danaisle, Also my husband was on Coumadin, that is when he started having bad dreams, fighting in his sleep and was seeing things that were not there.Said there were people in that house and saw kids on the sofa. I DO believe that was the start of his problems. Memory after three weeks was getting bad and then three years later they said he had AD. They also told me he could never go off of it. But they took him off a year ago and now he is getting 81mg of Aspirin. Trust doctor?
I don't!
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danaisle, Go on line and check out her medications if she is on any. Also can check with your drug store. I always check my husband's out on the internet. This has happen to member of my family. Doesn't hurt to check them out.
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danaisle- how sad for you. Watching these changes in our loved ones makes us feel so helpless as daughters/caregivers. I hope she recovers enough to go back to her assisted living community. Big Hug!
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It's been a month since my Mom's UTI. She has been to a rehab center where she got a lot stronger, but succumbed to her profound delusions and started threatening people with cutlery. She's been removed to the local ER twice for violent behavior and is currently going through her second stint at a psychiatric hospital. I had to go see her yesterday as she was convinced I had been in a accident and was in a coma. My husband and I simply went away for the weekend. She was so happy to see me (it had only been a few days). She'd been crying out of fear that I was hurt. I'm so sad for my mother. She's terribly confused and I don't think this will ever get better. The anti-psychotic drugs they've got her on make her calmer, but cloudier. I'm praying she can become "stable" enough to rejoin her assisted living community.
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Dear RSuzyJ Please except my condolances on the passing ofyour Husband put it this way my dear friend at least he will not be suffering anymore. M Aunt is in a Rehab center with Parkisins herself and I see how sheis going down fast, she used to beable to work on cars along beside her husband and he passed away 9 or 10 years ago fron Diabetes complications and I also lost my dad 11 years ago o. from sarcoma cancer. Please except my hugs ad prayers . Take time for yourself and try to relax a little. Friends Dayle from RI
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God has you in his arms - have fun renewing your spirit and engaging in your life. Hugs to you!
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Hello Reba and Thank you EVERYONE for your kind and very helpful comments over the past month. I haven't been able to get online for awhile but I wanted to share that my husband passed away on May 31st due to the complications of Parkinson's disease. I was with him and we were in a wonderful Hospice House for his final hours and I just bless Hospice so much for all they did to help him and make the transition easier for both of us. We are very spiritual and I know I will see him again someday in time. I am still in a process of grieving but in a positive vein and also trying to focus after 13 years as a caregiver, on possible other employment for myself - mostly toward office work...not easy after being at home for so long. I wish everyone here TIME...time to care for yourself, love yourself more, take time to relax and look at all of the blessings you have because change is inevitable and each day is special. Thanks again ~ RSuzyJ
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Sorry I can't help you on this one. When I was a nurse assistant we weren't allowed to do anything with the Cathiters the RN's or the LPN's took care of them.mrjess5
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My husband had a 24" and when they pulled it out to change it because of being plugged. he had blood clots but it soon cleared up and she said it was due to the prostate. Now they use a 22". He still has some urine coming out but I keep a pad around it. I flush it every day.
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Ahh. Good Luck sorry I can not be of any help. I sure hope he gets better and that he isn't in much pain. Hugs to you!
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Can anyone tell me if they have had a problem with a male parent having a catheter for a long peroid of time with prostate cancer and a bigger catheter was used 24" and it caused heavy bleeding from the prostate. The catheter was forced in pass the prostate into the bladder and now there is heavy bleeding. My dad is getting sodium cholride flushes 3000ml this has been going on for 2 days, he is currently in the hospital with puenmonia and an ilues. This was started because he had bleeding in his urine (not that bad) and his primary doctor called in a urologist that forced a 24" catheter into him! If anyone has had a problem like this(bleeding & flushes from prostate) please let me know.
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Our doctor wants to know what he is taking because of that reason. Just like some fruits, grapefruit should not be given with some drugs.
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Reba
It shouldn't interact with any medication, but it's always good to ask your doctor. It's especially helpful if you are on any kind of antibiotic. The antibiotic is killing both the good and bad bacteria making it hard for the body to recover.
