My Mom (75) has UTI and now sepsis, can this be fatal?

Sepsis was one of the reasons of my father's death. But he got it in the hospital, along with C-Dif, and thrush from the antibiotics to fight the C-Dif. I hope your mother pulls through--75 is not that old--but my recommendation is as soon as you can get her out of the hospital and rehab, and try not to put her in the hospital again. I've been adamant about keeping my mother out of the hospital and keeping her at a medication minumum--read nothing--and she 92. I'm not trashing the medical profession or hospitals, but really try to find doctors that will visit your home. Rare these days, I know.

melissarossi199, I couldn't agree with you more about keeping our elderly loved ones out of the hospital. If they are in a rehab or nursing home, most of the treatment that can be done in the hospital, can be done at the rehab or nursing home. If they are lucky enough to be living at home, in most cases the treatment can be done through home health care, which most insurances covers. There's no place like home.

Been wanting to update and get back to everyone on my moms status but it's been a crazy 9 days! It was quite a roller coaster but she actually pulled through! They went from saying she may not survive, to lets talk about hospice (because she couldn't eat/swallow) to now 9 days later, they're talking about releasing her tomorrow to a skilled nursing facility for rehabilitation. Although she no longer has the infection she is so weak and barely even able to stand. She has been able to eat very small amounts of soft food and drink thickened liquids from a straw. I am hopeful but its very concerning that 2 days prior to her being taken to the ER my son and I walked with her, ate pancakes together and she talked normally and used the restroom on her own. Now she is bed-ridden, can barely stand for a moment or two, cant really talk very clearly and isn't able to eat normal foods. I hope the skilled nursing can help her get back on her feet but she is so debilitated I am really worried. I know my mom and she absolutely hates the thought of having to be cared for 24/7 and not be able to do the little things she enjoys like walking. If she cannot recover to a reasonable state of being I hope the Lord would just take her home to be with my dad and her beloved sister who passed away 1 year ago. I wonder if anyone has had this experience where the person recovers and is so debilitated.. God Bless you all for your answers and kind words!!

DenverFan - that's great news! keep in mind that Mom is now very weak, and at her age, likely to remain so for a very long time. They simply don't bounce back like younger folk do. Encourage her to participate in rehab and physical therapy, if that's i the plan for her recovery - she may not like it much, but it's important to regain her strength, or she can quickly go downhill.

SallyKB

Sepsis can be caught at Nursing Homes and Rehab facilities as well.I think that's where my mom picked it up. The nurse at the Skilled facility,said her temp was 104 degrees.

Denverfan Good luck with your mom. I do hope she recovers.

Have any of you thought about suing the Hospital and/or NH AL, for malpractice for your loved ones catching Sepsis?

Sepsis, in and of itself, is fatal. I have known persons who have deceased far too young from sepsis. It is serious business! Pray that the doctor caught it in time.

You don't "catch" sepsis. It's not an infectious disease.

Denver, so happy for you and mom!

My mom was 91, went back to ALin a totally debilitated state after pneumonia related septic shock. They were able to get her up walking again, but not independently with a walker as she had been doing before. Each time she's hospitalized, the result is a new level of "weaker" mom. So we've moved to palliative care, meaning that whatever treatment they can provide at the nh is the limit on her treatment. They pulled her through a bout of pneumonia last year.

Good luck!

Babalou

It's not an infectious disease, yet everyone that comes in contact with someone that has it, has to wear gloves, a disposable gown and make sure they wash their hands? Not to mention, C-Diff, and/or Sepsis can live on surfaces for a long time.

It's not an infectious disease. Sepsis is caused by severe infections that get out of control and overwhelm the body's defenses. You have to gown and glove because of the antibiotic-resistant infections that are causing the sepsis, not because of the sepsis itself.

From the Mayo Clinic website:
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail.

If sepsis progresses to septic shock, blood pressure drops dramatically, which may lead to death.

Anyone can develop sepsis, but it's most common and most dangerous in older adults or those with weakened immune systems. Early treatment of sepsis, usually with antibiotics and large amounts of intravenous fluids, improves chances for survival.

