My mother has her 3rd UTI in 6 mos. The first two landed her in the hospital and she was septic the first time. The signs are very subtle - lethargy, loss of appetite, chills. Her doctor came yesterday (she makes house calls for seniors) and all my mom's vital signs were fine. But she believed me when I said her vitals were fine last time, until she got to the hospital and then they were alarming. Doc prescribed a broad-spectrum antibiotic and my mom took the second dose today. So far I don't think she feels much better. The last two times there was a "sign" that we had to call 911 - i.e. she had a dreadful episode of diarrhea and vomited. There hasn't been anything dramatic this time - yet. The last thing I want to do is call 911 again, especially when the oral antibiotics might kick in soon. It is so traumatic for her and for me to deal with the ER, ambulance, etc. So I don't know what to do. I'm terrified of another sepsis episode. I guess I will ask the doc to order a blood test, but that takes a few days to get back.
(FYI, the cause of her repeated infections is a large kidney stone. Docs are not confident surgery for that is good idea due to her fragile health.)
I don't know what her underlying conditions are but you are fighting an uphill battle due to aging and, perhaps, medications that are killing her natural flora. Do you have a gynecologist for your mother? Not an OB/GYN - they focus on women of reproductive age - but rather a geriatrician or a gynecologist. You also may want to see a registered dietician.
At least this would take surgery off the table (pun!) and I wouldn't have to obsess about doing it or not. So that means repeated hospitalizations (or hospice, not something I am ready for, and she refuses to go there). Next time I think I will have her aide take her to the ER and I will meet them there. I need to give myself some kind of break here and not feel like I have to do everything myself.
A year later, mom WAS lucid and competent enough to tell us that she definitely wanted a pacemaker!
Xina, good luck with this. It sounds like you have a cautious, competent surgeon who is considering all options.
Barb, thanks for that. Was your mother able to consent? I'm guessing not. We probably will go thru with it. One thing the surgeon said, though, is that he might have to do the surgery in stages, depending on what he finds and how long he thinks it will take. That would mean another operation - which would really be too much.
4 years ago, after my mom's stroke, she fell and broke the ball of her hip joint off ( we'll she probably broke the bone and then fell but it's always hard to tell).
My brother and I were terrified to sign for the surgery. Mom had CHF, vascular dementia, was frail and underweight. I was convinced she would die during the surgery.
The good news is that she didn't. She rehabbed spectacularly, learned to walk with a walker and got to see two more great grandchildren born.
I vote for doing the surgery if that helps at all. The surgeon is right to warn you of the risks, and to be cautious. Cautious is always better than cavlier, in my book.
Surgery is risky in a frail 84 yo woman, so we've been avoiding it. But then she had another UTI, so I've scheduled it for 10 days from now. We met with the surgeon yesterday (top kidney stone specialist) and he is clearly ambivalent about doing it, which is not reassuring! There are risks - anesthesia, infection, heart problems, etc. He wrote "highly complex/risky" on the paper scheduling it. But he wouldn't tell me not to do it, because that's not his job.
The alternative is she gets more UTIs and has to stay in the hospital repeatedly. It's sort of 1/2 dozen of one, 6 of another.
I'm a total wreck about this. My mom is frail. She is not cognitively all there, so she can't make the decision and doesn't grasp the implications. Just the idea of getting her to the hospital, having them lie her upside down and put her under makes me miserable.
I can't stand that *I* have to make the decision. What do I do??
I think the next time I feel like I am getting a UTI, I will go to Urgent Care.
AZO makes over-the-counter products for one to use to help keep away UTI's. Recently I felt like one was tapping me on the shoulder so I used an AZO made for that. It worked for me. You may want to check with your Mom's doctor to make sure the AZO won't interfere with Mom's meds.