Person (85) who had surgery. What should I expect from all this?

General anesthesia can cause dementia in elderly people. It can be temporary, but sometimes it is permanent. There are a lot of studies about this problem

How long ago was the surgery?

is she on any new meds? esp. pain meds,,They can cause confusion.

Yes indeed general anesthia is extremely dangerous for the elderly. My mom is 83 and has a prolapsed rectum. Not a candidate for surgery S her dementia is progressing and could possibly be bedridden and without verbal skills afterwards. I suggest the only thing to do is take inventory of pain meds etc snd seek a holistic approach.

I'm so sorry!

A broken bone is a shock to the body and older people often don't completely recover. Even the hospital experience can be upsetting enough to set someone back. As mentioned, anesthesia is also a risk.

There was nothing that you could have done differently. Your aunt may or may not get better with time. She could even continue to decline mentally. Sadly, these things become part of the aging process for many.

So what you can. Keep an eye on the medications because they can add to the problem. And take care of yourself, as well.
Carol

Is she taking pain meds for her surgery? If she is, they could affect her memory, however, getting a dementia diagnosis is mostly subjective. A shoulder injury/surgery should not be having these thinking problems. Get her to a neurologist who specializes in dementia. Being 85 yrs. is time to be showing signs of dementia (if you are predisposed to getting it). I suspect her refusal to eat is a medication problem. After surgery some pain meds might be needed, but opioids should be tapered off and then discontinued. What does her doctor say about these symptoms? Be sure to discuss them with her/him.

Thanks for the answers. Her surgery was 2 hours. She is not on any pain meds only her regular heart meds. She also has COPD and her breathing is very labored. Couldn't get her oxygen level up to 90 even by increasing the oxygen liters

How many liters of O2 are you giving? From 90 - 100% is ideal, but if she has COPD she has problems breathing OUT the CO2. Call her pulmonologist to ask what to do. She may need hospitalization.

All of the above are possible complications but I would suspect her ongoing low oxygen levels to be a major contributor. What can you expect? Unfortunately in your aunt's case with her degree of COPD I would expect a continued decline

Any time an older person goes into the hospital, it is very stressful to them and if dementia is already present, it gets worse. My mom was in the hospital for a month for a bi-lateral fracture of her sacrum. Her hair started falling out. The doctors had my mom on Gabapentin (Neurontin)for nerve pain and it made her hallucinate. One doctor even gave her Haldol one night because she didn't want to stay in bed and you would think she was Linda Blair from the Exorcist from that drug. Needless to say, we threw a fit about that choice and got another doctor who quickly determined that my mom had a urinary tract infection. In older individuals, that can cause confusion and dementia. Once she was administered antibiotics, the dementia was gone.

Surgery in the elderly can be very tricky. Mother had a hip replaced 2 years ago. The surgery was successful, but mother went downhill before our eyes. It was due in part to the pain meds, which she really needed for the pain, but even after she stopped taking anything but Tylenol, she never was the same. It was as if the "filter" that kept her from saying nasty things just disappeared. She's much angrier and meaner, at times. We've all adapted to her. I used to help her a lot, but she looked on me suddenly as the enemy, so I have opted (and was asked) to step out of her life. I have respected that.

This is not uncommon, it's sad, but it's all part of the downhill slope. Mother can have no more surgeries, they've stated emphatically she wouldn't make it through one (age 86).

I wouldn't not look in to the o-sats. That could be a factor. I would look into all possibilities before just assuming it's one or the other thing. Also, GA is pretty hard on geriatrics. My DIL is an Anesthesiologist and she says GA is really, really hard on older people--they just don't shake it off well.

My 91 year old Mom had surgery for a bowel obstruction in August. About 3 weeks after the surgery, I noticed she was increasingly forgetful & meaner.

It's a shame the doctors didn't tell you that most of the time the anesthia is worse than the condition. There are times where the surgery is absolutely necessary but the outcome means a completly different life. My mother has a protruding rectum. She is 83 with dementia as well as other health issues. In my opinion she is not a candidate for either type of surgery recommended. So we make sure she does not stress or push while trying to move her bowels or sit too long in one position and use ice packs which immediately moves the rectum inside back into the anus. Be careful with surgeries in the elderly with dementia. I've never heard a good outcome yet

I'm going to add that I had 2 surgeries last year, both HAD to be under GA and I have not felt like myself since. I'm 59. I will choose to die before I have any more GA...ever. It's like my brain rewires itself each time. My psych dr calls it PTSD and treats it as such. Mostly, I am super, super depressed and wake up each morning sorry I am still here. I hope this passes, eventually.

On the flip side, my mother is actively trying to "self hurt" so she can get surgery. She is NOT supposed to walk w/o her walker when she is outside her apt. and the other day my kids were visiting from out of town and they said she "crept" along the walls into the living room to visit with them. My SIL is a dr and hopped up to help her, KNOWING she's a fall risk. Sure enough, sis in law came in with the walker a few moments later. She told me mom is trying to have a "fall" so she'll get to have surgery. (She was denied a 2nd hip replacement and any further surgeries due to severe osteoporosis and general poor health). (Sigh) I'm sure she'll get her wish, sooner or later.

any time anyone has surgery the anesthesia messes with your mind, so add in the factor of an elder person, it will take a lot longer for the anesthesia to get out of her system. trying working with the doctor on the oxygen issue and hopefully with breathing exercises and oxygen she will be more awake and hopefully the alertness will come back. be prepared though that she might have changes in her memory. anesthesia is good at knocking us out when needing surgery (instead of biting the bullet) but it does change a body. I know when I had surgery, I itched for about 3 or 4 weeks but only at night. they said it was the anesthesia trying to work out of the body.

I'm glad UTI was mentioned. That can't be overemphasized. Most medical will routinely check it but you should make sure. Also be careful when feeding her. She might need a swallow test so she doesn't aspirate and get pneumonia. Also dehydration should be watched for.
My aunt had surgery on her finger which left her confused for at least a year if not longer. Some people skate right through with no repercussions. Some it seems to accelerate cognitive decline.

I agree with MidKid's DIL, anesthesia is hard on everyone but especially hard on elderly. It takes days for it to get out of young, healthy people let alone elderly. My sister was only 63 when she had her last surgery and it was terrible. If you have neurological DNA (prone to dementia) then anesthesia will go to town on your brain. It's possible that she was already prone to this before the surgery. Unfortunately the older we get the harder it is to recover from a surgery and anesthesia. I hope that your Aunt can come out of this and fully recovers. Good Luck and God Bless