UTI heads up awareness - My sister is in a care facility and suffers from dementia but has been very stable and high functioning for years. She is undergoing chemo for breast cancer currently. She's lost strength and recently fell, necessitating a CT but she was ok, just bruised. Within 1 or 2 days she became almost non-communicative and incontinent. The facility medical staff asked me for permission to put her on hospice stating they had seen this often with dementia patients, that just one event like a fall was the final thing that takes them "over the edge". I objected and demanded emergency diagnosis of electrolytes and latent brain bleed. Turns out she had a UTI. So ultimately she would have gone on hospice care and died - of a simple UTI - if it hadn't been detected at that time, because it was confused with the results of her fall. I want others to be aware of this. She has recovered partially. She's not the same but she's much, much better. Her lower function now is most likely because of delirium from the UTI, but at least we saved her life! I am so glad to know about UTIs. I hope to spread the word and help others know to look for this since even staff and some medical professionals aren't always on top of this. Everyone is trying their best but there are just so many things that can be confusing with these symptoms and UTIs MUST be taken into consideration.
Dementia Support Line
Janet
saysUTI heads up awareness - My sister is in a care facility and suffers from dementia but has been very stable and high functioning for years. She is undergoing chemo for breast cancer currently. She's lost strength and recently fell, necessitating a CT but she was ok, just bruised. Within 1 or 2 days she became almost non-communicative and incontinent. The facility medical staff asked me for permission to put her on hospice stating they had seen this often with dementia patients, that just one event like a fall was the final thing that takes them "over the edge". I objected and demanded emergency diagnosis of electrolytes and latent brain bleed. Turns out she had a UTI. So ultimately she would have gone on hospice care and died - of a simple UTI - if it hadn't been detected at that time, because it was confused with the results of her fall. I want others to be aware of this. She has recovered partially. She's not the same but she's much, much better. Her lower function now is most likely because of delirium from the UTI, but at least we saved her life! I am so glad to know about UTIs. I hope to spread the word and help others know to look for this since even staff and some medical professionals aren't always on top of this. Everyone is trying their best but there are just so many things that can be confusing with these symptoms and UTIs MUST be taken into consideration.