Complications from being bedridden

[lgrens]

Hello. My 75 year old father, about 315 pounds, has been bedridden for the last 4 years, due to a stroke. He is expressing a wish to get in a wheelchair or on a scooter to roam about the facility where he resides. Recently, he has been told that his ability to bend at a 45 degree angle is no longer available. He has even recently had to start receiving bed baths, rather than his bi-weekly trips to the shower in a chair.....  
Can you please elaborate on possible the condition of his spine so that I can understand why he can no longer sit up? And is there any chance of him ever sitting up again?

Thanks.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

There are two possibilities. Either he has paralyzed muscles which make it impossible for him to sit up on his own, or there is some spinal problem. There must be an MRI of the back done. You need to know why the doctor's don't allow him to sit up. Is it that they do not allow, or it is because he can not? These are the questions you can ask his doctors.

Regards

[lgrens]

Thanks for your response. I am unaware of any disease of the spine at all.   My father suffered a second stroke, and is now unable to walk apparently due to the paralysis in his right leg.  It was suggested that he could not sit up because his body could no longer bend without a high degree of pain inflicted.   He seems to want to do this, but the staff at the home he resides in tells him he cannot.  

Thanks.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Is he suffering from any degenerative disease of the spine? This has not been mentioned.

From what the doctors have said, it appears that his spinal column can not support his weight. There may be a fusion of some vertebrae.

Can you mention why he is bedridden?

Regards