Impact of Surgery?

Daughter of a Marine

My DH had back surgery last May and was under anesthesia for 5+ hours - had memory issues related to his Dementia before that but since then, he's so much worse. I had no idea.  After surgery when he came home, he was hallucinating, seeing things/people, reaching into the air, etc.,  and was very difficult to manage. Kids and I took turns sleeping on the couch as he slept in the lift chair - we were all sleep deprived but his Seroquel helped enormously. Since that surgery, he is more confused and forgetful - sleepier - just worse overall.  His spinal surgeon is recommending more surgery and I am extremely reluctant to allow that to take away even more of him.  Currently exploring spinal cord stimulator - praying this will be the answer to his pain but wondered if anyone has had experience with this?  The Dementia is tough but having back pain requiring more surgery (this would be his 5th) makes this even harder.  Just want to do what's best for him - Any insights/recommendations are very welcomed - thank you!

Ed1937

My wife also had a very long spinal surgery. During surgery she had afib. And 3 days after she came home she didn't know how to turn the lights on and off, speech was all but intelligible, she was as confused as she could be, and could not help herself walk with assistance. The surgeon said he thought that new medications she was taking could be the problem. She quit taking those meds, and within a few days she regained most, but not all of what she lost. So in her case, the meds were a big part of the problem, and that's when we started seeing a neurologist.

DrinaJGB

My DH had to  have emergency surgery due to a fractured hip a few years ago. It set him back years cognitively.  When I took him in to see his neurologist and explained he had been worse since his surgery the doctor explained that any kind of anesthesia to a person with dementia is going to have huge setbacks.That was definitely the case with him.