My mom was doing pretty well physically in her memory care facility and I could still have a pretty good simple conversation with her 2 months ago. Then she either fell and broke her hip or broke her hip and fell. She had surgery to repair the fracture and was in hospital for 4 days then rehab for about a month. They did have her up and walking with a walker although it did seem painful for her. They had her sleeping in a recliner close to the nurses station because she tried more than once to get up and fell. After discharge she was sent back to her memory care facility and her dementia has gotten much worse since the surgery. PT has been coming in but not able to get her to do too much because it is too painful for her. Yesterday I decided no more PT for her. I just want her to be as pain free as possible. She is in a wheelchair and when she went to a doctor appointment for xray, I could hear her yelling in pain when they were getting her on the table. She is 95 years old and I just want her to be comfortable. She is on quite a bit of pain meds. I sometimes get the feeling that her facility doesn't want the extra burden that she demands. We are going to be paying more for the higher level of care that she requires. At her age, should they still be trying to get her up and walking again?
I would also ask about how patients who don't move can develop contracture. I have seen dementia patients develop this and their legs and arms draw up tight and cannot be relaxed. It looks painful. I'd discuss the options for your mom's condition.
Her dementia and lack of pain control is more likely the problem. There is the anesthesia to think about. Her mental status might improve a bit after that wears off, or not. If she doesn't get up and move I would be worried about pressure sores. Those can be especially painful and hard to heal. Even though she is on a lot of pain meds it might not be effective and needs to be evaluated. It could also be fear of pain that makes her call out. It's a tough call. Get the best medical advice you can and be willing to listen. You might be trying to save her from one type of pain only to set her up for worse. The whole picture has to be evaluated. If she is generally in good health she could live a long time yet.