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RSuzyJ, I am so happy for you. Take all the help you can get. I heard that 86% of caregivers die frist. So please anyone out there that needs help - go for it.
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Hello Everyone ~ A HUGE Thank You to REBA for all of her ideas and help....Just an update...my husband began aspirating AGAIN and is back in the hospital for the 3rd time (he has advanced-stage Parkinson's disease. FINALLY, Hospice is involved and I LOVE THEM!!! Thankfully, they will be assisting my husband and myself. I am now trying to get my husband to a wonderful Hospice House. The hospital is also fantastic (the North Carolina's Health Care System (CMC)!!! I can't say enough good about how they have helped us so far! Anyway, he DID have a UTI after all, which the nursing home did not catch. The antibiotics for his lung aspiration have cleared it up also. However, due to Parkinson's his system is really slowing down so Hospice is definitely the BEST choice I feel for end-of-life and even before. The encourage patients, families...are very supportive in many ways. They say that getting in touch with them early on really helps them work best, so if one is ill in any way - not just at the last moment of life, it is good to reach out to them. They are all over the country. RSuzyJ
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ladybug, Gee I never heard of that but do you have to make sure it is ok to take with medication. Some of the stuff in health stores shouldn't be mixed with medication and mostly blood thinners.
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I have suffered from constant urinary infections and been on Countless rounds of antibiotics. Someone 13 years ago recommended taking kyo dopholis found in the health food stores. She told me to take as many as my body could stand without getting diahrea and then keep taking that dose daily. It helped build the good bacteria and within 2 months I didn't get any more infections (normally I would get 1 a week). You need to take it permanently as your normal routine, if you stop they will return in a month or so.
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Hospice is for end of life care. My husband is in the last stages of AD. He was on medicaid for a while so I could put him in a home. My income being our SS isn't enough for me to pay for the home. I still work but a NH cost $7000.00 and up. I was able to move my office into our home so I could keep working.
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i'm echoing the thanks for all the great comments on this...was wondering, without meaning to get too personal, reba, you mentioned hospice comes to your home? i have mom at home and when she does NOT have a UTI, which is better this year, she is ambulatory and still likes to go out shopping etc, (usually in a chair as she gets weaker,) but i know the time will come when she worsens. i'm trying to educate myself about as many decisions as i can beFORE they arrive...(hah!) - anyway, any good links to look up or who to call to find out about getting hospice at home? she's on medicare and blue shield right now- has AD- and tho she qualifies for medi-cal (medicaid in calif) we prefer blue shield so she can keep her doctors of 30 yrs...(also has AFIB,( - anyway, trying to keep this somewhat short but give enough info...anyone have ideas about getting hospice AT HOME (leaving her dogs would kill her, staying home VERY important to her..) -thanks and GOD Bless you all for the amazing compassion you have.
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Hospice, where they have expertise in end-of-life care, is crucial. I have a client in a retirement home who refuses to go to LTC or hospice, and he is getting very little appropriate care.Given meds by PSWs, no nurse sees him. I am going to report the retirement home once he passes over.
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RSuzyJ , I don't know if I said that I have my husband at home. After they let him fall in the nursing home and he broke his hip I wouldn't let him go back there. Hospice comes to our home 3 days a week to give him his bath and one came two nights in a row so I could get some sleep. They also will come and stay 8 hours in the day time if needed. I feel rested this morning and it was good sleeping last two nights. Thanks to Hospice!
