UTI effects, how long do they last?

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.

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.

My mother suffers with chronic UTI, some very serious. She was just treated with antibiotics at home for a week and had a repeat culture and still has a UTI , she had a culture twice. Now pseudomonas infection and treating in the hospital with IV antibiotics. My mother also had a TIA prior to the UTI, Neuro said it goes along with her UTUI's sometimes. My mother gets slurred speech and stares with TIA's, but recovers within 24 hours so not a full blown stroke. My mothers UTI's cause much weakness in her upper and lower extremities , needing PT at home. It takes a toll on my mother when she has UTI's and takes a about a week to get back to baseline. Feel for you, been dealing with this for twenty years. She is so good when she does not have a UTI. My mothers 98th birthday is today, too bad she is sick in the hospital but glad she is getting treatment and I am able to stay in her room. Hope things get better for your dear mom.

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 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.