Wow. Just, wow. You have really been thru the wringer. Do they at least have working cell phones?
Remember when we used to talk about âmagical thinkingâ of our teens? Sigh - it seems to creep back in later years.
Probably the AILâs brother has his hands full with their mom. Too bad since it puts a burden on you to worry over them.
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Yep. They both have iPhones.
Can anyone tell me about sepsis? My dad has been having so many medical issues the past few months and today my brother and mom took him to emergency because of a fall. Dad said his arm was hurting so they were worried it could be broken. Now they are running all kinds of tests and have said he may have sepsis. I would appreciate any information any of you have that may have dealt with this.
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Sepsis is very serious but if caught early, is treatable with IV antibiotics and then whatever support is needed for the organs affected.
Hoping your dad will be OK!
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Sepsis is very serious. It killed my mother at the age of 71; she had a kidney stone that cause a massive infection that could not be stemmed by intravenal antibiotics. Itâs very important that a sepsis patient be given massive doses of antibiotics ASAP. My mom had diabetes and immune system problems, but nonetheless, if she had gone into the hospital on Monday rather than Wednesday she would be alive today.
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Sorry for your dadâs medical challenges. Sometimes for elderly patients Iâve heard about sepsis in combination (of maybe complication of?) UTI
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My mom struggled June-October with UTI/sepsis issues. The infection spread into her bladder, causing pain, etc. She did recover with IV antibiotics, and then several courses of antibiotics afterwards in addition to supportive care because she kept having UTI flareups.
Sepsis is serious, for sure, but you might not need to panic. (I know the word strikes fear into caregivers). You want doctors to treat it aggressively with antibiotics, and stay vigilant once it is more under control, but if they caught it early thatâs a good sign.
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Thank you all for the information. My dad has been admitted to the hospital and is on iv antibiotics.
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Thanks for the update. Good luck. 
Sepsis was one of the main reasons my dad had a below knee amputation last month. His circulation was so poor that antibiotics couldnât get to all of his body. 
But now he is doing great and in excellent spirits because he feels better than he has in a very long time. He had the foot wound for years.
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There are many IV antibiotics and if the one he is getting is not working, they can switch to another. They sometimes do an analysis of the strain of the bacteria and pick the antibiotic that works best on that strain.
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I was in the grocery store and ended up having a long chat with a pleasant older woman. She was in a hospital in another state, and was not getting good medical care - and had developed sepsis. Her son had her transferred to the hospital in his city (and where we live), and she had a long recovery - but is doing great now. She has been living in independent living/assisted living, and was keen enough to shop around and move to nicer facility with lower price â lots of construction going on in our area, and we are not talking inexpensive monthly charges as you can imagine. Grocery was pretty close to where she lives, and she is quite sharp â I didnât ask her age, but I would gather she is in her 80âs.
So getting the right care in a timely manner is important. Sometimes we put trust in a MD who does not merit the trust - I have personally experienced this with a critical misdiagnosis which could have had cancer cause my death years ago - but I came back from aggressive stage III cancer and 15 years later now released by my medical oncologist. So ask questions and listen to your gut.
Yes, a late treatment of an infection that spreads widespread (sepsis) - the ability to turn it around is very time sensitive. 21 YO DD2 had an unusual case of a deep strep infection (typically one is at least mid-40âs to have such a case) and it was âcaught earlyâ - another 24 - 48 hours and it would have spread to her brain, her chest, or both and been life threatening. She was on powerful IV antibiotics for 3 1/2 days in the hospital, and then the ENT did a small incision near her tonsils and drained the encapsulated pus (between her immune system and the antibiotics, that is what was left).
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Poor circulation with elderly, and for some diabetes, and these wounds that wonât heal and the risk of becoming life threatening â and sometimes even young people have had to have amputations in extremities.
Agree that your dad has had a great spirit to continue to overcome medical crises that would have ended other peopleâs lives.
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They took my dad off of the iv antibiotics yesterday and said he does not have sepsis. The neurologist has diagnosed him with Parkinsonâs. Dad has been seeing a neurologist and this has been suspected. They will start him on medication and he will go to rehab after the hospital to get physical therapy to help him get stronger.
The reason they took him to the hospital on Wednesday was because they thought his arm could have been fractured because of a fall and he was saying it hurt. My dad is diabetic and has many other medical issues. He has been falling a lot over the past few months.
There is so much more going on. I appreciate all of your support here.
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My FIL battled Parkinsonâs for decades. Medication really helped him, although it took time to get it right. I hope your dad has a good neurologist - they are worth their weight in gold.
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It does sound like a lot going on. I know a lady who has Parkinsonâs but I only know because the husband mentioned after I admired her flute solo at church. He said it was caught early, after she noticed difficulty playing certain notes. The meds have really been a good help.
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Feel free to vent and share here in anyway that provides emotional support for you!
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My momâs new pcp saw her (improvement 1 is this doctor sees patients over 85 every six months, scheduled in advance) and Mom felt comfortable enough to say she thinks maybe she still pees an awful lot and maybe she has a uti again.
Doctor said, probably not, this is how you would know, but weâll test you just to be sure. And also gently assured her that while her bladder is old and not doing its job well, that doesnât mean sheâs in danger. Really reassured her and I am so glad we switched doctors.
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And how did you find such a gem? I HAD one - but my PCP moved on to other endeavors, and finding a replacement has not been easy! All the recommended âgood onesâ were not taking new patients.
Also curious if her new PCP is a geriatric specialist, or generalist.
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