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My mom is in a memory care center...with Alzheimer's and she was just told that she got e coli chronic bacteria....can anyone tell me how serious is this...she is in pain with burning and pain...doctor tole me that there is nothing more he can do for her..I am not giving up that easy..what should or can I do...thanks

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And no, Zoo... MRSA is a different bug altogether. It is methicillin resistant staph aureus, and many that grow in the community are sensitive to Bactrim and/or clindamycin.

Actually neither bug is prima facie evidence of totally bad care. Granted, they can be spread by poor handwashing and precautions should be taken to avoid spread from patient to patient.
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E Coli is a pretty common UTI bug, it is normally in poop and especially for ladies it is easy to get bladder infections with it. If someone has taken loads and loads of antibiotics, it can become pretty resistant. If it is growing in a Foley or other indwelling catheter, it may be one of the better bugs to grow in there and giving antibiotics to kill it off may be unhelpful as something resistant to that will develop instead.

You can try giving lots and lots of fluids, cranberry juice or anything else with mannose in it, and there is a urinary anesthetic called pyridium they could try to make her more comfortable.
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Another quick question to investigate: Does mom's doctor have a financial stake in the facility? Many MD's do, and they often will go to great lengths to protect both their practice and their investments in these facilities. It should be illegal for physicians to hold ownership in the facilities where they treat patients. It's a clear conflict-of-interest, but it's so common, nothing is ever going to be done about it.
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If this is Assisted Living, check in your state to see what agency oversees their licensing and make a report. If it's a NH, then your chances are better at getting something done about the problem -- contact the agency in your state that regulates NH's and file a complaint and then call and call and call to make sure that complaint gets investigated. In the meantime, you've said enough in your most recent post to confirm what I suspected -- a filthy facility that lacks any infection control procedures is making your mom sick, so get her out as quickly as you can. Hopefully, with proper care, the infection can be controlled or eliminated, but that's not going to happen where she is now.
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motherof5, a nasal sample for a flu test would only test for the type of flu.
MRSA means "Methycillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus." Now staphylococcus epidermis is normally present on everybody's skin, a normal part of body flora. And E.coli and clostridium are a normal part of fecal bacteria. When you take too many antibiotics, you wipe out these protective bacterias and the bad guys move in, like MRSA and C-Diff.
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thank you zookeeper that is right...everything you said...they dnt use gloves I know even when they change one person to another....I am going to tell them today that I want them to use gloves when there deal with my mom...as far as the cleanness it use tone clean...but since they are having people leave...the toilet do not get clean but every other day....It's is a shame that we have to put our parents in places like that...
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my mom has been in there for over a year...and I try to go everyday to visit her....so things that I see that I dnt approve of I I put in a complain...I guess there is not a perfect place...but from reviews that me and my husband read when we where trying to find my mom a place this one seem the best..just since she has been there there has been such a big turn over people leaving and now they are so short handed...I also put in a call to my moms social workers...to run this by her to see what she thinks I should do....by all yall comments got me to thinking I need to do something...it is right she could have got them from the center she is in...Thanks a lot..
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You know the more I think about what you are saying you are right...so I called the center where my mom is and asked the nurse there if there was anyone else that was reported of having the e coil... And she said a few people have a uti and are on meds...she tole me not to worry and not make a big deal about this because my moms dnt have mrsa anymore because the infestion where she had her surgery is all cleared up...Plus she said that they are keeping in touch with the doctor them selfs...do not know if I believe that so I got a call into the doctor myself...
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You really are living through a horrible healthcare/AL/NH nightmare. Your mom is suffering from the things most of us fear the most about placing our family in care facilities: neglect and even worse than that: bad healthcare management. I hope you're able to get mom the treatment and relief that she needs. It just makes me sick when I hear about things like this still happening.
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mof5: No, that sounds like it was just a flu culture to determine which strain of the virus she might have had. I doubt you're going to get any answers from that doctor -- none of what you've posted about him tells me he's competent in any way. Probably your typical Medicaid-only med-school last-in-his-class kinda guy. There are so many of those out there and few of them are decent physicians. Check his CV, find out what you can about him, his education, professional memberships, is he board certified for anything, etc, if you can't get mom seen by someone else. Then check with your state's medical board to see what complains have been filed. Look to see if he has a high number of malpractice filings against him. Let him know you don't think he gave you valid answers to the questions you've already asked and that you want him to turn over care to another physician. See how he reacts to that. If he's any good at all, he will immediately make the referral -- a good doctor would even call in the new physician on the spot. If he balks at all -- you know he's concealing something.
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Re: the remarks about open wounds and MRSA: Staph and other bacteria can enter the system through microscopic breaks in the skin that do not appear to be wounds, so you don't need to have an open wound to get infected. Many MRSA infections manifest on the surface of the skin; as the bacteria destroys the cells, the wound appears and grows. I believe this is why many people have the false impression that you need an open sore to get infected.
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My mom when to the doctor about 10 days ago for a chest cold...he tole a nose sample to see if is was the flu...but it came back neg...is that the test to see if you have mrsa...he didnot tell me that he say something else...we asked him to take a blood text to see if it was in her blood or kidneys or liver....but he said"we do not have to do that because it not there yet"I just put a call into him to see if I can get some answers from him...thanks keep yall posted..
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You and everyone that resides in that facility need to know where the source of the e coli is, and wipe it out. Otherwise, mom and everyone else that goes into that place (even visitors) are at risk of infection. You may just need to call the local health department, report the repeated e coli infections, and ask them to inspect the facility.
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mo5: I probably should have used the term "Drug Resistant Pathogen" to describe your mom's e coli infection. Note that e coli is always related to poor hygiene and filthy conditions. What concerns me is that it seems she keeps getting re-infected. E coli is not that hard to wipe out, so something is very wrong in that facility. Have you checked with foodservice to see what procedures they have in place? Do they enforce handwashing by the kitchen staff? I bet one is infected, not hand-washing, and infecting everyone that eats the food that person is handling. Only the residents with weakened immune systems would show signs of infection. Could it be poor cleaning in the toilet/bath? Is mom left lying in soiled bedclothes or clothing? Is she wiping from back to front, instead of front to back? All of these are the most common causes of e coli infection. It could also be that something, like a refrigerator or vegetable bin, hasn't been properly cleaned and sanitized and is spreading the bacteria onto everything placed into it. I'd meet with the facility's administrator and ask about all of this. There's clearly an infection control lapse involved and if your mom is this badly infected, she should be isolated from others and everyone that enters or has contact with her should be following the appropriate isolation procedures. It is telling that your mom already did have a MRSA based infection, as well, after her surgery. That should have never happened, either. Your mom has a very lousy MD, too -- as others have said, what you've been told by that guy is baloney. I'd make that change first, get her properly evaluated by medical professionals that know what they are doing. If she is really this ill from the infection, follow the good advice given by others and get her transferred to an ER and admitted to an acute care hospital where the proper testing and treatment can be given. Something is very, very wrong at that place and you need to get your mom out of there ASAP.
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motherof5, if you mother has poor healing and a poor immune system and repeated UTI's and repeated doses of antibiotics that don't help, there is more going on than just dementia. ASK the MD about a topical silver gel, such as Curad Silver Solution. Silver does fight infection. When you were a baby you may have gotten silver nitrate drops in your eyes at birth.
Has the MD mentioned Hospice? Has he indicated that liver or kidneys are starting to fail? Make a list of questions and take it with you, because we often forget what we wanted to ask.
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I do not believe that you need to have an open sore to get MRSA; it is generally found on the skin, but can also be found in the nose. My mother had a MRSA-based UTI, which I believe was the result of poor handwashing.

