UTI effects, how long do they last?

This happened to our Mom and she never recovered. The docs said the UTI “had gotten into her blood stream.” She was at home when she contracted it and our brother, who was her caregiver, detected it because she became confused and incoherent but the signs, which no one in the family understood at the time, were there well before that. Education about the deleterious effects of UTI’s on the elderly is sadly lacking nor do I believe that most hospitals routinely test elderly people for this when they are admitted. We have no idea how long she had it before it was way too late to “cure” her and try to counteract the effects. I hope you have a different experience.

Mama ended up in a nursing home and went inexorably down hill for two more years and died at 101. At the last she still recognized all five of her kids but didn’t remember her husband at all, thought her parents we’re still alive, thought she still lived with them in her childhood home, got songs on her mind and sang at the top of her lungs, talked indiscreetly about sex, wheeled herself into other peoples rooms and climbed in bed with men, stole other people’s eye glasses, openly criticized the hairdos of the female staff and did a lot of other things that we have since come to think of rather humorously. Mama was the soul of Southern discretion and she was still wise enough to stay on the good side of the staff. At times she thought she was at the country club and formally introduced us to all the other out of contact people at the luncheon table. She would have hated to end the way she did, but, even so, kept her wits about her enough to one sunny day just peacefully grind to a halt.

My mother never wanted to die and we were so blessed that she accepted every stage of life with equanimity. Mama always said, “Every age has its compensations.” If your mother doesn’t recover, I suggest that you accept what has happened and find joy in all the things that made your mother what she was, understand that she is the same person, and make sure you and your siblings are at her bedside when she meets her maker. We still speak of her last days often and yet, after she died, she became younger and perfectly lucid again in our remembrance.

As an old retired nurse it is my feeling something has been missed.
What with hospitalists and different hospitalizations, where no one knows the patient or her history, what is a DRASTIC CHANGE gets missed.
Scott, you pegged it exactly. She was simply another old woman coming in.
Bypass is serious. The speech slurring could have been for many reasons, even from weakness or dry mouth, but the most common reason is a stroke.
Many strokes are missed. CT scans rule out BLEEDS or hemorrhagic strokes; the reason they are done, as no blood thinners can be given to someone with a bleed. Scans are good at diagnosing bleeds, less good at strokes.
Something has happened and it seems to me it happened suddenly and had a profound affect. That could mean clot to lung or brain.
I don't know how old your Mom was when she had a triple bypass. Much new literature is suggesting they should not be done past a certain age because of risk of complication without promise of benefit, and that often medications work as well. As with all articles, they change every six months. As my old Oncologist said "It's anything but an exact science". There are amazing studies out there on depression alone after bypass. Literature abounds.
I wish you the best of luck, and Mom as well. It is just my feeling something has been missed, mis-diagnosed, gone UNdiagnosed. When I was in nursing patients were still followed in hospital by their own doctors. It was a different world, and even then with the patient such a wholely KNOWN person, each entered as a mystery to be solved.
At this point knowing what happened may not mean much about recovery. That will be what it will be now moving forward. I am so sorry for this setback.

Hi
My dad had reoccurring UTIs
and one was antibiotic resistant.
Yes from my experience with my dad they can knock someone for a loop. Slurred speech , lack of appetite and lethargy.
I found my dad’s UTI’s accompanied
dehydration so ask about that too
My dad was totally independent up until he went into the hospital and later the facility. They seem to only look at what’s in front of them
They do seem to give up merely because someone is elderly.

To this day I feel my dad’s health issues could have been handled differently. The limited Medicare coverage seems to rule the nursing facilities.
After speaking with other families
it seems you have to fight hard for extra Medicare coverage. Most families are so knocked apart from the whole experience that they give up.

