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Advice needed regarding antibiotics not given by hospital

Posted , 5 users are following.

kaydi
kaydi

Just over a week ago my partner was diagnosed with a severe water infection caused by his catheter and our GP prescribed Amoxicillin stressing how important it was he took them. He started the course but the following day our GP rang with his blood test result - he had almost total renal failure and was hospitalised the same day. He was rehydrated on a drip and discharged 6 days later but I was horrified when he told me he hadn't been given his Amoxicillin - he'd taken them with him along with other drugs he was on but they were taken off him and locked up. When he asked for them he was told he could only take tablets that were prescribed by the hospital. Unfortunately I was unable to visit him so knew nothing about it until he came home. I rang out GP who said the hospital must have put them in his drip and to check his discharge letter but there is no mention of any antibiotics at all. I found this strange as he was also on long term Trimephoprim. I counted his tablets and found he had been given the Trimethoprim and also his Omeprazole but not his Amlodipine or his Amoxicillin. On rechecking his discharge letter under Detailed changes to drugs since admission & reason it said his Amlodipine have been stopped and Bimatoprost issued as 300mcg/ml (these are his eye drops). No other drugs are mentioned, nor his other eye drops. Then I noticed he had brought two new boxes of tablets home, prescribed by the hospital. These are his Omeprazole and strangely his Amlodipine! 

   My partner did not seem much better when he came home and despite finishing his Amoxicillin yesterday has deteriorated further over the weekend, it burns when he pees and today he couldn't stop shivering. I rang our Drs surgery today and was asked to take a urine sample in which I did and it tested positive to infection. I then had to wait for the Dr to write a prescription and for it to be filled at the chemist, a total of almost 3 hours, leaving my partner on his own. He is so unwell he's not capable of doing anything for himself, he had his bowel removed in March due to a bowel obstruction and has a bag and I got home to find him in a right mess as it had leaked (again!) but at least I'd managed to get the antibiotics so it was worth it. 

    I feel very upset that he is suffering as a result of having a 6 day break in the Amoxicillin and feel this is a mistake that should not have happened.

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  • kaydi
    kaydi

    Posted

    Thanks Lynne and Eric, your support means a lot to me. 

       Last night I went to bed before him as my back was hurting, I heard him coming up but when he got to the top of the stairs he yelled he was slipping. Before I could get to him he managed to grab the top step and then crawled to the side of his bed which took him 20 minutes! I hoped he wouldn't be able to get himself into bed as then I could have called an ambulance but he did eventually manage it. I asked if he'd taken his tablets and he said he had but as I normally give him them I came downstairs to check and found he'd taken 4 of the new box of ten antibiotics! I don't know what others he'd taken as I have no idea how many there was in the bottles and when I asked him he said he didn't remember. 

      I'm keeping a close eye on his urine output which is about 400 ml in 24 hours. I know this is not good as I checked online and it points to renal failure. He is still in bed and I've tried several times to persuade him to get up and attempt a shower, I want to change his stoma bag as he was red raw behind it two days ago but when I tried telling him I'd do it while he was in the shower he lost his temper with me which is out of character for him. I then decided to ring his eldest son who I expected would advise me to ring the ambulance. But Andrew knows his dad too well and knows it would be a waste of time as he will not go to the hospital no matter who tries to persuade him and he actually told me not to ring the ambulance. He lives a long way away from us but is travelling here later today and told me to wait until he gets here between 7 and 8pm tonight. It's going to be another long day but at least I now feel that help is coming. His other two sons live fairly near and every other time Don's been ill they've been brilliant, taking him to and from hospital, taking me to visit him and constantly ringing us so I can't understand why they are not here for us now. One of them has been in touch by text and I know he is doing a charity sky dive today (he did offer to take Don n throw him out of the plane but I was too stressed to joke with him) but I've heard nothing from his other son. 

       I best go try again to get Don out of bed as while he's sleeping he's not drinking. Will update later with any news.

    • lynne69494
      lynne69494 kaydi

      Posted

      Well glad to hear one son is coming to help, l know what sons are like, two of my own, love them and decent but sometimes need a big prod.

      lve not experienced the big problems with someone close re their state of mind problematic, but know others who have and know it can be a nightmare.  A friend in simular position, and l knew her husband before he got very bad, a lovely man, only in his 50s, but went downhill, and eventually had to go into hospital, which he,d dreaded and said so when able, but he,d become aggressive, then wouldnt eat, no one could make him, even the hospital, Terrible for family and them.  l hope his son can help you. Good job we do live in hope.

    • Neffie
      Neffie kaydi

      Posted

      Prayers for you both. Sounds horrible.  I know what it's like like being a caretaker.  You have to take care of yourself too.  I deal with stubborness all the time.  I guess they are so sick, they don;t think of anyone else.  Take care, best of luck.
  • kaydi
    kaydi

    Posted

    Andrew came yes it has helped as Don has finally agreed to go in tomorrow. All I can hope now is he doesn't change his mind come tomorrow but I think he now understands if he doesn't go in he will die. 