Just to clarify for everyone...infections are contagious. Infections LEAD TO sepsis. If you are caring for someone with sepsis what you are protecting yourself from is the infection, not the sepsis. Sepsis is a developed disease from an untreated infection.

Angel

Christmas several years ago my mom (85) started acting strange all of a sudden. Clumsy, unfocused, confused, complained of nausea etc. She did not always eat well or at all and did not drink water unless forced. I thought not eating/drinking was the problem. We sat and snacked on some fruit and had some water as well. She seemed to improve. I left her resting while i went downstairs (where i live) to make us some dinner. Soon after, she came in still complaining of nausea, worse yet. I gave her 1/2 a gravol hoping it would help enough to let her nap. She ended up vomiting, which is very unusual for her. I walked her upstairs to put her to bed and while passing through the kitchen she became oddly confused again, dementia like, and I thought oh no, the beginning of the end. Before I finished the thought in my head, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted like a stone to the floor!!!
We spent the whole night in the emergency room enduring test after test. Mom was so sad thinking she was going to miss Christmas. Finally, the very last test seemed to give us some answers....You guessed it, she had a UTI. The poisons had entered the bloodstream and travelled to her brain mimicking dementia like symptoms. To us, it was out of the blue because Mom never complained about any type of pain or symptom otherwise, which we found out was common in seniors, they do not experience the usual symptoms associated with an UTI. Who knew?! obviously not us at the time....
We arrived home the morning of Christmas Eve to prepare the family dinner for that same night. Mom missed it all. We took turns going upstairs and sitting with her in the bedroom for the evening. All in all, exhausting for everyone.

Sorry...posted too soon...
There is a happy ending to follow...

My mother has had Alzheimers/Dementia for approx 6 years. They finally had the Alzheimers under control but now it seems the Dementia is coming into the picture quickly and is much worse. Is there any way to control Dementia and is this usually seen in the later stages?

Since it was Christmas and nothing was open, we fashioned a potty out of a vintage, high-backed wooden chair, a toilet seat that we had stored, and a large bucket for her bedroom. We didn't know what to think about what may be happening in the near future as this seemed to be such a turn for the worse.
The doctor did not mention anything to us about sepsis but toxins entering the bloodstream and travelling to the brain does not sound like a minor issue. Especially when it was causing multiple fainting spells! I did some research and we attacked the problem with some simple changes and common sense.
I set-up a water-bottle system so Mom would drink the proper amount of water and we could monitor her intake. The health food store recommended some natural supplements for UTIs and some pro-biotics. Some dietary changes including prune juice and prunes (she suffered from terrible constipation as well). Fresh fruit/vegetable smoothies daily along with vitamin supplements. I also cook all her meals, package them into single serving sizes for the freezer do all food is home cooked-no processed crap.
At first, progress was slow. Mom hates and fights against change. We did not know if this was a waste of our time.....
Flash forward almost three years........
Mom is like brand new. No more UTI problems, no more constipation. She lost weight (the fat rolls from eating high processed foods) but still carries a healthy frame - not skinny or frail looking. She has memory issues as with anyone her age but no scary confusion. Her blood pressure has stabilized (yes, she is on HBP meds too)She's pretty with it for an "old bird" and she'll get you with her sense of humor. Her skin glows and everyone swears she has gotten younger! I swear it's the simple intake of water....Overall, the changes are remarkable.
I know this sounds like too simple of a solution to what can be a complex medical issue. I know every individual situation is different. We took a dire situation and turned it around just by trying different things. It has taken a couple years to get here, but here we are....so there is hope for you and your mom too.
We are very lucky as we have more than one family member in the home to care for her and I have my own suite right downstairs. This does make things easier. We hope for the best, we prepare for the worst, and we usually land somewhere in the middle. I wish you the best of luck!!

Babalou: I didn't say you can catch sepsis.

Sepsis begins when a person gets an infection, let's say they don't get to the doctor when they should which is right away, then Boom-deceased.

Many elders "don't want to bother anyone" so they keep quiet about any ailments. Wrong, often DEAD WRONG!

No, Z did. As noted above, Sepsis arises as the RESULT of an infection. If the patient has an infection that is contagious, then visitors must be gowned because they might catch THAT infection. In my mom's case, the sepsis arose from a pocket of bacteria that "bloomed" when a pleural effusion was drained. She was not infectious and therefore, we didn't have to take precautions.

