concerned son

My father is 80.He has heart disease, diabitis for many years.His heart rate has been in the 40`s for several years . Since his last sergery about 2 years ago for a hernia went terrible,his doctor said we shouldnt do anything about it.His last visit to his doctor a week ago he changed his mind.He said since he hasnt had any issues and he`s a little stronger he thinks a paemaker will help him.
My dad is constantly sleeping.Wakes up around 7:00,has something to eat,takes his meds,goes to bed around 10:00.A few hourd later he wakes up for lunch, a few hours later he`s sleeping again and so on.......He has no hobbies, the can`t even go out to dinner anymore.Going to the doctors or comming over to my house takes everything out of him.
He wants to have the pacemaker put in.He is lead to believe it will give him more energy and help him with his slow mental state.I think his expectations are to high.I think the risk is to high for the results the pacemaker will provide.His last sergary resulted in an extended stay in a nurceing home putting my mother through a very tough time.
The doctor keeps talking about "Quality of Life".He didn`t do much before he got sick. I hate to call him lazy, but after he retired ,he was.

1 Comments

energy

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-01 12:06:32

It sounds like your dad has a lot going on! You didn't say what complications he had with the hernia surgery, is it something likely to happen again if he has another surgery? A pm is a surgery, but it's a fairly minor one with an easy recovery, and it sounds like the dr thinks he's up to it now. They can do it with just a local, or a local and a sedative if you're concerned about anesthesia.

If his hr is in the 40's, then I'd expect him to be tired and not able to do much. I spent 2 years mostly sleeping when my rate was that low, and I was in my 20's then with no other health problems. A higher hr will help him feel better. How much better, who knows? Depends on what else is going on with him and what percentage of his problems come from the low hr.

Has anyone taken all of his meds and had someone look over them? I was responsible for my grandmother her last few years. She got meds from half a dozen specialists, it used to take me an hour every week to portion out her pills for the next week. When we moved her to hospice, we dropped everything that wasn't strictly for her comfort. After almost a year of her sleeping and barely knowing us, she was suddenly alert again. Just a thought. A lot of meds, esp heart meds, cause fatigue and brain fog.

If he got the pm, would he consider cardiac rehab? Maybe get the dr to insist on it as part of doing the surgery

good luck! Caring for aging family is not easy.

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I have a well tuned pacer. I hardly know I have it. I am 76 year old, hike and camp alone in the desert. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. The only problem is my wife wants to have a knob installed so she can turn the pacer down.