What a Week!

LJCHR

WOW! What a week. My DH has frequent UTI's. Took him to Urgent Care last Saturday morning - confirmed UTI. Put on antibiotics. He got very sick and was in a lot of lower pain on Sunday night. Took to hospital emergency room Monday morning. There he was diagnosed with a second infection, Epididymitis. He was very weak and slept most of the week. His dementia was extremely pronounced with both infections. He is better today and said he really doesn't remember the days this week prior to today. The dementia is such a horrible disease and exasperated with the infection --- wears you out.

My big blow came in the emergency room when the doctor was asking him questions and his answers were so off - I looked at the doctor and said he has dementia. The doctor said "I picked up on that". That hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't realize how much I might have been second guessing the diagnosis, but to have a strange professional to pick up on it made it very REAL!!

NOTE: he was diagnosed August 2021 so is still in mild to moderate stage.

Not wishing my days away but this is 7 days I'm glad are behind me.

toolbeltexpert

Ljchr uti's are bad enough but a second one infection would knock it out of ya for sure. You nail it about how it feels when it starts to really sink in about the dx it's so painful, and it also validates everything as well. I still get, She seems OK to me. Argh. Praying for a better day for you both.

Stewart

Joydean

Ljchr so sorry for the terrible week you and your dh just went through. I get how you felt when the er doctor said “I picked up on that”. About 4 years ago I had to take my dh to er he was having a lot of chest pains. Dh couldn’t answer any of the questions they were asking, I told dr he has dementia, dr replied “I can see that “. They kept him overnight,I stayed with him. Around midnight I went to the bathroom in his room, when I came out he was not in his room. Needless to say all the nurses on that floor were looking for him. Somehow he had gone down to the waiting room, in the hospital gown, was just sitting there. Scared the heck out of me, thank goodness one of the nurses picked up on the fact he had dementia and set the alarm on his bed! It does make it so much more real when other professionals can and do pick up on it.

so glad your dh is feeling better and hope you got some rest.

Quilting brings calm

The UTI can really make it seem like their dementia went into triple time. It did for mom. She hadn’t even been diagnosed yet (as far as I knew) and all of a sudden she seemed like she was in late stage 6. Got rid of the UTI, and she bounced up to stage 4.

It is a shock when a complete stranger can tell they have dementia.

gampiano

Good Morning,

I am so sorry that you and your spouse had to go through this experience. It is stressful and exhausting, for sure. UTIs are so common, and yet they are the cause of some pretty devastating symptoms, and can lead to all kinds of complications. Thank you for sharing your experience. It has reminded me to be more vigilant with my DH, especially now that summer is approaching. My husband was also diagnosed in 2021.and every time we go for checkups, the doctor tells him to "drink a lot of water", and this is why. He likes ginger ale so we stock up on that. So many things to put in place, and its ever changing.

I hope you have some quiet time for yourself today.

Denise1847

Hospital stays, alone, will throw a dementia patient into more confusion. Last year, my DH had a total knee replacement and I stayed with him. He was so disoriented and combative for much of the stay that I was brought to tears. I had to have the staff intervene to keep him in bed etc. Instead of a one -day stay, it was a 3 day stay due to all the complications. When my husband came home, he went back to himself at his current level of dementia.

Iris L.

Doctors and hospital personnel should not be "picking up on" a patient having dementia, it should be part of the diagnosis on the admitting orders. This will ensure that the patient receives the right level of care, (hopefully).

Iris

I was a doctor and admitted patients.

Ed1937

What a week is right! My wife had several UTIs, but never accompanied by another infection. I'm sorry both of you had to experience that.