I will repeat, that unless your mom is on palliative or comfort care only, in your place, I'd have my mom evaluated in a hospital, where the competence of the physicians is at least being looked over by others. I've never had a doctor tell me "there's nothing we can do" without there being a fuller discussion of what that meant. On that basis alone, I would be seeking hospital care.

What if the urologist says, well, what you REALLY need is a nephrologist (a kidney doctor)? Are you going to wait another week to get her in to see one of those? If she goes to the ER, they will diagnose what is the matter and give you options for treatment (or no treatment). But you will know that you've made an effort.
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Hi zookeeper....do you think that what my mother could have is mrsa....so strange that you say that...my mother had a sore in her back that wasnot healing....come to find out is was skin cancer and had to get it removed... About a week after the surgery it got infested...and guess what they found out the infestion was mrsa...gave her meds...and it cleared up...I just dnt understand why her primary doctor didnot said anything about this....I am very upset with him....no the memory care center is not the cleanest but I have been checking to see about moving her and there is a waiting list for Medicaid patients...I called the doctor that she has a appointment with on Friday and they said that if there is a cancel they will let me know...the center is telling me that the only way you can get mrsa is by a open sore...is this true...thanks for everyone comments...
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Me, too. Have they found the source of the e coli? Is it a foodservice worker that is infected and spreading it by not hand-washing and re-infecting mom? Is it poor personal hygiene? Poor laundering, or leaving her lying in soiled undergarments? I see no infection control at all. It just doesn't make sense.
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the mother is in pain. She is a long term antibiotic user. She is in memory care. the infection is antibiotic resistant (was it cultured?) the MD won't add antibiotics or send to ER. The pain is spreading. (hello?) A urology appointment is not for another week, March 6th. I am totally confused.
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I have no experience with E Coli. My mom had a MRSA uti in Independent living. Mom stopped washing her hands with soap as her cognitive skills declined. Fortunately the infection cleared up with one round of antibiotics.
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Even worse -- that indicates that whoever is providing the care in AL isn't doing it right. Some AL's are even nastier that the steretypical filthy NH, since the standards are different. They absolutely need to get another doctor involved immediately, and should seek one out that has experience dealing with this pathogen.
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The mom is in Assisted Living.
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Zoo, the op stated that is her mom's private doc, not the al doc. My understanding is that e. Coli and MRSA are very different things. I'm not saying the doctor isn't incompetent. That's why the op needs to get a second opinion.
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Note that e-coli infections are often accompanied by staph infections at the same time. In any case, this situation was obviously caused by a filthy NH. Just the fact that no isolation procedures were in place AFTER the infection was discovered proves this point. They clearly didn't care for the patient, and didn't care that others, including their staff, could get infected, either.
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Yes, technically MRSA refers to staph, but now also is used to encompass many of the other strains of bacteria that are becoming drug-resistant, including e-coli.
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Hospitals, NH, AL's and doctors all like to use the drug resistance excuse to cover up their inability to effectively manage infection control. Number one problem in every hospital in the world, right now, but not much being done about it, except blaming the pharmaceutical manufacturers for developing stronger and more effective drugs to battle the pathogens that are causing the problem. Vicious cycle never ends.
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MrSA is a staph infection, isn't it?
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An e-coli based infection that is resistant to antibiotics is a form of MRSA. MRSA get launched in hospitals and nursing homes that do not follow infection control procedures and policies. Period. If you keep patient care areas clean, patients do not get these kinds of infections. I was a hospital administrator for many years, so I know it's poor infection control, and not drug resistance, that causes these infections.
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Who said Mrsa?
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Please note - you don't get an e-coli based MRSA infection unless you are laying in or are constantly exposed to feces.
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