In my experience with my mom, UTIs can be very hard on the elderly. My mom has had a few similar incidents with UTIs where she was disoriented and had to go to the hospital and then rehab. The infection had spread to her blood which really took a toll on her and her mobility. She was in the hospital for a week then had to go to rehab to regain her strength and mobility. She has bounced back somewhat—back living on her own. Since she is prone to getting UTIs, her urologist recommended a natural supplement called D-mannose that she takes every day. It is what is found in cranberries and can be purchased at amazon or other places that sell supplements and vitamins. It has helped to stop reoccurring UTIs. I’d recommend that you ask the rehab place to retest your mom for a UTI again, as they are sometimes hard to get rid of and perhaps this is impacting her ability to bounce back. Best of luck to your mom, you, and your family.

Hi Scott
It is confusing. Just thinking it over here with you.
First you are told she has a UTI and then that she doesn’t? Did they run a culture? If she tested positive they should want to see which antibiotic would be most affective. If she tested negative, they usually don’t run the culture. Of course I suppose the antibiotic that was given cleared it up. Often they will start with an antibiotic while waiting for the culture results.
is she able to do the therapy in rehab? When you talk with the therapist can he show you how she has improved and explained the goals or is she actually getting worse. What does her data indicate I’m trying to ask.
And yes, people die from unchecked UTIs. And perhaps she was more vulnerable to this one due to just having the medical procefure. It does sound like a stroke. Did she see a cardio and a neurologist while in the hospital? Perhaps you could check into that. If she didn’t see a specialist, I would want that done right away.
I hope she’s better soon.

Scottj,

So sorry to hear about your mom. My mother had a similar experience in the fall of 2019. My mother has a history of cancer and CHF and was getting around on her walker when suddenly one morning, she experienced: head spinning, hallucinations , slurred speech and inability to sit up and walk. She was rushed to the ER and they ruled out a stroke and cancer spread. However, she did have a UTI and was treated with antibiotics. She was sent to rehab then home with additional rehab but was never able to walk again. My mother has been bed bound since and has been under hospice care since Feb 2020 after blood clots were discovered on both of her lungs.

With the exception of mobility frustrations and occasional dementia related symptoms, mom is doing much better under hospice care.

Hope this helps and that things improve with your mom.

Get her to see a urologist and a follow-up with cardiology. Either UTI and toxic products of destroying bacteria are a problem or she is not getting good circulation to her brain which mimics a stroke. I would opt to see the cardiologist first.

Is she on other meds? Sometimes when elderly people have a uti their body does not flush the meds as they should. In my mother's case it caused her to have hallucinations from the med she was on for shingles. She was also very lethargic. She has been over two months (so far) trying to recover from shingles pain. She also became very weak. We had to resort to using a walker and home health care as well.

My 83 yo MIL had a stroke that was not detected by CT scan, only found by MRI the next day when her symptoms didn't lessen. Has she had both done? Bless you, I know how difficult this is.

My mom had a stroke in 2019 - I suspected a UTI in Jan 2020 as she was having confusion etc - took her to ER to make sure not another stroke etc - they said positive uti as well as low potassium. She was alert just slower etc - every day on the antibiotics she became worse - severe delirium ended up with encephalopathy - I was suspecting the antibiotics - they switched her and she woke up and was starting to come out of it and then within 24 of new antibiotic Cipro she had the same severe confusion decline. I suspect my mother was slow due to her potassium being low and not due to a UTI and the delirium and unable to eat and loss of all function was her having severe reactions to the IV antibiotics - she lost all ability to eat and swallow again during antibiotics - every stroke recovery we had made went backwards. I started refusing the rest of the antibiotics and she finally started slowly recovering. I have since seen her have this same confusion or slower self when her potassium is low and I have to give her a few days to get her back up again. My new neuro also believes she had a reaction to the Class Cipro and the other one they had her on is in. They were the same class of antibiotics. Her previous brain injury from her stroke the year before made her not do well on antibiotics since. Have the potassium and sodium levels checked and find out if the antibiotics are completed.
My mother took a good month to regain her stronger swallow and recovery gains back and a few months to feel back to where we were. Again when she acts this way now I have her potassium levels checked. 🙏🏼