My husband has a pacemaker. He is either at the end of stage 5 or at the beginning of stage 6 just so you know were he is. The pacemaker was put in during the event that caused his dementia, it is not the result of using Aricept. He has about 3 1/2 years left on his battery and I will not let them put a new battery in. I've spoken about this to his family doctor and have gotten no fight from him about this.

If you have a LO who is on Aricept you need to think very carefully about letting them give that LO a pacemaker no matter how much you get pushed to do it. Please read Hard Choices for Loving People. You can either order the book or you can read it on line at this web site.

http://www.hardchoices.com/

It was written by a hospice chaplain and it lovingly explains when you do certain things at the end stage and when you don't. It doesn't cover pacemakers, but once you've read it you will have a better idea about what you personally would do in the situation were it was brought up. Your decision may be the same as mine, or it may not. And either is OK.

One more thing. There are black box warnings on some anxiety and anti-violence medications used on dementia patients. Frankly all of our LOs are dying and in some cases the only thing that allows caregivers to keep their LO at home for a little bit longer is one of those medications. My husband is not on any of them, but I'm aware that if he gets violent that they will dose him heavily with equally dangerous medications if he ends up in a hospital. So I accept that at some point he may be on them and I understand why some caregivers have their LOs on those medications.

Jean I think you may be at the same stage in this journey as I am, or maybe just a bit behind where I currently am. As you look into these decisions please be kind to yourself and remember to take care of the caregiver too.