My Momma who is 89 yrs old and has Alzheimer's Dementia and is plagued with constant UTI's for years and who was taking PTNS (shock treatments once a month to her bladder to help prevent UTI's) Her new caregivers and her urologist is pushing for my Momma to have a surgical procedure done called a Insterstim Bladder Pacemaker put into her low back. The main device is located under her skin, but there are leads coming out of her skin connected to a battery pack that she would put in her pocket. It's supposed to provide little shocks to her bladder on it's own and would last 5 yrs.
I say that this is a bad idea, especially since Momma is in the later stages of her Alzheimer's Dementia and she is plagued with constant itchy skin. My fear is she would forget what those leads were for and pull them out potentially causing infection and other problems.
I need some advice on this matter and if any of you have any websites I could look at about Alzheimer's and Bladder Pacemakers being a bad idea, I'd greatly appreciate it. Thank you all in advance.
Why does this have an external battery? That makes no sense. It could have an internal battery recharged through induction. It doesn't even need a battery. They could have it powered through induction. She could wear something like a fanny pack to power it externally with no wires.
I would NOT put her through the procedure. I know it's hard because it's your mom, but you have to look at quality of life and diagnosis. And I agree with you that she would probably look down one day and think...what are these wires and pull them out.