       He finally managed a shower this afternoon although the water was only running a couple of minutes when I heard him turn it off so I went in to him and both his back and chest were still dry and he still had shower gel bubbles on his arms. I told him I wanted to change his stoma bag so it could be properly washed behind it but he couldn't stand any longer. I got him to sit on the new seat but he was slipping and sliding and almost fell off it! I put a towel under him which helped then I washed all the bits he'd missed and washed his hair. Never did remove the bag though as both bottles of adhesive remover I'd taken up were empty and he was cold so we decided to leave it. This is the first bag that hasn't leaked in the last couple of weeks and it's been a welcome break for me so I'm sure it won't hurt to leave it until tomorrow. He was red and weeping when I put it on two days ago and it was the first time he actually felt the soreness but he said it doesn't feel sore now so hopefully the special powder I put on has healed it. 

       I feel immense relief, as if a big weight has been lifted and I suppose in a way it has. I texted Andrew to tell him (Don agreed after he went) and he asked me to let him know when he is going tomorrow so he can be here (he's staying with relatives over the weekend) Hopefully I'll be posting on here to say he's in hospital come tomorrow, fingers xxed eh.

    • lynne69494
      lynne69494 kaydi

      Posted

      Glad to hear somethings gone right for you, it will be the best place for him to get best treatment, and a bit of a break for you, be it you,ll still be anxious and visiting, but you do sound less stressed already, glad he,s agreed, he,ll be anxious also,  the things we go through, Hope it goes well, toes xxxx as wellx
  • kaydi
    kaydi

    Posted

    He's on his way to hospital. Last night I thought he was in bed but when I went up he was on the floor beside the bed, said he'd crawled there but couldn't get into the bed. He still refused to allow me to call an ambulance, saying he'd refuse to go with them if I did. I suggested calling Andrew to come help him into bed but he was adamant he could do it himself. An hour more of trying convinced him he couldn't and he asked me to ring Andrew who immediately came. I checked his output to find it had halved to 100 ml in 12 hours and begged him to let me call the ambulance but he still wouldn't budge. 

        This morning it shook me as he'd had no urine output overnight, he asked me to give him half hour and then I rang. They were here an hour n a quarter giving him all sorts of tests, his ecg was abnormal but they had nothing to compare it with so were not too concerned and although his blood pressure was low, again they said it was not so low to be a big concern. Obviously the lack of output is a big concern and they said he needs that blood test to find out if his kidneys have stopped working completely.

        Well he'll get it now and all I can do is hope is he receives better care than he's had of late. Andrew has gone with him so I can now try to recover from the most stressful two days of my life and hope he too will recover.

    • lynne69494
      lynne69494 kaydi

      Posted

      Good to hear he agreed to go and in the best place for tests and treatment, bet thats a big phew for you,  youll probably sleep 12hrs, take the chance to get as much r and r as your able. best wishes
  • eric31962
    eric31962 kaydi

    Posted

    Doesn't sound like he should have been released from hospital anyway in the first place. Except that the care you gave has probably been the best care he could ever have had. 

    I hope you will take time and have an opportunity to catch - up, on your own self care. Please remember carers need to re-charge !

                                                                   Admiration and regards,  Eric 

  • kaydi
    kaydi

    Posted

    Thanks Eric and Lynne, I had hoped for a lie in Monday morning but 9.15 I was woken by someone knocking at the door - it was the district nurse come to take Don's blood! Yes you are right Eric he wasn't well enough to come home last time and I can only hope he's learned from it and allows himself to recover properly this time. Just after the nurse came I received a phone call from the surgeon who removed his bowel and he said he wants to do a reversal as the stoma is a big factor of the repeat dehydration and renal failure and he knows he's not coping with it either. But he said he needs him to be well before he can perform the op so all doors must be closed to him coming home until he is better. So I've had my orders although I don't honestly see how I could stop him! 

        The stress finally came to a head this morning as 7am I had a severe asthma attack and I am so grateful I always keep a inhaler upstairs otherwise I'm not sure what I would have done. I have only ever had about six asthma attacks in my life and they only happen when I'm very stressed so I know I've got to chill out. Questions keep going round in my head, such as who was responsible for arranging that blood test a week after his discharge and why was it not done despite me chasing it up etc etc. I so want the answers but maybe the asthma attack was a warning I need to let it go? 

    • lynne69494
      lynne69494 kaydi

      Posted

      Hi, Well at least he,s in the best place to get better, good of the surgeon to ring you personally, but l dont understand what a reveral means, is it a big op, l know stoma,s can be complicated,a friend as one for her bladder and they seem to be problematic at times, but you wouldnt think they could cause renal failure, so it sounds like they want him to stay in for quite a while, l guess once he feels better that will go against the grain, so theyre letting you know youve to ignore him asking to come home, tough one.  Typical the nurse would come once he,s in hospital, l have asthma attacks and use inhalers, quarter of population l think, but lve never had probs at night till the last few week, whether its increased allergens pollution, but lve also woke up about 3 times with at attack, not a good experience, but now make sure l use purple inhaler before bed, but do know stress can cause them.   l understand what your saying, l and others l guess, have had situation, wrong diagnoses, no diagnoses, or  contradictory, and its prolonged the suffering,debility,  months, even years, and it can prey on your mind, cause upset, anger, more so if not so much as an explanation or apology, but its also negative energy and that takes its toll on us further, and the stress can aggrevate health problems, so its personal choice whether to let things go.  Plus l,m sure youll have ups and downs to come if he,s to have further surgery, so will need your resolve to cope with it.  At least it sounds like he,s improving, so hope all goes well, take care.
    • kaydi
      kaydi lynne69494

