My 90-year-old father is currently in the hospital and going to have a pacemaker put in tomorrow. Anyone have experience with this?

My mom, at age 92, with vascular dementia and CHF, was taken to the hospital because she became unresponsive. It turned out that her heart rate had dropped precipitously.

We discussed if a pacemaker was a good idea; my brother (POA) asked mom what she thought and after some thought she said "yes".

So we had it done. She had a device in her NH room that monitored her heart rate; we made it clear that we were not going to transport her anywhere for testing, etc.

I was initially against the idea of a pacemaker, but that was based on a misunderstanding of how it functioned. It did not keep her alive in any way when her respiratory system was failing.

Getting a pacemaker is a GREAT thing, you will see a positive change in a few weeks and wish it was done sooner. Both my parents (mid 80's) got pacemakers within a week of each other and at the time there was a great deal of uncertainty but we soon found out it is a very routine procedure with positive results.

Almost 5 years ago my Dad's heart rate started dropping to dangerous levels. He had early dementia at the time but was still pretty with it. The dr said he should have a pacemaker or he would have heart failure and pass away eventually. He decided initially to have the pacemaker.. then backed out. He didn't want to prolong his life any more since he knew he had dementia. It was heartbreaking at the time.. I think I have some posts here about it. We put him on hospice.

Well.. here we are almost 5 years later and he is still going strong and is a memory care now.. without the pacemaker...

Please don't make a decision based on my dad's outcome.. it is all about what your dad wants to. do.. and everyone's situation is different.

If the issue of pacemaker ever comes up again... it will be hard.. but I will do what I know my dad wants.

My only advice is if your Dad is left handed it should go on the right side. That is what my husband's brochure said. The doctor and I had a "discussion" about it. He wanted to put it on the left side even though the instructions said different. I won and the doctor still remembers me.

Thanks for asking. He has it placed and it went great. He stayed overnight after it was placed. His heart rate is up from 42 to 70. His mood energy and color are good. He is going out of his room for meals now.
He is in a nursing home, but has Optima health nurse practitioners visit home often. They always go if there is a hospitalization. They had seen him on a Friday and things were normal. Saturday he went to the ER, so it happened really fast. The NP said he was very lucky that he was able to get to the ER and get it taken care of.
He has already read the instruction book and is telling everyone what his limitations are. Like he has to be careful when traveling. 😄
Gotta love him!

Yes! My mother had a pacemaker inserted at the age of 92. It went well, but she doesn't remember she has one and still asks about the "bump" under her skin a year later.

Yes. The devices are quite small and therefore the surgery isn't too bad. Mom needed to be in the hospital for a couple days when her original one was surgically implanted in 1993. Her pacemaker was in use most of the time and her's would last about 6 years. Replacing the battery in future is a day surgery. When mom had her third battery replaced at the age of 87, her heart stopped during the procedure. They were able to restart it immediately. She went home later that day after a little rest and a delicious cup of soup provided by the hospital. My only caution is that at age 90, an ordinary pacemaker is fine, but one that includes a defibrillator could be problematic in future as you might have to disarm it which usually must be done in the cardiologist's office. My dad, needed a new pacemaker so when that was done at the age of 89, they removed the defibrillator type and replaced it with an ordinary pacemaker. That was a day surgery and he recovered smoothly from that. When he passed away about a year later from something not related to his heart, I was grateful that the difibrillator was no longer there as it would have continued to jolt him in the chest until someone disarmed it. Hope this information helps.

I am a 93 yr old man and I have had a pacemaker for 15 yrs ,
Thats the original and two replacements.
The op is done under a local anesthetic and the patient is awake all the time and providing there are no complications he will be home the same day or the next .
Dont worry and dont let him worry .

Pacemaker recovery is quick. My DH was 94 when his was put in, and he had 3 leads instead of the usual 2.

I am a 93 yr old man and I had a pacemaker put in 15 yrs ago.
The operation was done under a local anesthetic and I went home the next day .
I have since had three replacements with better units.
My pacemaker can now be programmed to suit my state of health .
Apart from a yearly check I can forget about it .