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I live alone. I was in pain for several days & barely slept for 7-10 days. I went to ER & received a pain shot. When I got home, I was was able to sleep quite well for about 12 hours. I woke up to find I was extremely dehydrated, unable to eat, extremely nauseated & violently vomiting, very confused, & unable to stand because of dizziness. I was very wet from urination plus I had soiled myself. I have some difficulty cleaning myself & access only to a very small stand only shower. Driving was out of the question. I called for help but none ever arrived. I laid as was for 7-9 more days until I felt safe enough to shower myself. I have since been diagnosed with a UTI. I'm on Cipro. I remain confused, forgetful nauseated but no more vomiting, difficulty eating but cant seem to get enough water. It has been 6 days since my adventure. Also no more dizziness. I also insulted an elderly woman, who had insulted me first. No cursing only name calling. I have also, in the past 2 days developed, pain & itching, a yeast infection to be dealt with after antibiotics, bleeding from the rectum. I realize my recovery will be slow. Im extremely pleased that I feel this much better. My questions are: How much of all of this could have been prevented if help would have shown up right away when I called. Im 60 yrs old not elderly but no spring chicken either. I have diabetes & a pinched nerve(source of original pain that kept me awake for so long. Could or should the person who deliberately neglected me be prosecuted? What can I do to speed my recovery along?

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My mom went thru h*ll with having an undiagnosed
UTI. She's 85 with recent knee replacement surgery.
She recovered okay from the surgery but strange behavior started. She fell a few times and she became very confused and incoherent.
I begged them at the hospital to retest for UTI.
Finally they confirmed she had one. After a few days of antibiotics she was much better but some symptoms are coming back. I'm hearing that the treatment should be longer than 10 days ?
That it's very serious and easily undetected in the elderly. My mom displayed profound behavior changes.
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It sounds like you had a bad reaction to the pain shot and actually had a mild to moderate case of what is called "delirium" due to pain, infection, or both. What happened to you was very dangerous and you have done well to survive it without care!! Opiates can cause bladder retention and that can cause a UTI. That would not be medical neglect exactly in itself, but you did not mention what kind of pain you were in or what it was from when you went to the ER, but maybe you were too ill to have gone home alone. And 911 should have come to assess you in your home if you called them, of course! If you did not call 911, you have to think the illness and medication affected your judgement... and be open to the possibility that there are parts of this you don't remember, too.

Some people feel a little nauseated on Cipro, maybe you will be better once you finish the course of it and it's out of your system.

Things to do as you continue to recover would be to make sure your diabetic care is tuned up, find out what they gave you and make sure you don't get that or at least not as much of that again, and designate a good reliable person to be a health care proxy/POA for you. You don't need anything like this to happen to you again!
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Kathie, why were you on antibiotics? Antibiotics can cause stomach flareups, dehydrated, etc. if you read the insert that comes with the prescription medications. You wrote "I was very wet from urination plus I had soiled myself" which sounds like you might have passed out during this illness.

What person deliberately neglected you? If you couldn't find a ride, you should have called 911 as you were pretty sick. Since you live alone, you are responsible for yourself.
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Who did you call for help? 911? Or a friend or relative? Unless you called someone with legal resposibility for you (a guardian, for example) or 911, no one had a legal duty to respond.
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Prosecuted? Are you in a care setting? Nursing home or assisted living? If a professional is responsible for your care, possibly. If you are responsible for yourself, nobody to prosecute. Neglect from a friend? Before you got sick did you neglect yourself?
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