Consider too that anesthesia can worsen dementia. Is this really wise? I had the same situation where the doc says well maybe a pacemaker would help (but maybe it wouldn’t). So a $10,000 (guesstimate) procedure for my 80-year-old father-in-law that MIGHT help? All paid for by Medicare of course. We declined and he’s doing fine, although his dementia is increasing. We’re paying $5,000 a month for memory care and resources are dwindling.
Sometimes, with the elderly, comfort care is the only reasonable course, because surgery, radiation or chemo become worse than the disease.