My Momma who is 89 yrs old and has Alzheimer's Dementia and is plagued with constant UTI's for years and who was taking PTNS (shock treatments once a month to her bladder to help prevent UTI's) Her new caregivers and her urologist is pushing for my Momma to have a surgical procedure done called a Insterstim Bladder Pacemaker put into her low back. The main device is located under her skin, but there are leads coming out of her skin connected to a battery pack that she would put in her pocket. It's supposed to provide little shocks to her bladder on it's own and would last 5 yrs.
I say that this is a bad idea, especially since Momma is in the later stages of her Alzheimer's Dementia and she is plagued with constant itchy skin. My fear is she would forget what those leads were for and pull them out potentially causing infection and other problems.
I need some advice on this matter and if any of you have any websites I could look at about Alzheimer's and Bladder Pacemakers being a bad idea, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.
Couldn't get her to stop wiping wrong and she was on Hospice for terminal cancer as well. Their solution was a permanent catheter. She was on meds, antibiotics and cranberry pills and something that made her pee orange to relieve the burning sensation she felt, until she passed. Thank God for the catheter. She had to dribble every 15-20 min....ALL NIGHT LONG! For 3 months I never got decent sleep because I had to carry her to the bathroom in a wheelchair. I had to explain to her OVER AND OVER AND OVER about the catheter. But it was better than going to the bathroom every 20 min. I wouldn't even think of placing something with external wires to a battery in an ALZ patient!
Has she tried a daily capsule of the supplement D-Mannose? It has been magic for me. Was getting >4 infections a year, and none now for more than a decade. Recommended to 2 friends; worked for them as well. I am retired RN who doesn't even BELIEVE in vitamins or supplements, but I do believe in this. Powder or capsules. I use Source Natural from Amazon, about 30.00 for 120 capsules. Worth a try. Powder easier to swallow and tasteless. Works like cranberry, keeping bacteria from adhereing to bladder wall, but works better and without the acid.
I guess u have tried everything. When my Mom had her last UTI, she was given a probiotic and cranberry tablet daily. Both continued when she went back to the LTC. She died a year later but never had another UTI. I like Alva's idea. My Moms LTC kept her clean better than the AL she was in. Grandma's ideas are good too.
If you're having trouble deciding and want advice beyond here I'd suggest finding out which is the best regarded hospice service in your area and seeing if your mom doesn't qualify...as well as a group called Curadux which has experts to objective professionals to weigh in on complicated situations. This doesn't seem complicated to me, it just seems like you are using common sense and are right. My gut tells me that the MD involved possibly doesn't have his/her patient's well-being at heart.
Stick with your gut instinct and let us know how it goes....