My 90 year old husband has pacemaker and congestive heart disease. He moans and groans at any exertion, sitting to standing, walking etc. He spends more and more time just sitting and resting. Wondering how quickly the heart disease is progressing? Cardiologist does't say much. We're thinking about moving to a house withou stairs, but wonder if the readjustment is worth it?
If your husband is in good health other than the CHF and pacemaker I would move houses to get away from the stairs unless he has a bed and bath on the first floor. My mom also had a hospital bed and a lift chair that helped her. She probably started using the bed at about 93. A walker at about 95. An oximeter is also helpful because it will reassure him of his ability to breath or alert him that he needs to take some deep breaths.
How is your health? Do you have help caring for him? You might benefit from a one story home as well.
CHF requires constant monitoring of weight (fluid) and diet. A person can live a long time with CHF with the proper care. My mother spent a lot of time in her chair but never in bed during the day. When she had CHF episodes I would take her to the ER and into the hospital to get the fluid off. She was very strict with herself and only had to go a few times. We started working with a heart transplant clinic that helped manage her care when the episodes came closer together. I had asked about hospice at that time and was told no. It's so much easier to exercise , eat right and keep the fluid off than to have to remove it with extra fluid medication. Much easier on the kidneys. At the end of her life she lost weight and it was harder to tell what her dry weight was. She was much thinner than I realized. We had a lot of good times between 90 and 97 but every one is different.
I met Ray when he was 63 and he was looking at buying a 2-story house and I said no. I told him at 63 he shouldn't be looking for a multiple story dwelling and we did wind up buying a house without any stairs; I think they're called Ranch Houses?
A Lift-Chair would help him immensely; but they are costly because you really need one with Infinite Positions and a Zero Gravity position. You can also go online and buy a Caravan Sport Chaise Zero Gravity for under $40 @Amazon and @Walmart. 2 days in the chaise and you could noticeably see the swelling come down in his legs! He was breathing easier and I think he was thinking clearer. So I immediately went online and purchased him a Sleep-Lift Chair and even his physician is amazed at how much better he is breathing and the swelling (Venous Stasis Insufficiency) is practically gone most days. His lasix was decreased to every other day.
The moaning and groaning might be nothing - but I am not a doctor. It may not be his heart - try asking his primary physician and if you are using Home Health Services, tell them and together you should be able to find the problem. It could be something major and it could also just be muscle atrophy. Again, I am not a doctor or a nurse - I am just a wife who is learning as much and as quickly as possible. Being 30 years younger than Ray does make it easier for me to learn but after being together 32 years and counting, I want more time with him if at all possible.
Your cardiologist only knows his heart. Your General Practitioner handles a bit of everything and can refer you to the proper physician. In the meantime, he most likely needs Physical Therapy and please do look into a Zero Gravity chair - you won't be sorry. You can and should run it by your doctor to make sure it is ok. I now put Ray into ZG twice a day, during his regular naps. And he wears compression socks but now I don't feel it as mandatory and I give him a day free of them now and again.
Don't give up on your honey-bun and don't let him give up either. You could easily have many more years together.
You might also want to do some research on the cures because I just found some videos out there where it can be cured. I would first listen to the ones with patient testimonials and those who went into remission
Someone here mentioned having a place without stairs, which would really be especially helpful. Another thing to consider is a stair lift or other type of elevator. Of course there's also another option of putting the patient's room downstairs. Years ago I knew someone who could no longer do stairs and she moved her bedroom downstairs into a sunroom porch. However, I noticed she eventually ended up sleeping in her chair. It must've been easier for her to breathe being so heavy as she was around 4-500 pounds. I've actually tried to sleep sitting up and there's a gravitational pulling down on my chest and other areas and I actually breathe much easier laying down or at least slightly reclined.
There are different conditions that cause people to avoid stairs, But there are ways around having to tackle them.
But, he did not have a heart attack...they caught it before the actual attack would have occurred (just luck), so he had no scar tissue surrounding his heart to complicate things.