Finally - we have semi-computer access. Not great, not even good, but better!! Blogging from an IPhone isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Anyhow - a brief update.
Estelle is hanging in there. She's done with her 5 day course of antibiotic for the Upper Respiratory Infection and starting another course for a UTI which was diagnosed yesterday. I think we had mentioned that we had noticed a connection between an decrease in her lethargy whenver she was on an antibiotic and were concerned that she may be suffering from undiagnosed Urinary Tract Infections which got better incidental to antibiotics which were administered for other infections. I mentioned it to her doctor on Monday and he agreed it was a possibility and ordered a urine culture which came back positive for infection yesterday.
I am patting myself on the back here today because I am two for two this week. My own mother has similar problems only she tends to get very weepy and confused when she has a UTI. She called me crying twice this weekend and so I asked her nurse on Monday to check her urine, also, and she, too, was positive.
It is common in older people for the only sign of a UTI to be mental status changes and it's hard to pick up on - especially when, as in Estelle's case, the patient is fairly non-verbal to begin with.
I'm going to try to get the doctor to agree to check her regularily from now on. It's not optimal because it involves getting a urine sample with a catheter each time but an undiagnosed UTI can quickly turn into a full blown kidney infection so, weighing one outcome against the other, I think the regularily scheduled cath is the lesser of the two evils. Plus, she is more alert when she is infection free and I'm sure she probably feels better, too.
Her breathing has eased somewhat and she is coughing frequently now. The nurses are trying to suction her as often as needed but it's an uphill battle because she really fights the suction and proper suctioning requires a good deal of cooperation to succeed 100%. They are doing the best they can under the circumstances and she seems to be able to clear some of it herself so we are hoping it continues to clear up with a combination of the two.
It is desperately hot here in Virginia - as it seems to be everywhere. Everyone please take care in this heat wave - I could never figure out why women in the South were always pictured with umbrellas when it wasn't even raining but now I understand.
My son is coming for a visit from Oregon next week - the temperature there seldom reaches 80 degrees - I am afraid he is not going to like it here very much. He claims to love the heat but I don't think he quite "gets it" and I'm positive he doesn't understand the word "humidity." His wife grew up in Florida so maybe she can prepare him before they arrive.
I certainly hope so.
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