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Cranberries Are Good for UTIs


I have a different husband than I had last Sunday, but I have to remember that the prognosis is good.

Saturday hubby was napping in the morning, hardly ate lunch, napping in the afternoon, hardly ate dinner. Hubby was weak, his pulse fast, and he was going down hill.

At 8:30 pm Saturday night I contacted Kenny and asked him to help me get hubby in bed. Bur rather than just get him in bed Kenny gently urged that I take hubby back to emergency and helped me get hubby into the car so I could drive him there. Kenny has seen these problems before (I will interview him in another post). Hubby went through similar tests for the next hours until the culprit was discovered about 11:30 as a UTI or uninary tract infection.

For several years I have been following the Bob DeMarco's Alzheimer's Reading Room which often warns of a UTI, or a uninary tract infection. Many times older people get it. Carole Larkin herself has written here about it and has Bob when his mother would get it. They are treated with antibiotics such Bactrim, Septra, Larotid, Moxatag, Furadantin, Macrodantin, Ampicillin, Cipro, and Levaquin. Hubby was prescribed Macrobid 100 mg. oral capsule 100 mg twice a day. Another pill to get down him!

More women get it than men do but if a patient has diabetes it is common. My husband has diabetes and he is less ability to say how he feels.

I looked up information about it and discovered that this may be a continual problem. That National Kidney and Urologic Disease web site [http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/utiadult/#tract] said:

Men are less likely than women to have a first UTI. But once a man has a UTI, he is likely to have another because bacteria can hide deep inside prostate tissue. Anyone who has diabetes or a problem that makes it hard to urinate may have repeat infections. . . .Most UTIs are not serious, but some infections can lead to serious problems, such as kidney infections. Chronic kidney infections—infections that recur or last a long time—can cause permanent damage, including kidney scars, poor kidney function, high blood pressure, and other problems. Some acute kidney infections—infections that develop suddenly—can be life threatening, especially if the bacteria enter the bloodstream, a condition called septicemia.

Something was mentioned in the emergency room Tuesday night about hubby's kidney, but I did not catch what they were saying. I am concerned and of course will follow up with a doctor visit.
MedicineNet.com said:

There can be many complications of urinary tract infections, including dehydration, sepsis, kidney failure, and death. If treated early and adequately, the prognosis is good for most patients with a UTI.

Meanwhile today I am just plain tired and discouraged. Had wanted to go to church or just to Skype church, but I missed the call for Skype and went back to sleep. Hubby needs to shower and shave if we go anywhere and he is motivated for nothing.  He will get better. Going to take him to the doctor early in the week--if I can get him there--motivated to get in the car.

Me? I don't know what to do with me. Huge test of faith again. "Do the next thing," someone once said. I am trying to decide what that might be.