Hi, so I was just checking in on my 82 year old mom on the phone and she has just gotten out of the hospital for UTI and pneumonia. A stubborn, non compliant patient— you know all of the things.
So I suspect her UTI is back because she seems confused, agitated, and at one point was mocking me in a sarcastic tone because I told her I’d like her to get home health to do a dip stick on her tomorrow.
She claims she knows for a fact that she doesn’t have a UTI because she just knows because she has no symptoms (you know, aside from her combativeness and hostility and inability to have a normal conversation about it on the phone).
Seniors can have UTIs and not know it, correct? Thanks.
Supposed UTI's are constantly over medicated.
Unless the patient has real symptoms.... fever, pain, real fatigue, cognitive issues, chances are, it's not a UTI. There is a lot of false diagnosis.
She was just exhausted and aggravated because it took a week to get her portable oxygen, and she had to deal with my mentally ill sister and her young children.
They will take your vitals, a quick sample (blood, urine), ask your symptoms, and wait for lab results, while Mom waits on a comfy bed in a private curtained area, where you can wait with her in your own chair. Within an hour or less, they get labs back and send Mom home after they call in her RX. I pick mine up on the way home. DONE.
If they suspect worse (heart attack, stroke), they will order an ambulance to take you to the ER, where you will bypass the wait list and the Doctors will be ready to jump in when you arrive, just like TV. My retired Cardiac Surgery RN sister always told me, "Don't go to the ER unless you can't stop the bleeding yourself." Go to Urgent Care, who will do a few quick tests and give you a RX. They will know if it is serious or not, and tell you "Go to your Doctor tomorrow, we'll send over our summary." I avoid the hospital entirely if possible.
Always a Doctor on Call in an Urgent Care, or RN Practitioner. Not the ridiculous waiting either. Just bring a drink and snack if you missed dinner. Takes less than an hour, and less exposure to dangerously sick people. Covered by Medicare.
This is not an isolated small town. It is Spokane, WA a mid-sized city considered in Eastern Washington to be a medical center with two medical schools and 4 large hospitals.
You might have to call an ambulance, describe that this is what happens when she has an infection and ask them to take her to the ER. Can you get to her home and see if her urine smells bad? That's the big clue sometimes.
Though I also know a dip stick can be false negative in elders.
I live hours away so it’s up to my local sister (who abandoned me once mom was admitted so it’s not like I’m leaving it up to her. It was all on me the week she was in the hospital) to keep an eye on her. I suspect we will have to wait it out until she gets sick enough to care.
I also know this could be the beginning of the end. I wanted her to go to LTAC or skilled nursing to fully recover but she would not allow that thought process.
I appreciate you chiming in.
”A UTI can always be in play. Especially if she had a catheter at the hospital. Also, some antibiotics cause delirium as well.”
You don't get rid of UTIs so quick without correct testing and medications. Call her Homehealth RN, or send a text. Trust me, they will handle your stubborn Mom.
Ask Mom where her medical degree is from. Geeze!
Toxic. At the mere mention of getting home health to check her urine.
Thank you for sharing your experience— it helps. Did you know you were prickly?
She was on IV Vanc and then Zozyn (7 days) and is now on a z pack so I’m just trying figure out what’s going on— uti, relapse, exhaustion and then if it’s all of the above or none of the above.
Yall know how this is. Just trying to work my way through trying to figure out what to do. At least home health is going there tomorrow morning.
It might not be a UTI with all of the antibiotics but then again, so many things are antibiotic resistant now…..
Thanks