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She has had repeated UTIs and now they tell me her urine has tested positive for ecoli and they suspect she has a leaking fistula. In order to do the exam to determine if she does have the fistual, they would have to sedate her. I am just not sure that I want to put her through all of this at her age and at the stage of her life. She cannot walk, has to be fed, does not talk - just makes noises, has to wear diapers and does not even realize that she is in the world. So sad.

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It is sad.

She can't walk, she has to be fed, she doesn't talk, she's in diapers, and doesn't realize that she's in this world. What kind of Dr. would suggest that she be placed under sedation? Although I'm not sure how much worse she can get. But you may not want to find out.

It might be easier to just keep treating the UTI's than to have her go through a procedure where she's put under sedation. Your mom may never fully recover from the sedation. How does your mom react to the UTI's? Are you able to get her on antibiotics right away? Do the UTI's make your mom uncomfortable?

Any kind of procedure at this point sounds awfully aggressive given your mom's condition. I think you have to weigh the concerns: recurring UTI's vs. possible side effects from the sedation. Which is worse?

What does the Dr. say about the sedation?
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If they mean rectal-vaginal or vesical fistulas, that is really, really rare. And the next question is would they do a surgery to fix it if they found it. Brief sedation might not make her any worse than she is, and if there is a chance she could be a lot more comfortable treating it rather than leaving it alone it might not be unreasonable. But, E coli is the most common cause of UTI in general and by itself would not indicate a fistula is likely...is there some other symptom or concern?
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Is this exploratory surgery to determine if there is a fistula? I would say no. If they are contemplating doing imaging under sedation to determine if it is a fistils, you have to ask, would you treat the condition if it was discovered? Is hospice involved yet? If not, it sounds like it might be time to give them a call.
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If sedation means Demerol and Versed, she could handle it. But general anesthesia? No way in h*ll. Treat the E-coli with an antibiotic once a week, keep it at bay. At 92 you deserve to have the poking and slicing stop.
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