Alzheimer's Blogging:

As I reflect back to the time of taking care of my father in law I remembered him in a lot of pain. After I took him to a doctor we found out he needed hip surgery. So we brought him in the day of the surgery, and stayed with him until they had put him out to go for his surgery. I really can't remember how long he was in the operating room, but he finally came out to the recovery room and he of course was still sleeping.

The nurses told me that we could see him tomorrow, since it was in the evening. I of course was worried about when he woke up and didn't see us there. So I gave them my phone number to call me in case he needed a sitter. Funny thing was I was only home not even a half hour when I got the phone call. When he woke up, he took out his IV and the nasal cannula, and tried pulling out the Foley. I found him lying in bed cussing with his arms strapped down so he couldn't hurt himself anymore.

I just found an article on Alzheimer's Weekly about a 65 yr old women who went in the hospital for routine hip surgery and six months later she developed memory loss and finally diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

From article:
"Although oxygen treatment beneficially increases the oxygen content of blood during or after major surgery, it also has several negative effects that we believe may trigger Alzheimer's symptoms in those destined to develop the disease," said USF neuroscientist Arendash, the study's lead author. "Our study suggests that the combination of brain beta amyloid and exposure to high concentrations of oxygen provides a perfect storm for speeding up the onset of memory loss associated with Alzheimer's Disease."

Please read this article: http://www.alzheimersweekly.com/content/less-oxygen-surgery

Hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Marie Fostino
Alzheimer's A Caretakers Journal
Seaboard Press An Imprint Of James A Rock Pub., Co.
www.mariefostino.com
www.mariefostino.blogspot.com