I lost my mom on Aug 22. The doctor said it was from an infection that spread through her system from a uti, can anyone relate?

We don't realize how many people died of sepsis before antibiotics. Now many bacteria are resistant to antibiotics, so we're seeing more infections get out of hand. I recently had an injury on my ankle that didn't get infected but the wound care doctor used bandages that were impregnated with silver to prevent infection.
I take cranberry capsules to hopefully discourage UTIs. We probably use antibiotics too much and antiseptics not enough. BTW, colloidal silver comes in a liquid form that can be used on dressings or internally (read the labels and directions).

My dad died from pulmonary sepsis. I was just looking at dates and realized it is over 5 1/2 years ago for him, and over four years for my Mom. I still remember everything...maybe not like "yesterday" but not like THAT many years ago...

They treated him quickly with IV antibiotics and steroids and all which had succeeded a couple of times, but we had opted out of transfer to hospital for ICU care. If you are frail or poorly nourished and can't fight off infections well, this is more likely to happen, but it can even happen to young people who are not really in bad shape to start with. Sometimes you can even go into sepsis from a severe viral infection. Sorry for these losses!!

I can relate. My mom constantly had UTI. As soon as she get iver one two weeks later she had another one. She got to the point where she was immune to the antibiotics and they didnt work anymore. UTI's can be dangerous in the elderly. It also caused my mom to hallucinate at times and yes she did get violent sometimes. Elderly that get vuolent does not mean to give you a hard time they are having a hard time themselves. My mom died at age 94 of Sespsis. The infection got into her bloodstream and the antibotics wasnt woeking anymore. As for being in a nursing home....im sorry but nursing gomes doesnt pay much attention to the patients. They didnt notice she had an UTI let alone check for it. Nursing homes doesnt care for the eldey like they should. Im sorry for your loss as i too have walked that path. Prayets of comfort for you.

I SCREAM UTI on almost every post. It is a silent killer of the elderly. Symptoms are SLEEPY, CONFUSED, AGITATED, FORGETFULL, WETTING THEMSELVES. However, most people think their Dimentia or Alzheimers is just getting worse. Basically- Elderly sit all the time, they where adult diapers. They get the UTI from this. It exaserbates their Alzheimers or Dimentia symptoms, its over looked and it spreads into the blood stream. I am so sorry for your loss- its not your fault. UTI's are hard to spot and the only way to know them is to really know your parent well enough that you can say "something changed from yesterday". By then- it can even be too late. My mom is currently on an antibiotic for a UTI, but even after 72 hours she is still sleeping 18 hours. Its a crazy bug.

So sorry that you lost your mom in such a way. Hugs to you.

i want to say thank you for the answers and kind words and may God bless you

Sepsis from a UTI or any infection can happen very rapidly, usually within a few hours and be life threatening even if treatment is started immediately.

William, so sorry for your loss, its very difficult to always know with the elderly, I lost my parents years ago and I miss them every day. I know that she is in a beautiful place now and I hope that brings you peace! Stacey B

William firstly so sorry your mum has passed on xx Urosepsis is pretty nasty and comes on very very quickly - in Mums case about 6 hours and bang she was in hospital for 5 weeks. She was a bit flushed but it was during a hot spell so I didn't take much notice - won't do that again. It's really hard to tell in the elderly especially when there may be other underlying infections. Equally once in hospital it is very easy to pick up more damned infections. Don't blame the nursing home - she was perhaps much more ill than the docs had known and they will have only acted under docs orders ...it is all they are allowed to do.

A lady I cared for had a UTI and was very combative.... she ended up breaking my leg in one of her violent episodes... I had told the family many times before this, I felt she had a UTI... long story short, they put her in a NH, she was treated for 'behavioral problems' and was never checked until it was too late , for a UTI... they sent her home with Hospice, she died three days later... so yes, UTI's can be very serious..... and like someone else mentioned, I will always be haunted by, is there more i could have done,,,, yes I had a broken leg, no , the family would not listen, I was only the 'caregiver', but I know she is in perfect peace and that always helps my heart to heal... so sorry for your loss....

Yes I can relate. My mom died from sepsis of an unknown etology, pulmonary hypertension, and four emboli in her lungs and a dvt in her left leg. The dr said he thought a uti caused the sepsis and for every answer to fix it the answer created another problem. Sepsis requies fluids meanwhile pulmonary hypertension requies lasics then the emboli could have been treated with Coumadin but she had a rectal bleed of some sort. It's hard and I did initially feel that I should have recognized something however sepsis is fast and by the time one recognizes what it is it's a tough road and some don't make it. My mom had just been to the dr a week before so I know she was getting good care. The whole breathing problem didn't start until she was in the hospital for the sepsis. Awful just wakeful. I know in my heart that her suffering is over and that her not hanging on for months and months in pain trying to breath was a blessing in disguise still every day I wonder could I have done something different I don't know. What I do know is mom didn't die alone in a nursing home or hospital by herself. She was a nurse and she always told me a persons biggest fear is to die alone. I have a peace of mind knowing I talked to her the whole time she was leaving and that she honored me by letting me be there.

I don't have experience with a UTI causing death, I just wanted to express my condolences to you on the loss of your mom.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your Mom, William55.

So very sorry for the loss of your mom. I have heard that Uti's can be very dangerous if they get that bad. If she was in a nursing home then I don't understand why they didn't know, or have her on antibiotics? I do believe uti's can be more difficult for elders to endure without treatment. Plus you said she had this infection multiple times. Praying you are getting along o.k. during this difficult time. It's very important that we all take the best care of our health as possible. It goes to show that some conditions considered "routine" to happen every now & then can get out of control if not treated properly for right amount of time. Again, so very sorry.

My aunt died from what we believe was sepsis, following complications from lymphedema. We suspect some of the leg wrapping used to contain the massive swelling from the lymphedema introduced bacteria through the pores in her leg, which were leaking fluid.

My sister once had what, if I remember correctly, was then referred to as a bacterial shower. It occurred about 5 - 10 minutes after a chemo session, caused rapid onset of chills and violent shaking. I'd never seen anything like it; it was frightening. The shaking wasn't just like being cold; it was more like a seizure.

Fortunately, as a nurse she knew what was happening and we hadn't left the infusion center yet so we rushed back in. One of the nurses administered Tylenol, which I thought was interesting under the circumstances. She was wrapped in heavy blankets and after about 1/2 hour began to return to normal, but was still chilled all the way home.

Apparently even a tiny bit of bacteria can get flushed into the body when the tubes are flushed after chemo, and that's how the "showers" occurred.

We knew a man who had a port due to a medical condition which I don't recall; in discussing his condition, he said he had had numerous bacterial showers, I believe from port flushing.

It's been over a decade and these are just the best recollections I have of the condition, so I may be a little bit inaccurate in describing the process of infection.

These rapid infections are frightening.

My mother died on June 18th and 97.5. She had a bladder infection for two weeks, and Hospice and I did not figure it out until she went crazy. She then refused medication for three days. It was too late, and a long two weeks of intense pain. At least the last week she was on morphine. Yes, it can happen.

I myself was in the hospital with a systemic infection . . . One that spread thruout my body like wildfire. The doctors knocked it back with antibiotics in a few days, but it wasn't from a bladder infection. A bladder infection can quickly spread to the kidneys before it even became systemic. I'm sure a bad enough infection could shut them down.