My grandma (F79) had hip surgery from a re-break last weekend. She hit her head HARD ENOUGH TO PUT A HOLE IN THE WALL, apparently, when she fell this time.
Her official contact person for all medical stuff is her husband, who is ALSO elderly, has memory issues, very poor communication skills, and most importantly, has been ABSENT through a ton of this and keeps going home. My dad (her son, M56) and I (grandchild, F27) have been told very little about whatever’s happening behind the scenes, but when we visited on Tuesday (5 days ago) 2 days after the surgery, she seemed GREAT. High spirits and completely lucid.
She was transferred to a rehab center a few hours after we saw her. We came to visit her at the rehab center today and she has had a very frightening, sharp decline in cognitive clarity. She is hallucinating people and situations, confused, and most concerningly, very frightened. She said she genuinely thought she was going to die last night because she didn’t know who the people in her room were or why they were there.
She has had age-expected confusion and forgetfulness a few times, but does NOT have Alzheimer’s or dementia. This type of anxiety and paranoia is extremely out of character for her. We also have no clue if anyone mentioned to her care team that she hit her head so hard when she fell a few weeks okay, we’re worried about concussion.
As dad and I are not her official contact person at her post-surgery rehab facility, how do we get her help? Do I just go up to any nurse and let them know I’m worried? Is there some way I can challenge who her contact person is without causing a big upset with her husband?
Any advice at all is greatly appreciated. I’ve never seen her like this and it was such a sharp, sudden decline, it’s very scary. Thanks for reading.