It gets worse……

[SMBeach]

So, I call hospital to find out how dads been getting on without the catheter only to be told he’s been re-catheterised. My heart sank. I couldn’t understand why. The Staff Nurse said dad has urosepsis and lower respiratory tract infection and had a spike in temperature. He’s having IV Antibiotics. Very strange as all along I’ve been getting told dad had no infection in his body and he was in good spirits when I left. Apart from being a bit confused. I asked if they could check his hospital bedside phone as I thought dad maybe had it hanging off the cradle as a recorded voice said ‘this person is not available to take a call and may have left the hospital’. The nurse said I couldn’t speak with dad as he’s asleep and been asleep most of today. That concerned me further. So I asked that she check his phone and when he is awake to let him know I am keeping in touch with hospital and will call him once he’s feeling a bit better. I explained this was important as I’m the only family member who’s keeping in touch and he has no visitors and I’m in Kent. She assured me she would then in a concerned tone, asked if I’d be coming up to Scotland. I explained I’d only just got back to kent a couple of days ago and had visited every day while I was in Scotland. She asked if they should contact me if there were any changes and I said yes of course, you should have my number on file.

Now, having googled urosepsis I’m realising the seriousness of it. I’m also getting the strong impression that it’s been caused by the catheter. My dad had no infection and now has a serious infection. That’s the hospitals fault. Right now I’m feeling mostly worried and sad. But if dad doesn’t recover from this, and it causes death, I will be very angry too.

Has anyone else had an elderly parent contract serious infection whilst in hospital which led to death. This is my worry. Dads 80.

 

[SeaSwallow]

@SMBeach I don’t have any experience of this but just want to say that I am thinking about you. What a dreadful situation for you and your dad.

 

[Sarasa]

I'm sorry to hear that @SMBeach . My mother whose dementia is more advanced than your dad's and who is also considerably older had urosepsis at New Year. A couple of day on IV antibiotics and she was pretty much back to her normal. I'm not sure if it is the hospital's fault as such. Being elderly and frail leaves you open to such things. However I do think you need the hospital to keep in better contact with you and to be talking with your dad's social worker as to what happens next.

 

[SMBeach]

Thank you. Yes, contact has been all one sided. With me actually being made to feel like I’m inconveniencing staff when I call. Ps. I dont even call every day. That is excellent news about your mum and makes me feel much more hopeful. I really appreciate that. Thank you.

 

[canary]

My OH has a catheter for urine retention and has had several UTIs requiring IV antibiotics. The UTIs can come on very suddenly - he has been discharged from hospital with no sign of any infection and then the next day readmitted with sky high infection. It can come on that fast! He has also had a couple of bouts of urosepsis, but each time it responded to the antibiotics.

Eventually he was put on low dosage prophylaxis antibiotics and since then has had very few UTIs (I think only 2) in three years.

 

[Lawson58]

Sometimes after a catheter has been removed, the bladder still doesn’t function properly so the catheter has to be reinserted. This is quite common and of course being a foreign body, it is also very common to get infections. I am nit sure that it is right to blame the hospital as people who are home with catheters can experience the same problem of infections developing.

My husband hasn’t got a catheter at the moment but recently has had recurring bouts of UTIs. He is older than your dad and I believe that it’s part of the scene for people with dementia.

It must be very frustrating and worrying for you when you are so far apart so I really hope your dad improves.

 

[Duggie]

Last winter after my husband had a stroke - which was right after his early stage dementia diagnosis - he had to be catheterized in the hospital. He was unable to urinate on his own. He was in the hospital for three weeks and in rehab for three weeks. A few days after he was discharged, he saw the urologist and had the catheter removed. Several days later he was back in the hospital with sepsis. Very serious infection. He was given IV antibiotics and when he was discharged from that, I had to give him the IV antibiotic infusions at home for six weeks. That was a rough time, but he did recover from it. He had many urine accidents early on as the bladder had to be "retrained". But over time, he recovered from that.

 

[SMBeach]

My OH has a catheter for urine retention and has had several UTIs requiring IV antibiotics. The UTIs can come on very suddenly - he has been discharged from hospital with no sign of any infection and then the next day readmitted with sky high infection. It can come on that fast! He has also had a couple of bouts of urosepsis, but each time it responded to the antibiotics.

Eventually he was put on low dosage prophylaxis antibiotics and since then has had very few UTIs (I think only 2) in three years.

Oh that’s brilliant. Very reassuring that they can do something to prevent it coming back.

 

[SMBeach]

Sometimes after a catheter has been removed, the bladder still doesn’t function properly so the catheter has to be reinserted. This is quite common and of course being a foreign body, it is also very common to get infections. I am nit sure that it is right to blame the hospital as people who are home with catheters can experience the same problem of infections developing.

My husband hasn’t got a catheter at the moment but recently has had recurring bouts of UTIs. He is older than your dad and I believe that it’s part of the scene for people with dementia.

It must be very frustrating and worrying for you when you are so far apart so I really hope your dad improves.

Thank you. I am already feeling more reassured by all your stories of UTI’s and urosepsis. I just see the word sepsis and think the worst.

 

[SMBeach]

Last winter after my husband had a stroke - which was right after his early stage dementia diagnosis - he had to be catheterized in the hospital. He was unable to urinate on his own. He was in the hospital for three weeks and in rehab for three weeks. A few days after he was discharged, he saw the urologist and had the catheter removed. Several days later he was back in the hospital with sepsis. Very serious infection. He was given IV antibiotics and when he was discharged from that, I had to give him the IV antibiotic infusions at home for six weeks. That was a rough time, but he did recover from it. He had many urine accidents early on as the bladder had to be "retrained". But over time, he recovered from that.

Thank you for sharing that. I’m feeling much more hopeful now.