Seeking mutual support from carers

@Susana

hello lovely lady - good to hear back from you *hugs*

aaw bless, your 8 year old loves going to school ... actually i was a bit like that too haha!

ooh thats gotta be uncomfortable for your eyes. are there any drops or something that may relieve the itchiness?

mum is slowly on the mend. she loved the flowers - so did the nurses hehe ... i went and saw her this arvo and we had a cuppa together. i want to try and get her out and take her for a drive ... slowly slowly, hey?

i think it's a good idea that you try give yourself some time out. it would be hard not answering the calls but your mum is in good hands, yes? and you have your hands full with your son. and always remember, that you are doing the very best you can. we put so much pressure on ourselves but we are all doing our best xxx

make sure you look after yourself!

@Shaz51 @Susana @outlander @Former-Member @Determined @Faith-and-Hope @merri

good afternoon everyone - i hope you don't mind me tagging you in this thread - it's just that you have all supported me and i wanted to have a little rant. you don't need to respond just wanted an ear .. or several 😉

i rang the clinic this morning and was advised that mum was prescribed nurofen by her psych as she is having shoulder pain. mum has chronic kidney disease and is not to have any anti inflammatories. she usually takes painkillers for the pain. i advised them of this on her admission. i also spoke to mum today and she is so drowsy - she was falling asleep on the phone. i spoke to the nurses a couple of times and i could tell that they were getting upset with me, but i stood my ground. i get very defensive when it comes to mum. to them she is another patient, to me she is my mum and obviously there are a lot of emotions involved, especially when we see our loved ones not well. im waiting to hear back from her psychiatrist to touch base with him as the nurses were hopeless.

some of you may already know this but it is something i only found out recently during mum's admission. when an elderly person has a UTI (which mum currently does and has had in the past) they can actually display behavioural symptoms such as confusion, delirium, agitation, hallucinations, other behavioural changes, poor motor skills or loss of coordination and dizziness. upon reflection these are many of the symptoms mum was displaying. (when she had UTI's in the past, she did not display these symptoms). also elderly people don't often display the common symptoms, eg burning on urination. my mum doesn't have this symptom so it makes it hard to know whether she has a UTI. there are home kits that you can buy from the chemist to see if someone has a UTI. i wanted to share this with you all cause if you are looking after someone elderly and do notice behaviours out of the ordinary, it may be worth getting a urine test to see if they have a UTI. i was speaking to one of the nice nurses on the weekend and she said that patients present with psychotic behaviours but they actually have a UTI - once it clears, they are better. also, another nurse who worked with dementia patients said that the first thing they would do is check the patiet for a UTI if they were behaving differently. it's unbelievable how things can affect us - both physically and mentally.

sending you all gentle hugs and thank you for listening to my rant for today. i hope you are all well - please let me know how you are all travelling.

x

@Former-Member

thanks for the response. mum is currently in a mental health clinic, and they knew she was not to take anti-inflammatories. i know she is in a good clinic but this morning upset me. im just sitting here not sure what to do. im waiting for the psych to call me back. i was going to just stay home today but think i may go visit mum.

how are you? hows things in your world?

and yep, many elderly people will not get the burning sensation so they don't even know they have a UTI, so they can't even tell people they have one.

x

do you have a specialist that monitors your kidney function to make sure it stays stable? -- yes @Bella1978 mine went down to 11% but is stable at 24 % and I see the specialist every 6 months , it wont get better but trying hard to not let it get worse but it will

eg burning on urination with UTI @Bella1978, I dont get this either my friend , sending you hugs as I am back on ab`s for my kidney infection , I only take panadol as i can not take anything else

@Shaz51

that would have been frightening for you when your kidney function went so low. i recall mum's went down like that once but fortunately went back up again. And yes, i totally understand the level of kidney function won't improve but as long as you can try and maintain it at that level, that is the main thing *hugs*

do you have monthly injections? i give my mum mircera injections (it contains the EPO hormone) because her kidneys do not produce enough of the hormone , plus she had an iron infusion last year due to her anaemia (as a result of the loss of kidney function).

i feel for you, it's hard when you have your own health issues and are looking after someone else. you sound like a very strong and loving woman @Shaz51.

and yes, mum also takes painkillers when she has pain - she has osteoarthritis so needs something for pain relief.

sorry to hear that you are on antibiotics atm - i hope the uti clears up soon for you.

sending you big hugs! xxxxxxxxxxx

@Susana

hey sweetheart, thanks for responding.

i agree, human mistakes do happen. it just really upset me when i found out. mum didn't have a clue that they had given her an anti inflammatory.

how have you been keeping luv? has your mum eased off with the phone calls? i hope you are managing to get some breathing space. i know that's easier said than done though! has your son gone back to school? hopefully he is better now with his routine again.

sending you love and hugs

xxx