A Urinary Tract Infection ("UTI") is a BIG red flag in seniors.
Generally felt to be painful and annoying, when not quickly addressed you can end up in the hospital or worse death.
My parents waited too long to get my mother to the hospital. When she was finally admitted her condition quickly deteriorated and her organs began shutting down. She passed away before we could make it to her bedside. Once my dad started using a catheter, the UTI possibility increased dramatically. After the first scarry trip to the ER followed by two weeks in Rehab, and months of hole health care, we were always on the alert for another one.
We did a couple of things to help prevent UTIs and to quickly diagnose an oncoming UTI. Hopefully, these steps can help you or your loved one.
Stay hydrated. We would fill up a big jug of water each morning and make sure, he drank fluids consistently through the day. Another jug was placed by the bedside each evening.
Practice Good Hygiene. We diligently followed our health care team’s recommendations for using catheters and cleaning up the genital areas after each trip to the bathroom.
Be Observant. Monitor urine for dark yellow color, cloudiness, discoloration, or strong smells. This could be an early indication that a UTI may be starting.
Keep Testing Supplies Handy. We would purchase Sterile Urine Sample Cups from the local pharmacy. If we observed changes, we would get a sample.
Work with Your Doctor. We made arrangements with the General Practitioner that if we saw a change, we could quickly drop off the sample at their office and they would send it to be tested. This both saved us the need to wait for an appointment and shortened the time where the UTI could develop into something more serious.
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