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I wanted to see if this is something others have noticed or seen before. My uncle who is 85 years old had planned on a trip to come out see my mother his sister my mother told him he should have his heart checked because last time he was here she noticed he got winded walking up a hill.
Now he went in they want to do a nuclear stress test, CT scans, and other test he had to cancel his trip here because all of this takes bunch of time waiting for records, and appointments. I told my mother why bother he is 85 years old of course they are going to find something, and he smoked for 50 years so walking up a hill he is going to get winded he has no chest pain.
These doctors want to do all this in the end even if they find he needs a stent or something is it worth the risk doing that on someone who is 85 years old I know it's done on people that old what if something goes wrong he ends up dead over something that he might have lived with till he was 92-93 without a problem.
I'm with you. The more I stay out of the hospital the longer I live. They invariably will always find something 'wrong' with you. And agreed, at 85 and a past smoker, of course he has issues, who wouldn't?
Just let him come visit. In your Mother's behalf, she is just being a mother, trying to protect her son. Nothing wong with that. It's her nature. He should just smile about it and come anyway.
The name of the test is scary, lol, who comes up with these?
Last edited by TerraDown; 01-28-2018 at 12:08 AM..
Too many tests are done on people, period. Most of them are unnecessary and could even cause problems in and of themselves. But especially on older people. By the time folks are in mid 80s they should just let loose and live however they want. I know I will.
Too many tests are done on people, period. Most of them are unnecessary and could even cause problems in and of themselves. But especially on older people. By the time folks are in mid 80s they should just let loose and live however they want. I know I will.
Absolutely... it is insanity. CT tests give tons of radiation. err cancer. I thought doctors were first do no harm. There are plenty of tests that do not cause harm that will give an indication of if you have a problem. But doctors don't want to do them because they don't cost a ton of money.
I am not in my 80s but I recently had a problem and my doctor wanted to do a CT. I told her no, due to radiation. Eventually we ended up with an ultrasound which is like 1/4th the cost and probably equal to visualize the problem. Ironically she suggested she wouldn't authorize the tests again, like I have had too many or something but I am sure the CT will be suggested at a drop of a hat.
These days I mostly just pay for my own tests outside my doctors control. Blood tests etc.
I wanted to see if this is something others have noticed or seen before. My uncle who is 85 years old had planned on a trip to come out see my mother his sister my mother told him he should have his heart checked because last time he was here she noticed he got winded walking up a hill.
Now he went in they want to do a nuclear stress test, CT scans, and other test he had to cancel his trip here because all of this takes bunch of time waiting for records, and appointments. I told my mother why bother he is 85 years old of course they are going to find something, and he smoked for 50 years so walking up a hill he is going to get winded he has no chest pain.
These doctors want to do all this in the end even if they find he needs a stent or something is it worth the risk doing that on someone who is 85 years old I know it's done on people that old what if something goes wrong he ends up dead over something that he might have lived with till he was 92-93 without a problem.
Angiograms/angioplasty are outpatient procedures these days. Not much risk involved anymore. Talk to his doctor about it. I'm having an angiogram on my leg in a couple weeks. I'll report to the hospital at 630 am, will be eating lunch at home that day.
It is all about the money. We watched this play out with my in-laws. They had one doctor appt. after another that usually didn't amount to anything more than "How are you doing Mrs. L", "Good", "That's great to hear, see you again in 3 months, in-between time I think you need such and such test". My father-in-law was in his 90's and a dementia patient in a nursing home and his doctor was still ordering bone density tests several times a year until my wife finally put her foot down and said no more. My MIL and FIL were both getting tests and screenings that only served to continually confirm that which was already known and couldn't be cured.
When my mom was sick with cancer we put an end to the treatments which were hurting her. She was 85 and had zero chance for recovery and her treatments were very hard on her. My sister showed up unannounced the next day and found they had done them anyway. Several other times they did it after we had discussed it with the doctor and even put a note in the file. Why? The treatments were amazingly expensive and medicare paid for them. Who cares what it does to the old lady.
I will also note once we put an end to them she up and had to be discharged. Though she couldn't stand.
Lots of reasons so many tests are done. They are money makers, certainly. Then there are docs who order them simply to impact their liability.
But don't discount the effect of patients and families that insist on another MRI or CT or "x-ray" (since so many don't know the differences between types of imaging) as if those are somehow curative.
Boy do I ever agree with the above posters. I avoid doctors as best I can. I live with a lot of aches and pains and also aging. Smoking for 50 yrs and still alive at 85, that's a miracle of sorts. I had a friend who smoked into her 90's when she died and had plenty of health issues and a friend now in mid 80's who is a chain smoker, not a picture of health.
Boy do I ever agree with the above posters. I avoid doctors as best I can. I live with a lot of aches and pains and also aging. Smoking for 50 yrs and still alive at 85, that's a miracle of sorts. I had a friend who smoked into her 90's when she died and had plenty of health issues and a friend now in mid 80's who is a chain smoker, not a picture of health.
I think we will eventually find out smoking wasn't quite as bad for us as the made out.
I found out recently a lot of doctors now believe HPV causes lung cancer. Imagine if smoking was falsely blamed.
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