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YB bought a pile of cheap washcloths and instructed her to use a clean one ONCE and only ONCE and she has not had a UTI in months. (He has her put them in a separate bin and he washes and bleaches them and dries them on HOT, to kill any nasties) BTW, mom never got 'crazy' with a UTI, she just kind of slumped over and her urine smelled horrible.
And yes, it is common knowledge, though the medical community seems to disagree--a UTI can change a person's behavior and personality for long periods of time, if not forever. MY MIL is 4 months out from her UTI and she is still an anxious mess. They do not hold out much hope that this is going to 'fix' itself.
I hope you see improvement soon.
I finally cleared the pneumonia with Colloidal Silver Nasal Spray 500ppm and Iodine brought back some of his memory but the damage was already done and he never fully recovered his memories.
But assuming it is gone - diagnosis 11 days ago, five? days of antibiotics or say seven, then it's still early days. Did the antibiotics cause any gut upset, too? (they often do, it can't be helped). I should give it a while longer, these things are rough on frail older people.
The problem with dementia patients is that it is difficult to know what is ''normal'' dementia confusion and what is ''normal'' delirium. If medical people find it difficult to work out the difference, no wonder we carers have difficulty understanding it.
About the only thing I can suggest is in future to closely monitor the patient, if there is a sudden downward trend in confusion then check for a UTI. On this forum you will have noticed a lot of posters' first suggestion is a UTI in any change of behaviour. While the causes for changed behaviour can be endless, it is a very good starting place for investigation. Likewise for constipation.
As others posted below it is possible her symptoms will take longer to go away, but there is possibly something else going on with her. Does your sister (or anyone) have durable PoA for her? If not and if she is resistant/uncooperative someone may need to pursue guardianship over her or else call social services to report her as a vulnerable adult and they can eventually get guardianship and get her into a care facility where she will get medical attention and be safe. Good luck!
I rarely see her, so when I DID finally see her, she'd been back home ( 6 weeks in rehab) I was SHOCKED to find that she had totally lost her 'filter' and is now just a screaming, angry old woman. She doesn't even try ( and it may not be possible) to be even remotely nice. Like, 'barely nice'. I was only at her home for 1/2 hour, at the most and had to leave. DH had seen her this way and didn't think much of it, she's never been a nice person to spend time with.
Anyhow, I talked to DH after this failed visit and asked him if the drs had weighed in on her incredible fall from 'norm'. He didn't know, but asked his sis, and she said that they felt that the UTI did permanent damage. I've seen my own mom with UTI's and she's miserable, but NOT nasty and mean.
She lives alone and won't allow anyone but SIL into her home. SIL is burned up, and insists on MIL accepting one day a week care for a bath and some light housework.
That's the 'new norm'. It's truly awful. I can't imagine how horrible she feels everyday when she cannot feel joy or laugh or talk about anything but how miserable her life is.
Hydration is key also to help prevent the UTI from returning but to help keep all organs with the fluid they need.
Weakness can be helped with just trying to increase daily activity. A little bit each day, or several times a day getting up and moving about. Just like PT would do. This is not just walking but even playing catch, tossing a beanbag into a bucket, putting clothes pins or clips onto a curtain and taking them off.
But all of the declines are "expected" can not be prevented so we must be prepared for them. You learn to work with a New "normal".