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Elderly parents

Heart Failure and Kidney Failure 92 Year Old

4 replies

PurpleFlower1983 · 27/09/2023 22:19

My lovely great Aunt, who is like my second mum, was diagnosed with heart failure around 18 months ago. At that time she was living fully independently although, admittedly beginning to slow down.

12 months ago she had a heart attack at home and the decline was rapid. She has lost a lot of weight and is very frail. She can walk a few steps with a zimmer and now lives in a care home. She is currently in hospital for the 6th time within the last 12 months with a lung infection and urine infection. She is currently on 3L of oxygen. Mentally she is all there with only a little confusion when the oxygen dips low.

We have also been told she has emphysema and her kidneys have poor function.

Has anyone had similar? When she is ‘well’ she is ok but this pattern is wearing her down. I know it’s notoriously hard to prognosticate these things but I’m just wondering what to expect re the future. Is it likely her heart will just stop one day? Will she end up constantly gasping for breath? It’s so hard as she was relatively fit and healthy for 91 years - we d

I know no one knows but any experiences would be welcome. Thanks.

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PurpleFlower1983 · 27/09/2023 22:19

Unfinished sentence should have ended ‘we didn’t see this coming’.

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MysterOfwomanY · 28/09/2023 10:40

My mother was much younger, 70s, but had heart failure resulting from her diabetes.
Sometimes she would get fluid buildup in her legs and, crucially, lungs and heart, leading to breathing difficulties, and then would have to be treated in hospital with diuretics. This would have an impact on her kidney function.

After treatment she would be ok for a while and then it would happen all over again.

The last time she was in hospital for several weeks; released but on oxygen; deteriorated after a weekend at home; was readmitted.
This time her kidneys tipped over into official failure.

What did this result in? Well, keeping the heart and lungs going is always prioritised at the expense of kidneys, because you need them at all times to stay alive.
But if the kidneys aren't working, not only do you get a buildup of fluid (in the legs at first), but, crucially, the electrolyte balance in the blood goes out of whack. If the magnesium and potassium levels are wrong then the heartbeat is affected - arythmia - and that can lead to sudden death. This is what happened in Mum's case - the palliative team were starting preparation to get her home, but she fell unconscious suddenly while the nurses were providing personal care. They rushed to get us back in her room and she died in our arms minutes later.

So my guess is either your great Aunt will just pass away fairly quickly one day because she's 91 and the chance of stroke or heart attack or just "who knows" is quite high, or, one of the times she goes into hospital, they won't be able to make her better and she will pass away then.
If you can get her to set up health PoA it's helpful. I found as a general "talk to me!" document to wave at folk in hospital it was useful. But more concretely, if she has delerium from a UTI, if she's been incapacitated by a stroke, you can then represent her on health matters. At the very least, when you're a frail old lady stuck in hospital, probably catheterized and at the mercy of the staff, just being able to see a healthy person with a notebook and pen in hand fighting your corner is a great morale booster.
"Just talk us through what that's going to mean"
"How is this test result going to change her treatment or chances?"

Also if she wants she can do an Advance Directive to give you and the medics clarity as to what she wants in situations where she can't speak for herself.

On a personal note: after Mum's legs started swelling, I realised the clock was ticking. I arranged with work to take a day of unpaid leave a month (on average) so we could have days out, meetups etc (we didn't live close to her). Definitely worth it.

thesandwich · 28/09/2023 16:44

Dm had similar- heart failure and then kidney function declining. We had access to her medical records via an app after signing a form at the gps which meant we had access to her records.
I was able to talk to someone from the heart failure team who was really helpful- dm Was late 90s and passed away in may after a deterioration since early this year.

PurpleFlower1983 · 29/09/2023 21:03

Thank you both, we did POA earlier in the year so that’s sorted. I’ve been to see her tonight and she’s in good spirits and hopefully or coming out of hospital soon but we will just have to take things one day at a time. I hope she passes quickly and peacefully one day.

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