My Mom (75) has UTI and now sepsis, can this be fatal?
My mom, who has moderate dementia and Parkinsons started showing strong signs of UTI (fever, severe confusion, weakness, strong urine smell) so I took her to ER and she definitely has a UTI. They admitted her and started fluids and antibiotics. The next morning the doctor at the hospital came to speak with me and said she has a blood infection (sepsis) and "it's the bad kind" as he put it, gram-negative bacteria. He said they are going to continue antibiotics and fluid and she seems stable now. When I asked if she could die from it he just said he wants to concentrate on clearing up the UTI first in hopes that will help. She still has a fever but the nurses said it has gone down a couple points. Not sure what to think about all of this and wondered if anyone out there has had a similar experience. I just want to be prepared and also want to make certain I give other family members who are out of state some notice.
mom three day later got sick also. both were in hospital same time . dad died recently and mom three weeks later. I understand your pain. my dad was my best friend. we did every thing together . I understand the pain and hurt you are going thru. The doctors only care about one thing "money". I couldn't get a straight answer either till I spoke to the head doctor about it. than when i did get the answers i wished i never asked.
again I am so sorry for the lose of your father. I don't think the pain will ever go away. I know mine wont.
take care of yourself.
bowliz1952@gmail.com
Your comment was the first I seen, your headline caught my eye as similar to my mum ,thankyou for commenting on the forum, you have helped more than you'll ever know..x
Sepsis does take a heavy toll on the patient and the older they are the longer it takes to fully recover. Months or weeks is not unusual.
after I took her to another doctor. My advice get a second opinion.
there is no recovery the doctors kept my mother alive for two weeks on a respirator, with false hope and a lot of procedures to make money
Question everything they do and all medication she receives
Once sepsis takes over the survival rate is very low.
You followed your instincts and got her the help she needed. Unfortunately in her weakened state she was not able to survive.
Even if you had been there 24/7 you may not have recognized the UTI. It could have been a long standing infection and she was used to it. Try not to second guess yourself you did the best you could. Grieve the loss of your mom but don't blame yourself
I wish you and your family peace.
A lot of focus has been on her health & getting the sepsis cleared and very much medical but I'd bet she is feeling quite quite lost emotionally. Her hubs had died and now her sister and although she has you, she may feel overwhelmed at the prospect of getting better to live & for what…….she's in her early 70's, right? well she's looking around the rehab/NH and everybody looks old and it's kinda depressing (like there's 90+ yr old there so it s like ghosts of her mom & aunts...) & the whole "why should I get better to be here" sets in. She may need someone to motivate her to get better for the future and someone besides you. Are there sibling or a favorite grandkid or dear friend who can also come to see her and have it so she has a reason to get to tomorrow? Even with the best health care, they need to themselves get an internal reason to get over the disease and move ahead. My MIL had sepsis and she was pretty dour & difficult to begin with and never found a positive reason to try to rally. My mom - although never having sepsis but several TIA's & a shattered hip w/her last 18 mos bedfast on hospice at NH - would get motivated by anything her beloved grandson asked her to do; not for me but for him. Try to find a reason to get her to motivate herself besides you.
If her sister was her daily touch-point, having her gone has been huge change.
I wish you the best of luck with your mom. My mother who is 91 was also hospitalized with very low BP, fever and general weakness. In the ER, they discovered the bladder infection and were doing a lot to support her BP. They were careful about giving too much IV fluid because my mother also has heart failure.
To make a very long story short, my mother seems to have recovered quickly. She is eating, talking, and feeling much better. It took her about 6 weeks to recover. Her appetite has improved as well. She is eating normal foods that are pureed. My only advice for you is to keep an eye on her yourself. The nursing home staff should be able to keep track of how much she is eating and should be able to offer additional nutritional support. You may help them if you can tell them which foods she prefers. My mother loves mashed bananas. I also bring her some dessert like banana cream pie. My mom is also diabetic but I don't worry about that right now. I just want to make sure she is eating.
You're so right.
You're welcome. That's a shame. Maybe you can take comfort that he is not in pain anymore and is at peace.
I'm so sorry, Your dad really suffered. Hospitals and NH/AL's don't want to take the chance of being sued, so they do take steps to protect themselves.