My mom has Parkinson's Disease and at this point cannot walk, stand, dress or bathe herself without assistance. I put her in her wheelchair from her hospital bed each morning and take her to her lift chair where she spends most of the day. When she needs to go to the bathroom, I take her in her wheelchair and assist her to the toilet and back to the wheelchair. She has no strength to do anything other than feed herself if it's something she can eat with her hands. I'm concerned that she could be having mini strokes causing her to be weak on the left side. Any suggestions would be helpful at this point.
an insert in her chair custom sized to hold her erect. The foam cost $7.00 and it was
simple to do and a major improvement for her. It did not completely solve the problem but it helped a lot.
Pisa syndrome: A condition in which there is sustained involuntary flexion of the body and head to one side and slight rotation of the trunk so the person appears to lean like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The Pisa syndrome is an adverse effect (a side-effect) of some medications. It occurs sometimes following the long-term use of narcoleptics (drugs used to treat schizophrenia) or cholinesterase inhibitors (a class of drugs used to treat Alzheimer disease).
Mini strokes would be diagnosed or ruled out with a PET scan or similar brain imaging. Parkinson's can be an ascending paralysis, but brain imaging and bloodwork done right after a stroke will confirm or rule out that as a cause. A good neurologist is a must.
My mom was recently seen by an occupational therapist after leaving the hospital and they suggested I gently remind her of her leaning whenever I notice she is toppling, and advised her to lean the other way on purpose, e.g. prop herself on the left arm of a chair as soon as she sits.
As far as preventing her from leaning to one side when she's sitting you can try a pillow on her weaker side to keep her propped up but you might have to regularly adjust the pillow as she begins to lean over again. It depends upon the kind of pillow you use. And this will only work if the chair she's in has arms, like a wheelchair. You'll have to use a very firm, large pillow.