When they can’t tell you what’s wrong. . .

I had suspected for a few days that something wasn’t right. Today I found out what it was.

My Dad was sent to the ER by the staff at the nursing facility where he has spent the past four weeks recuperating after being hospitalized. They couldn’t wake him. He was lethargic and groggy.

The ER staff diagnosed urosepsis (a urinary tract infection that has migrated to the bloodstream) and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar.) The blood sugar issues are something that a diabetic deals with on a daily basis. But, the infection? Sepsis is a very serious condition. Dad was surrounded by nursing staff. Why didn’t it get noticed sooner?

Because his symptoms looked more like dementia.

Elderly patients, like very young children, can’t always describe what’s wrong. In my Dad’s case, he could only say that he wasn’t feeling well. He could not isolate the symptoms.

When he began acting confused and erratic, the nurses just thought it was a bad mental day. Confusion is too easily rationalized as “he’s like that some days.” Dad began his stay at this facility with enormous confusion and verbal outbursts – symptomatic of advanced kidney disease.

After four weeks on dialysis, the toxins in his blood has diminished. He seemed to be gaining strength and was working hard in physical therapy. Then, he started feeling poorly. 

It was more and more difficult to talk with him by phone. He couldn’t understand much of what I was saying. Shouting through each phone call was exhausting!

After most of these calls, I would check in with his nurse to see if she had noticed any problem, any reason for this change in behavior.

None that they could see. All of his vital signs were normal.

So, the only way to know that something was wrong was that he was behaving oddly. A friend who works in an assisted living residence told me that whenever one of their residents starts behaving funny, they have that person tested for a urinary tract infection. It’s that common.

I’ll know to ask next time.