Appointments

Charliesmama

I am my mom’s caregiver. I am not looking for medical advice, just looking for different views. My mom is almost 85, later stage Alzheimer’s.
My question is, when do you start limiting all of the extra doctor appointments?

Example: she has an annual appointment with her vascular doctor. They test the pressure in her legs. My concern is, she will not understand what they are doing and really what would they do if her vascular test come out worse?

Some days she has more with it than others like today. She is extremely anxiety written. Her appointment is next week and I just keep thinking I’m putting her through more than she needs to be.

M1

I agree! I would cancel it. There's no point measuring her arterial pressures if she's not a candidate for any surgical interventions and it doesn't sound like she is.

My partner has had multiple medical problems and started showing signs of early dementia ten years ago, at age 73. But well before MC two years ago we had discontinued most specialty visits and even dental cleanings. She no longer saw an ophthalmologist after having bilateral cataract surgeries. Mammograms and colonoscopies were discontinued at 75. She has an indolent lymphoma but her last oncology visit was in 2020.

With most questions like this, if you're asking the question then you already know the answer. Sounds like a frank discussion with her primary doc is in order and perhaps even a referral to palliative care.

Quilting brings calm

Mom is 86. I talked to her PCP about consolidating things so that he handled more of her medications: anxiety, depression, and memory. The first two medications were handled by psych residents and a new resident took over every third visit. They wouldn’t give her Seroquel, so what good is a specialist? The memory clinic wasn’t offering her anything besides a medication the PCP can prescribe. We are keeping the neuropathy specialist and the pulmonologist.
Quite honestly I was taking her to the doctor way to often for both her liking and mine.