I took all the doctors recommendations and friends advice and dh had this procedure yesterday. He had a spinal block with mild sedative to take off the edge. Surgery went well but we were required to stay the night in hospital due to clotting and excessive bleeding through catheter tube. I'm telling you, my dh tried to get out of his hospital bed every hour on the hour all night (even though he was hooked up at the penis to very large tubes and a very large machine with saline dripping into his bladder. His med regimen was not much different than at home, more Lorazapam than usual (which took the edge off when he was last in the hospital). Very early this morning (2 or 3 am) they gave him a Vicadin and again before we came home today. The man is still manic with zero sleep in 24 hours and hallucinating. I was very glad when dd, who had children, showed up as she handled daddy's hallucinations much better than exhausted me.
My question, has this happened to any of you when spouse has had surgical procedures? If so, was it temporary?
Try to look at from his viewpoint: he has no idea or comprehension of what happened or why all the tubes, why he hurts, etc. That alone I imagine would cause the behavior. But others have told of how their AD spouse reacts to the surgery and drugs. Give it time and hopefully as it leaves his system and the pain subsides, he will get better.
Yes, mothert. When my DH had a heart attack and had 3 stents put in, the CCU let me stay with him overnight because he was acting up so bad. He was just like your DH. He didn't realize where he was, thought someone was in the kitchen (nurses station), pulled the IV out of his arm and threw it across the floor. I begged the nurses to give him something to knock him out but if they did, it didn't work. I was completely exhausted by morning when our darling daughter came to relieve me. His doctor released him earlier than usual and said he would do much better at home. Your question "Was it temporary?" Yes, after we got settled back at home, he was fine. There's something about hospitals that really mess with dementia patients. Bless your heart, I know exactly what you're going through.
Funny thing is, dh says he has no pain. Actually, his urologist said that his absence of pain and bladder spasms could indicate that his bladder is so damaged from the urine retention that it won't go back to normal - we'll still be on the catheter business for life - big possibility.
Yes, he has no idea about why he was there, why the tubes, can't even remember he has a catheter. I can't imagine how difficult this must be for him. He is calming down a bit now as the drugs leave his body, but still he is having hallucinations. I hope this is simply due to the whole situation and the drugs. He has been having conversations with himself lately, but today he's actually seeing things that nobody else sees and having conversations with those invisible people again. He has had trouble for months now expressing his thoughts - just can't find the right word and it's not even enough for me to help him with. I imagine that, too, is quite frustrating for him. I just want my sweet guy back. PTL that his daughter is here, she is wonderful with her dad, I just can't get her here often enough - working mother of 2 with busy, busy life.
I am glad the procedure at least went well and that he is now home. These drugs do strange things to the elderly, even those without dementia. I hope when the meds wear off he is back to your sweet guys again ♥ Lynn had hallucinations as well, the worst ones he ever had was when he was on Cipro. What a harrowing few days that was! My heart goes out to you. Maybe DD could hire a babysister? Sure would be nice to have someone else with you to help. ((hugs))
mothert glad it went well. catheters are painful anyway most of the time. and iv's in the arm/hand. even without dementia we know they don't feel good. my DH did the same, pulled out iv's and was up/down all the time when I had to put him in for nasty uti several times. it does mess with them and the meds will cause undue ansiness and anxiety. hope it settles down once hes home and in his norm. my DH says yes when he may mean no so we really cant tell sometimes about what they are feeling. I would keep the pain meds coming til hes healed just in case.
Happy to report that after 14 hours of sleep, dh is back to normal sweet self. No hallucinations, no mania. Praise the Lord!!! He still has no pain, also PTL. thank you all for your support. Hearing that all that ugliness would most likely wear off made me feel so much more confident. Also, a good night's sleep was mucho helpful to me, as well. We see the surgeon on Tuesday who will remove the catheter and see if dh can pee on his own. Keeping my fingers crossed.
You guys/gals are the best! I have to admit that I have mixed emotions about this whole thing. At least with the catheter I can control the pee. I know that he will become incontinent in time, anyway, and then I will not have so much control if he is peeing on his own. Trials and tribulations...
Well, friends, we went to see the surgeon today and took the test. Nurse removed dh catheter and filled his bladder with saline and gave him a plastic urinal to see if he could pee it out - no dice, he couldn't do it. Catheter went back in and we go back in a month. The doc really wanted me to learn how to put the catheter in and take it out and I declined, said I didn't want to climb that mountain. I guess the rationale is if he didn't have the catheter in all the time, his body would be more likely to do what comes naturally. I just don't want to do that. Most likely scenario is that he will not ever pee on his own again. As I will be the "pee" captain one way or the other, at least with the catheter I have control of when he pees vs. depends. I know he will be incontinent in time, it's just in his cards.
You may want to ask the urologist about a suprapubic catheter, which is much more comfortable than the one that goes in the penis. My husband did learn to cath himself because he wanted to put off the suprapubic, but he has multiple system atrophy not Alz so while his fine motor control is pretty bad his cognitive decline is slow.