Any experiences of heart failure. Is this the end

[whatisforteamum]

Dm has battled advanced cancer twice.
Now we discover after being hospitalised in July she has heart failure.
She had tests about a yr ago and nothing much was said.
Recently she is permanently breathless can't walk far,confused and barely touching food when she previously had a great appetite.
I know she is on loads of beta blockers and heart pills as her heart keeps racing.
Bloods were taken this week but she seems to be giving up
She is almost 80.
I hope this doesn't offend anyone.
Thanks in advance.

Heart failure has different stages and a person with mild HF can live a good life with the right treatments but then of course there's the opposite end. Has she had a heart scan recently? That'll tell you where things are up to.

Get her into see your GP and they'll be able to guide you best. It's worrying, I know!

She hasn't told us the results.
Not eating is a huge worry though.

No one can really answer this question for you, heart failure is complex and as a PP mentioned has many stages, sometimes a simple adjustment of medication can make a huge difference, other times patients are on the maximum medical therapy available and this is the end stage of the disease where nothing more can be done. Is she under the community heart failure team or a cardiologist? They’re the people that can give you the answer.

She has an appointment in October at the hospital.
One day she seems ok ish then quite exhausted and breathless.
She has lost weight though.

Pumping marvellous website might have some info

You may want to get this moved to General Health, you’ll get more responses there.

BHF website is fab, and they have a Mon-Fri helpline staffed by cardiac nurses who are wonderful

Hi whatisforteamum, we're sorry you're going through such a stressful time. We hope you don't mind but we're moving your thread to our Elderly Parents topic as we think that's where you'll get the best advice and support.

I worked in a 40 bedded care/nursing home for 12yrs, over half the residents lived with heart faliure, some residents for many many years. I hope you can get the answers needed from the doctors and nurses and the proper medication for your DM condition. Also my Nana had heart failure only 25% of her heart was working for years. My Nana was 88.5yrs old when she passed away in 2019 and it wasent the heart failure that she passed away from, it was kidney failure. Try and get your DM blood results again also your DM sounds like a strong lady with the other illness she had. Take care & good luck xX

It really really varies.

With my dad, he had a whole load of heart attacks over several years but didn't know, he actually thought he had lung cancer and was referred for a chest X-ray. They hooked him up to an ECG for routine stats and the nurse went white and told him not to move because he was having a heart attack.

He had a quadruple bypass the next day then continued on for another 9 years, he was only 56 when he died. The damage done by the heart attacks really wasn't repairable and put him into heart failure.

With him it was the knock on effect to his other organs that caused his death, so watch out for things like swollen legs or a wet cough which could mean fluid buildup due to the heart not pumping as strongly.

There's lots they can do to treat heart failure and any other knock on effects that it may cause.

Thank you all.
I did post in life limiting a week ago and got no responses.

Fwiw my Mum (who had diabetes and reduced kidney function already, as well as carrying WAY too much weight on her poor arthritic joints) got HF in her 70s.
Generally the community cardiac nurse managed to sort things to keep her sort of OK, and out of hospital. A few times something like an infection or overdoing things would tip her out of equilibrium and she would be hauled into hospital to beat back the HF.
After 2-3 years there came a time where the hospital couldn't fix her, her kidneys failed properly and that was that. She had a heart attack because the blood electrolytes were out of whack after the kidneys went.

The doctors were always "who knows?" when I asked them about her prognosis; they said they see huge variation.

Mum did manage to live her life though even with HF.

Two of my close relatives (now in their late 80s) have lived with heart failure for the past ten years. A good cardiologist and regular reviews are key to maintaining a reasonable standard of living.
Others will disagree but having a sharp pair of elbows, insisting on my relatives receiving the best treatment (and refusing to be fobbed off with a geriatrician) has prolonged their life by quite a few years.

It could just be the heat that has put her off her food? But tbh I’ve worked end-of-life care and loss of appetite is one of the signs..is she still drinking?

Op please don’t be upset but could she have some water retention around the tummy? This might make her feel ‘full up’ and disinclined to eat. Does her stomach look a little distended?
if this is so, is it possible to ring the cardiologist’s secretary & ask for a cancellation appointment so she is seen a bit earlier? You can try the GP & ask for an urgent cardiology appointment, but in my experience the cardiologist’s secretary had more power to escalate appointments.
In the meantime, can she be tempted with small delicious (and favourite) foods?

When other organs start to go it’s often a sign. But not eating isn’t good obviously.

Sorry just got in from work.
BHF said some meds could make her feel better like anti nausea.
She managed some salmon last week dbro cooked and sandwich at my other dbro.
She told me food tastes sour even sweet stuff.
Not sure if she eats to please people.
Tbh she told me she had half a coffee for breakfast.Just odd when she ate too much before.
I can't help wondering if her cancer is back so she is hesitant to ask gp what is happening.
Thank you all for the replies.I can't see how she can do much or have quality of life.Im unsure of her future.