Mom may be coming off of dialysis

[alvaa]

I would like to know what to expect?
Doctors found blockage in her heart about a year ago and then about 8 months ago they went in and decided that she was not capable of having any kind of surgery. She is 78 years old and in all around bad health. They sent us home with medicine and little hope. She's been on dialysis for over a year and last week her chest pains got so bad (even with nitroglycerin) that we took her to the emergency room. She stayed in the hospital for over a week and then sent her home last night with Hospice. She has dialysis in the morning but I was told that they may not can give it to her because of her condition.

What should my family expect? How long will she live?

[alvaa]

Let me add this, since she has been back home she has had 4 times at dialysis and they have not been able to do a full dialysis on any of them. What are the consequences of that? I know if it were stopped all together that she would have had a few weeks at most to live. What about now?

[alvaa]

She made it through part of the first dialysis. They usually take off 450 (not sure what this means) but was only able to do 300. She went back today and it was pretty much the same. She is expecting the inevitable because she is discussing end-of-life issues with the family, like where to have funeral and such. I have read the thing that Hospice gave us about her last few days/hours of life. So far, the dialysis hasn't been stopped but she is having some good hours and bad hours each day.

Everything is being handled by doctors, Hospice, and even my sister and niece whom are both nurses. I have a big and close family. I just wanted some extra ideas. I appreciate both of your replies.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
How is your mother? Was she able to have her dialysis done? If her kidneys are not working well, it is important to have the dialysis to  replace the work the kidneys used to do. What to expect may depend on a variety of  factors to consider such as your mother's medical history, age, physical examination, results of her diagnostic tests, how she responds to her  treatment. and her over-all health. It is best that you discuss this with her attending physicians for proper evaluation. Take care always and best regards.

[Arti Sharma, M.D.]

Hello,
It may be difficult to opine anything without a complete clinical examination. The prognosis of anybody’s health depends on many factors like his/her vital parameters liker pulse rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate etc. It also depends a lot on how well her body organs and systems are functioning. It can be determined by her urinary volume, level of consciousness, kidney function test results, and other tests which determine the functional capacity of heart like 2Dechocardiography etc.Do discuss your concerns with her attending doctor. I hope she recovers soon.
All the best and good wishes!