a colonoscopy CAN KILL YOU!. doctors won't tell you that but,just one slip with the scope and it punctures your intestine and that it! you die.period! my Dad drove to the hospital(meaning he was fine enough to drive 60 miles from his home to get in to hospital) the docs decided to 'investigate; with a scope.they punctured his intestine.his fluids backed up and poisoned him.his stomach turned to rock(wood stomach syndrome)he died because of the colonoscopy. so,no matter what docs tell you about it being safe,don't trust the bastards.you never can.
One way to think about the decision is, what would you do if the results show cancer? My mother refused tests of a mass detected in routine screening because, as she explained to her geriatrician, "I would refuse chemo anyway, so what good would it do to know? I've lived a good long life and I know I'm going to die of something. I just don't know what." Her doctor respected that decision. I encourage healthy people to have the recommended tests at the recommended intervals. But elderly people in ill health, and especially those with dementia, should not be made to undergo uncomfortable, distressing, and expensive tests without a reasonable chance that the results will make any difference in their lives.
My husband has been hospitalized twice since he's had dementia and I have leared exactly what 195Austin talks about: people too weak or confused to speak for themselves need around-the-clock family presence. I am bringing this up in our next family conference. Kids, if Dad has to be hospitalized again, plan on divvying up the shifts of staying with him!
It was good that you were there-it is a good idea to make sure someone calls you to talk to you or a family member who is responsible for the elder before any test are done or action is taken. My sister visited the hospital where my mother was a few times a day but on one visit she saw a red dot on the wall by Mom's bed and asked what that was she was told it was a DNR order -our Mother had been talked into signing the paper and she is hard of hearing and did not know what she was signing-my sister did not leave the hospital until the order was changed. My husband was on life support and the day we were planning to stop life support because there was no chance of recovery they came in twice to take him for test and I refused. Also the doc charged medicare and our insurance company for two hospital visits after he was taken to the Funeral Home. I reported it to medicare and they blew me off-they were not going to do anything about the fraud-my insurance company thanked me for reporting it to them.
My mother was in the hospital a few months ago for leg pain, due to her arteries being clogged (she has diabetes). While in the hospital, the nurse mentioned they were going to do a colonoscopy. I said "absolutely not", and thank goodness I did! My mother is 89 1/2 years old, and such a procedure would have been unnecessary, expensive, and undue discomfort for her. I think they just want to rack up the bill since they know Medicare will pay for it. Shameful!
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Elders Getting Colonoscopies With Dangerous Frequency
doctors won't tell you that but,just one slip with the scope and it punctures your intestine and that it! you die.period!
my Dad drove to the hospital(meaning he was fine enough to drive 60 miles from his home to get in to hospital)
the docs decided to 'investigate; with a scope.they punctured his intestine.his fluids backed up and poisoned him.his stomach turned to rock(wood stomach syndrome)he died because of the colonoscopy.
so,no matter what docs tell you about it being safe,don't trust the bastards.you never can.
My husband has been hospitalized twice since he's had dementia and I have leared exactly what 195Austin talks about: people too weak or confused to speak for themselves need around-the-clock family presence. I am bringing this up in our next family conference. Kids, if Dad has to be hospitalized again, plan on divvying up the shifts of staying with him!