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Mom is 85 and suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia. She broke her hip and three days ago she had surgery to fix it. She’s in the hospital and has been very combative pulling out her IVs and trying to pull out her catheter so they’ve had to give her Ativan a few times. The other issue is she has woken up a few times and drank water and some lemonade through a straw and we even have gotten her to swallow some of her pills the problem is she will not open her eyes when she is talking to us. Her voice sounds different as well. They haven’t been able to get her up and out of bed and on a walker, which is a great concern. We wanted her to go to a rehab facility but how can we go anywhere if she won’t open her eyes and sit up. She’s also not eating anything. This is very frustrating. Does anyone else have any similar experiences with their loved ones who have dementia and went through hip surgery. I’d love to know what the recovery was like for them and if anyone has had any similar issues with keeping their eyes closed, I sincerely appreciate any and all responses.

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Anesthesia can cause Dementia to progress. It takes longer to get out of an elders body. Your Moms system has had a shock. Breaking of a hip is serious. If she does not improve, I would not allow her to be transported to Rehab. That is for therapy and Mom will not be able to do it. Rehab also is not skilled nursing.

My Mom too closed her eyes and would not open them. She also would not get out of bed. When she could no longer swallow, I had Hospice called in. She passed a week later, she was 89. You need to talk to the doctor who is seeing Mom and ask if he sees her improving. If not, the hospital maybe able to put her under "comfort care".

My Mom also had times she would close her eyes for a while. At these times she talked normal. I could have a regular conversation with her. It was dicussed here when I mentioned it to the forum maybe it was an audio/visual thing. The outside world can be very confusing to someone with Dementia and closing their eyes blocks that out.
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Sounds Like the anesthesia May have confused her brain .
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GoPhillies2025 Oct 12, 2025
This is true because when I was about 75, I slipped on a bottle cap on a frosty Dec night in a parking lot and fell on my kneecap, crushing it. After I was dismissed from the hospital, I was fortunate enough to have a friend who invited me to stay at her place but she didn't cook or provide nursing care which was fine as I was not hungry or thirsty. Couldn't sleep and everything made me sad, even silly cartoon ads on TV made me cry. That lasted a good 10 days. So, yes, anesthesia can really do a number on one's brain. Some things your brain gets over and some things it doesn't.
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