Some fingers get cold or have poor circulation. Place the probe on another finger or thumb to check accuracy. If she is not agitated or does not notice, it is not necessary to add oxygen to treat. There are many hospice papers out there that show adding oxygen at end stage is not helpful.
This is just a thought for the future. The time may come when your mom doesn't like the nasal cannula and starts to remove it. I would remember that hospice is about care and comfort, so if she is not short of breath or uncomfortable, or becomes agitated, there is nothing wrong with following her lead(my opinion). This may never be an issue but I think people have a hard time letting go of traditional measures.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! My mom would most definitely would not like it and would remove it. Good news though, her oxygen is back up and there has not been any shortness of breath. The memory care staff are checking her Ox twice daily for the next few days and her hospice nurse is visiting daily.
Well I hope that your mom is on oxygen if her levels are that low. I would call her doctor if she's not. And if she is in fact in the final stages of her dementia then I also hope that you have hospice on board as they will supply the oxygen if it's needed. 5 years is pretty quick for someone to die with Alzheimer's as that is the slowest progressing dementia, so if she is near the end of her life I can only imagine that she in fact has either vascular or Lewy Body dementia as they are more aggressive. Or perhaps she has a combination of several of them. But either way, your mom should now be on oxygen, as not getting enough oxygen is very dangerous on many levels, so call her doctor NOW.
Thank you for your reply. She is on hospice so she is being closely monitored. Her hospice nurse got the low reading yesterday. Good news, today though, her oxygen level is back up so we continue to take things one day at a time.
Yes she has been on hospice since October of last year. Good news today though, oxygen is back up so they will continue to monitor and we are taking things one day at a time.
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And if she is in fact in the final stages of her dementia then I also hope that you have hospice on board as they will supply the oxygen if it's needed.
5 years is pretty quick for someone to die with Alzheimer's as that is the slowest progressing dementia, so if she is near the end of her life I can only imagine that she in fact has either vascular or Lewy Body dementia as they are more aggressive. Or perhaps she has a combination of several of them.
But either way, your mom should now be on oxygen, as not getting enough oxygen is very dangerous on many levels, so call her doctor NOW.