Dad’s on hospice. He’s being forgetful and talking nonsense. Called the hospice nurse and suspected UTI. Well, hospice won’t do culture or urinalysis, but only call in for antibiotics (cipro).. he’s been taking it for 3days.. still not making sense and is forgetful. What should I do when the antibiotics course and over and he’s still not back to his old self? One week he was ok and normal, and by the next week he’s out of his mind. Being on hospice there are certain things we can or can’t do.. what am I to do if his confusion and forgetfulness is still there? I lived 2 hours away from him. I make time from work and kids to come take care of his medicine and other needs for 2 days each week. He stayed with my brother and their English is not great so every thing falls on me. I don’t have place in my house for him (plus brother house is his childhood home and uncle lives nearby). It’s sad to see dad losing it and it’s hard for all of us as kids to maintain our lives. Besides the confusion and forgetfulness, he seems to able to get around and do stuff around the house. Help?
(P.S. You'll get better answers if you give more info. Your profile on "father" is contradictory to this post as to where he lives. Profile says he lives with you.)
The only thing that you can not do on Hospice is seek treatment for the condition that made him eligible for Hospice. To checking and treating a UTI or other infection can be done. And some infections can be pretty resistant and it might take more than 1 round to knock it out
And remember too that most antibiotics are taken for 7-10 days, so it might just be too early to see if it's helping. Best wishes.
I don't quite get the thing about not testing urine? Hospice doesn't do treatments and testing aimed at "cure" of patient's diagnosis, but it does treat things that cause pain. Comfort is the goal. A mad person with a raging infection doesn't lend toward comfort. That is something I have never heard from a hospice and I would get that clear with doctor and with hospice.
Your questions of what to do in future are best addressed with and through hospice. Let them guide you. And good luck.
I just want to say that I am sorry that you are struggling with this situation.
Best wishes to you and your father. This is a difficult and challenging issue to deal with.
I hope your dad will find relief soon and that you will find peace. Take care.
Have you considered taking dad off hospice temporarily, getting him to the ER and finding out what is going on? Not a hard thing to do.
Sorry you are going through this.