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Thank you Reba for ALL your great comments on this blog! I'm also feeling that by the end of his 100 days in the short-term (rehab) section, once MEDICAID is in, that I'll really pursue HOSPICE. There is a really great HOSPICE house in our area but they are full right now. I may be able to get them to come into the nursing home once MEDICAID can cover both. Just hoping to keep him going awhile longer and stay comfortable. Thanks again. Big Hugs! RSuzyJ
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I just wanted to add to michfla317's comments...and all were great comments, but what really concerns me is the patient to caregiver ratio in a nursing home, as she mentioned...it's just too much to expect their nurses and staff to keep up with everything for all the patient needs. My husband was getting much better care at home because he never had to wait for help getting to the bathroom and very rarely needed diapering. The aspiration pneumonia which put him into the hospital and subsequent nursing home, was the downturn. The catheter is helping keep him dry, but adding other problems. The blood thinner to prevent clots while in the hospital caused heel bleeding and a mouth sore. He is not getting movement he had when I walked him to the bathroom at home, so now he can't walk at all and spends all day laying down except for some physical therapy in which he can barely participate. He has lost more weight from his second hospital stay. I cannot possibly care for him now in the condition he is in and Parkinson's disease is progressively making everything worse. If I could have treated the pneumonia at home and had been able to get him to the bathroom with a wheel chair (our home is an RV and not large enough to accommodate one), then I think I could have delayed his more rapid regression into not being able to move and having more infections. Some things are just not possible. I appreciate very much the wonderful nursing home staff where he is...most of the nurses and caregivers have taken special time to help extra but I am also spending most days there for several hours per day to make sure and giving him extra personal care. HOSPICE offers wonderful end care and I am hoping they can also help when that time comes. Medicare won't pay for more than one institution at a time. You have to get MEDICAID which is difficult and a slow process. Lots of tough choices so you do the best you can. RSuzyJ
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That is true. I saw a big difference in my husband's memory after they put him on Cumadin. After three weeks his memory was getting bad. Not all medication is good for us.
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I agree that there is truly a problem between getting natural ingredients dispensed within any institution as most of them use a given pharmacy and will not use any products brought in from the outside by family. Case in point: They were willing to use Similasan Dry Eye drops, which are great and available at local pharmacies and health food stores, however, I could not provide them...they had to get the product from THEIR supplying pharmacy. They say this is the only way they can guarantee that only prescribed medicines or products are given to patients and this also prevents a patient from getting into a product brought from home that might not mix with their prescribed medicines. I am a regular user of herbal and homeopathic products, however, I can see their point. Even garlic, which I love, is a blood thinner, so someone taking a prescription drug, such as Cumadin for blood clot prevention, might have a problem. It's frustrating because it's so difficult sometimes to combine the allopathic and herbal products. RSuzyJ
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RSuzyJ - no one can decide about life. My pastor told me that it takes a real drama for the spirit to leave the body. My husband would be better off to go. I too have to think about financial issues but I would rather see him go than here living the way he is. Hospice will not keep him alive if he starts to go, only comfortable.
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Thank you everyone for continuing super comments on this UTI situation. I so appreciate everyone's support and feedback. Reba had a particularly emotional comment for me about a positive aspect of HOSPICE in that they try to keep patients comfortable but also balance the fact that keeping someone alive when the quality of life is no longer there, does not really help that person. For me, this is a difficult inner decision as I may never really want to let my husband go yet recognize that with his Parkinson's being so miserable at this point, he would be better off. I think financial issues are also playing a part as it changes his Social Security which is also providing for me and the thought of going out to get a job, having been home for over 5 years, is really terrifying and I have health issues I didn't have 5 years ago. It's a good time to re-evaluate my skills and inner desires about what I would really like to do in the years ahead. Anyway, thanks everyone! RSuzyJ
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No cranberry is not a cure. It only keep the liquids moving and it better to drink juice than water. As for me I hate drinking water. Water is best to flush out the kidneys. Type cranberry juice in search and find what they are saying about it. My husband has a catheter in and if you don't keep the urine from flowing back into the bladder, it can cause an infection. Stop and think about it. He goes and then if someone picks up the bag to change his clothes or what ever it will go back into the bladder. Urine in the tube is like taking it out of the toilet and putting it back into the bladder. I told the nurse that and she had to agree.
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I'm curious if once the UTI is treated & eliminated do the symptoms of dementia &/or alzheimers regress.
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Don't blame Hospice, it is medicare that is fighting them. That is what they told me. So if that isn't true then what do we do? I told them they had to keep a check on his Potassium and they did until it stabled out. I told them if they didn't do what I ask then I am not going to use them. We do have choices. After five mos. it was stable so I let them stop the tests. (they ask me if they could stop the tests). Also think about what condition the person is in and why would you want to keep them alive to live a life of suffering and pain. AD is an awful disease, not being able to think or do things the way they use too. I wouldn't want to live like that. All I am saying is while they are alive keep them as well as you can. We do that much for our animals.
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