Recovery from Pneumonia

[debbiemfg]

Hi its Debbie again,

My Mum is still in hospital over 2 weeks after being admitted with a water infection and aspiration pneumonia. She is in the latter stages of vascular dementia.

They are hoping she can come home at the end of the week but are putting a care plan in place to help my dad with her care. She is still so tired and sleeps most of the day is this normal ???

How long is recovery from Pneumonia ???
Regards

Debbie

[rajahh]

Pneumonia is very debilitating, and the frailer the patient was to begin with the longer it will take to recover.

There won't be a definite answer, but hopefully a slow improvement day by day.

Jeannette

[beech mount]

IMO to discharge anyone from hospital with this illness plus old age and dementia is very, very irisponsible. Is she well looked after in hospital? can you look after her her?
IMO if she is well looked after i would fight it.
John.

[TinaT]

I agree with John. Make sure that a very good care package is put into place to help your dad if mum does come home. It will be very, very hard for him

My love to you at this very difficult time

xxTinaT

[nicoise]

Hello again, Debbie

From my experience of hospital stays, the plan to get a patient home is talked about sometimes (!) far too well in advance of their true wellness to actually be discharged.

Bed management is a constant issue, and thus if a patient appears to be on the mend a plan is set in place to send them home. If this requires a care package, then that can well delay things as that has to be set up too.

Please try not to make it too easy for them to send your mum home "at the end of the week" - weekend staffing, let alone the disruption of New Year and all that will bring, will mean that carers, GPs, district nurses, emergency services and so on will not be available with any real sense to either be set up properly in time or on call to take care of your mum should she still be needing a lot of care on her discharge.

Do you feel she is well enough to come home to your dad? Is he up to coping with overnight care if necessary, or 24/7 if the care package isn't in place or fails? If you have worries about either of these things, or the family's ability to step in if needed then say that there isn't anyone to look after all her needs. Whilst the hospital may want to free up the bed, it isn't fair on your mum, or dad, if she is sent home too soon.

[beech mount]

Am i wrong but was pneumonia once a notifiable illness? what changed?
John.

[kkh42]

Pneumonia is a generic name for a bacterial infection in the lungs. Only infections due to certain organisms - such as TB is notifiable (or legionnaires). Most cases of pneumonia are due to bog-standard bugs that are around every day and thus are not notifiable.

With regards to the recovery time - for an older, frail person, it can take a LONG time to fully recover from pneumonia. And while I agree with some of the previous posts that you need to ensure (or the hospital needs to ensure) that your Mom is being discharged into a safe environment, the push to get older people home is not ALL about bed shortages. Hospitals can be dangeraous places for the elderly - Norovirus, Influenza (flu) is about and alot of people, with some support are safer at home.