is caring for him
No physiotherapy was recommended on discharge, which surprised me given how much his mobility has changed.
A few things I’d love input on:
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Is this level of decline after a fall something people have seen recover with rehab, or is it more often a new baseline?
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How urgently should we be pushing for physio — should I be going back to his GP or PD nurse directly to ask for a referral?
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The new confusion is worrying me especially — is this something others have seen post-fall/post-hospital, and does it tend to lift? He was confused a bit pre-fall but its very pronounced now and he cant seem to manage tasks like opening his phone, calling, organising anything, preparing meals
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Any advice on how to approach the low mood and what he’s saying about dying — how have others raised this with a GP or PD nurse?
Any experience, even just “this happened to my mum/dad and here’s what helped” would be really useful right now. Thank you.
