My mother, 98, mental health is as to be expected for her age.
So, now the doctor wants to install a pacemaker as her heart drops to 20-30 while sleeping. She has a myriad of other things wrong with her as well.
My brother and I are against it, he has expressed our concerns to her, however, she is one of those who if the doctor said, "Jump off of Pikes Peak in the nude!" she would do it. We want her to go the meds route.
Anyone have any experience with these implants? Side effects?
Yes, the decision is hers however the results may become another problem for my brother who is her main caregiver.
My mother has a hip replacement at 99 and lived another 7 years without the hip pain she was having, It as a good decision for her. She was in very early stage vascular dementia at the time but still mobile for several years.
I'm not sure what you mean by "mental heath as to be expected for her age." I'm 85 and my memory is better than my kids. Mother taught herself to use a computer at age 95. More and more people are living past 100 and in better shape.
As I understand it, the medical procedure and recovery for this surgery is not that hard on seniors. I think Lea makes a good point about after care.
If she is still considered competent, I guess she makes the decision. She has that right. If she is not considered competent and family has to make the decision, one way is to follow what a poster here some years ago advised. Ask the surgeon if it was his/her mother what would (s)he decide.
I like justsotired's solution in the post below.
Yes, she will make her own decision, our concern is her health, lots of heart issues, stage 111 renal failure.
We will just have to roll with her decision! Thank You!
I’m sorry you are going through this. But if she is in her right mind, you may just have to go along with what she wants.
My MIL could be checked over the phone. Some manufacturers have reps who go to hospitals and probably NHs. It was never a big problem to get them checked. Probably depends on where she lives and type of PM and perhaps other health issues.
When MIL was in the hospital, the tech came there. So brother could ask some questions about the aftercare. I know he must by toast with a 98 yr old to care for.
If it made your mom feel better for two weeks, much less 6 months, I would seriously consider it. But inpatient, outpatient, hospital delirium, hospital infections, all those things to consider.
One of my aunts, in an exercise class, thought she couldn’t detect her pulse and was doing something wrong. Neither could the instructor. She went to the ER and found she needed a PM immediately. She had hers replaced a couple of times before she died of Parkinson’s. She had no idea she needed one but after getting it she said she felt so much better. My cousin was told to let it stop on its own would be uncomfortable so she did have it replaced even after she had developed Lewy Body dementia along with the Parkinson’s. It is a pretty simple procedure with the ones I have had experience with.
Meds have side affects and don’t always provide the desired benefits. I discovered after months (maybe years) of having to adjust my DH aunts BP meds on a daily basis, based on her pulse reading, that Aricept was what was causing it to go low. It didn’t in the beginning but over time as her pulse decreased on its on, the Aricept brought it down into the low 40s.
Metoprolol also dropped her pulse. Until we discovered it was the Aricept, we would have to hold the metoprolol on the days it was too low and give an extra amlodipine to keep her BP down to an acceptable level.
Since taking her off Aricept and Namenda her pulse is in the 60-70 range and she feels better overall. We were trying to keep it above 50. So do check on her current meds to see if low pulse is a side effect.
Having said all that, DH aunt who is 96 and with dementia, told me years ago that she didn’t want a pacemaker. I was concerned a doctor would be recommending it until I finally figured out it was the meds that was causing the problem.
As CWillie said, hard to know what your mom should do w/o knowing her and all the details.
Mom had the replacement, went home and lived 4 more years. Not that she knew much of anything, but she could still get to the bathroom with help of her live-in daughter. She never had anything else that would have caused her to go to professional care.
Sooooo.....who knows?
Is a pm right for a 98 year old? Ugh, likely not, but if she's of a different mindset, then good luck. I'm sorry you 2 are dealing with this.
Appreciate your response.
And for what? So she can live another 6 months to a year? So sad.
But like you said ultimately it is your mothers decision. Here's to hoping she makes the right one.
Me Dolly......so sad you are going through this ..prayers...