myself and my wife took care of her for as long as we could, then i put her in a nursing home she was 79 when she passed. prior to the uti she had an infection in her finger from which her finger had swollen and the ring had to be cut off,she also had a uti then
My sister once had what, if I remember correctly, was then referred to as a bacterial shower. It occurred about 5 - 10 minutes after a chemo session, caused rapid onset of chills and violent shaking. I'd never seen anything like it; it was frightening. The shaking wasn't just like being cold; it was more like a seizure.
Fortunately, as a nurse she knew what was happening and we hadn't left the infusion center yet so we rushed back in. One of the nurses administered Tylenol, which I thought was interesting under the circumstances. She was wrapped in heavy blankets and after about 1/2 hour began to return to normal, but was still chilled all the way home.
Apparently even a tiny bit of bacteria can get flushed into the body when the tubes are flushed after chemo, and that's how the "showers" occurred.
We knew a man who had a port due to a medical condition which I don't recall; in discussing his condition, he said he had had numerous bacterial showers, I believe from port flushing.
It's been over a decade and these are just the best recollections I have of the condition, so I may be a little bit inaccurate in describing the process of infection.
These rapid infections are frightening.
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