Z asked if anyone had considered suing NH or Hospitals because a patient had "caught" sepsis. That's what I was responding to.

I've personally experienced three occasions when sepsis, which in the olden days was called septicaemia, or "blood poisoning", threatened:

1. ExSO, cleaning out a pond, slipped on decking and gashed his elbow on some rock edging. The wound was cleaned in ER, but prophylactic antibiotics were not given. Following day, cellulitis; next day, rampant cellulitis, returned to ER at my insistence, sent home; next day, workplace occupational health GP had him admitted to private hospital for 2 days of IV antibiotics.

2. Self attempting to catch mother's deeply disturbed and neurotic cat who sank his fangs into my hand. Wound dressed in walk-in unit, but no antibiotics given: next day my hand looked like a washing up glove that some wag had inflated. Alert GP sent me to ER; admission to hospital for three days of IV Augmentin. And by the way, I felt like death - what does surprise me is how often the symptoms seem to get missed.

3. Daughter aged under two caught chicken pox and became extremely ill with a secondary bacterial infection. IV Flucloxacillin, followed by oral therapy under medical supervision on the understanding that if she didn't continue to respond she was to be returned to ER.

Babalou is quite correct: sepsis is what happens when an infection gets the bit between its teeth and goes on the rampage systemically. But it doesn't follow that any infection will inevitably lead to sepsis: most are dealt with by the body's own immune system, with help as necessary from the medical profession.

And I must say - taking up Z's question and substituting "developed" for "caught" - that if exSO had ended up minus his left arm or dead I would certainly have considered suing that NHS Trust for negligence. There has recently been quite a bit of publicity about sepsis, and it is something that a good physician should consciously exclude rather than await developments. Time is of the essence.

Babalou

My bad. Sepsis develops as a result of an infection. That being said, medical malpractice suits seem to be increasing due to Sepsis. Has anyone considered taking legal action due to losing a loved one to Sepsis?

Llamalover47

People who are in the hospital can still get Sepsis and die from it. In fact, it is quite common in the ICU.

My father died of sepsis, but had multiple co-morbidities, so no, I would never consider suing any facility for sepsis unless I could prove his being there directly resulted in the infection that caused the sepsis. Dad had just about every antibiotic-resistant infection known to man - CDiff, negative gram rod infection, e coli, MRSA and a few others I can't remember - all at the same time. The infections were colonizing on the dialysis port, they were in his bladder, they were in the pericardium....there was simply no way his compromised system could overcome the infections. It wasn't the facilities' fault - he was just too ill to fight these infections. What started with CDiff in the nursing home (he was the only one that had it, so it wasn't an outbreak) followed by emergency surgery for a strangulated hernia resulted in the multiple infections that followed. It was just a downhill slide.

The infected person may be In the hospital fighting the infection , but it doesn't mean that the Hospital Caused the Sepsis! You would have to have a serious case of malpractice to sue a hospital, and when infection is involved, that's pretty hard to prove!

Cat bites can be Extremely Nasty! I've seen a man nearly lose his hand and that was With him seeking immediate medical care, and being in hospital on IV antibiotics! Cats carry a lot of Bd Bacteria in their mouthes, so if you or LO should ever get a cat bit, broken skin or not, seek immediate medical attention! Sometimes you can't see microscopic breaks in the skin! the skin.

Bacteria can double every four to trwenty minutes, so infections can reach epic proportions in only hours! With infection, so much has to do with the patient's own immune system. If they are weak and frail, have multiple co-morbidities, then their chances of battling it becomes so much more challenging! For this reason, our elderly population is always at greater risk.

SusanA43

I'm so sorry, Your dad really suffered. Hospitals and NH/AL's don't want to take the chance of being sued, so they do take steps to protect themselves.

Thanks, zythr. His last months were not easy at all. He fell at home in August and was gone by January - having never come back home.

SusanA43

You're welcome. That's a shame. Maybe you can take comfort that he is not in pain anymore and is at peace.

zytrhr: Yes, I know that like I said a person who gets sepsis, Boom-deceased!