Antibiotics and sent to rehab. Developed c- diff within days. D/c'd from rehab after 2 weeks (completed c-diff tx at home. Developed UTI eithin 2 days of being home. PCP started her on one antibiotic but sx were not dissipating so they switched and she developed diarrhea. Told to follow BRAT diet. Diarrhea continued. We picked up containers from lab assuming they'd want stool sample with c-diff hx. Told to bring her to urgent care. We instead went to ED - c-diff positive. Inpatient x 3 and a half weeks which included a rectal tube for 2 weeks. D/C'd to SNF (joke), Had a hard time with PT fur to skin break down on her bottom as the CNAs were not using prescribed treatment by facilities own wound care MD. Mom had diarrhea x 1 on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, she had what appeared to be a seizure while I was visiting. Thank God, I was there as the CNAs who transferred her from bed to chair just prior to event couldn't understand why I yelled "get the nurse !". Brought to local ED. I told them of recent c - diff infections. Admitting dx = seizure, UTI, pneumonia and c - diff. Rec'd meds by nasal tube and nutrition. Mom developed hypo delirium while there. Per MD whom my sister never met before "there's nothing else we can do and we have sick patients to take care of." We decided to take her home with hospice. The day she was to be discharged, an MD whom we felt truly cared, called and said she was alert and felt rehab would be a possibility. We still chose home. She'll eat/drink small amounts but we have no idea how to keep her awake through the day. Most info on the internet is prevention. How does one promote a good sleep schedule or cognitive stimulation if she just wants to sleep? She barely completed PT post surgery. Each long admission after, we were told "PT was for ortho patients". To me, my poor little Mom was seen as old and frail to begin with. We were often asked if she. "Was like this at home?" Mesning letharic, confused. To which we responded, she was preparing her flower garden the week before she fell in November for winter, so no. She is no longer confused but how do we get her to stay awake?
please, please help!
This is all a shock to Moms system. Anesthesia affects the elderly and will cause Dementia like symtoms. If they have any Dementia, it could make it worse. Me, I would not put her thru anymore poking and prodding. Just keep her comfortable.
When we are depleted of things like magnesium, potassium, sodium and other traces minerals we just feel bad, no energy, no interest and we can exhibit dementia symptoms.
Give her powerade if she can't swallow electrolytes tabs, do the research or message me and I will recommend the brand we use. At this point, all it can do is help.
Unfortunately a bad fall , resulting in surgery is often the beginning of the final decline . C-diff on top of all this , is another significant blow . I think you must let Mom rest as she wants . She has earned it .
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/fecal-transplant
Why not? Is she being wakeful at night and is that causing issues? I’m assuming she can’t get out of bed on her own.
The philosophy of hospice is comfort care and minimizing pain and suffering, as opposed to actively trying to cure disease or extend life. When my dad was in hospice they did not really “make” him do anything except not letting him do dangerous things. He could sleep whenever he wanted and eat and drink whatever he wanted in whatever amounts, including nothing. They encouraged him to drink water until his last few days and encouraged him to be cleaned but they never forced him to do anything.
best wishes to you all.
As an RN I cannot tell you how many I have seen die of just this merry-go-round, and few understand that falls are often the beginning of the end. It was for my mother, and short of the C-Diff, she suffered all that your mother did: the pneumonia and the UTI from frequent catheterizations.
As an RN I have seen C-diff literally kill cancer patients and patients in need of frequent anti-biotics. It is almost impossible to treat and control and it is directly attributable to the need for antibiotics.
Rehab isn't the answer here. And rehab and Hospice just don't go together. One has hopes of recovery to former state and one acknowledges that recovery will not happen, and that death is more than not likely within six months time.
I am dreadfully sorry for all your poor mom is going through. I know what you are standing witness to, and I saw it devastate and level my own very strong mother. I was relieved when, finally with congestive heart failure, she was released in Hospice.
I don't know where you are with acceptance, but your mother has had good care. Her body is simply over this all. I am so sorry. The meds for C-diff are in themselves devastating, and often ineffective. A fecal transplant is all that works with C-diff most times in my experience. It is humiliating and devastating. My own brother, in the throes of sepsis died finally of the diarrhea and dehydration in hospice. He was ready and glad to go, facing down Lewy's were he to stick around; just saying....this is so much more common than many know.