      Posted

      He has a stoma bag on his stomach which replaced his bowel and the output is too high which contributes to the dehydration. But this keeps sending questions round my head such as why has it taken 3months and 3 hospital admissions for dehydration/renal failure for them to realise this? And why does the dehydration cause renal failure each time? I know his kidneys failed during the operation to remove his bowel (that too was an emergency op as he'd refused to see a Dr despite 3 months of on and off severe vomiting that turned out to be faecal matter as his bowel was blocked!) so his kidneys may have been damaged. It was touch n go and he spent several days in ICU on a ventilator. If they were damaged maybe that's why they fail when he dehydrates. I wish I thought to ask the surgeon when he rang me. It was good of him to ring me, Don had asked him to and he did ask if I had any questions but I was still half asleep and my mind went blank!  All I could think of was Don being given his antibiotics n he wasn't the person to ask but I did anyway! Of course he didn't know but his answer after asking if they were for a urine infection just messed my head up even more as he said we don't need to worry about that as he's got a catheter in! I was left speechless and I still can't make sense of it.

         As for the reversal op I really don't understand that either and again had I known he was ringing I would have had all the right questions ready, such as how can they reverse it back when they've taken his bowel away? All I can think is they will create a new bowel from his intestines but I'm only guessing. 

          Don's stubbornness to get treatment goes right back to months before his bowel obstruction. About 10 months ago his stools every time we're greasy and always floated and as time went on he was going up to six times a day. I was very concerned as I knew it wasn't right but he refused to believe it was a problem. I'd read online it possibly pointed to something called malabsorption but he just laughed saying I was making a fuss about nothing n refused to read it. But his general health had continued to deteriorate, he suffered exhaustion, was weak n very wobbly on his feet and then he developed breathing difficulties. He thought he had a chest infection and you can imagine how pleased I was when he made a Drs appointment. I'd looked up untreated malabsorption and read it can lead to anaemia which can cause breathing difficulties so I begged him to tell the Dr about the floating stools,exhaustion etc. He did and she tested him for malabsorption and anaemia but the test came back negative. I couldn't believe it nor could I believe the fact that the Dr didn't follow it up but could do nothing except watch as he went further and further downhill. When the vomiting started I thought it was possibly food poisoning and he did eventually go back to the Dr. He told me she said it was an infection in his stomach lining but she gave him PPi tablets (proton pump inhibitors that reduce stomach acid), no antibiotics which didn't make sense to me but then I'm not a Dr. She made him an appointment with a clinic for bowel and bladder problems as his prostrate had also deteriorated. My hopes were again dashed that he'd finally get some help as all they told him at the clinic is to continue with the PPi's! He said but they haven't helped n they replied he needed to give them longer! As for his bladder they were unable to do anything as he'd been unable to pee while there so hadn't done the flow test they needed. 

         Meanwhile the vomiting continued. He'd have a few days in between bouts when we kept thinking it had ended but then it would start again. By the time he decided to get help he was extremely ill but when he asked the Dr to come out she told him to ring an ambulance. He refused! A couple of hours later the Dr rang him back to see if he'd rung the ambulance and luckily she noticed he didn't sound right on the phone, he was very confused and not coherent so she came straight out. She smelt the vomit,immediately diagnosed a bowel obstruction and rang the ambulance in the nick of time. 

          You are spot on in what you say about it all preying on your mind and it taking its toll on your health and I agree the negative energy that creates can only do us more harm. But there are so many things I don't understand I would love to get (pardon the pun lol) to the bottom of it all to stop it going round in my head. He doesn't understand either but he's not in the slightest bit interested in trying to find out. I did ask a nurse once if the floating stools could possibly have been the beginning, that then led to the bowel obstruction and she said it could well have been. But I don't think I'll ever get the answers to all the other stuff and I think I need to work on preventing it keep going round in my head.

          

    • lynne69494
      lynne69494 kaydi

      Posted

      Unblievable really isnt it, but l can believe it well enough, it took me 12 yrs to get intersticial cystitus diagnosed, symptoms put down to everything but cause, including phycalogical, and you think your experiences of suffering much longer than you should have had to due to misdiagnosis or no diagnosis and told all your tests are clear, neg, carry on, is unique, but soon realise its far from it, you wonder, not that l expect all gps to know everything, but its when your suffering goes on and on and they dont refer you, thats the galling thing, as you say its when they dont follow it up, and the patient is left to it till it gets critical, youve both suffered. In those years l had symptoms, that caused pain, poor health, with knock on affects on your partnership, lifestyle, all it took for me was to get to the right ologist, a urologist and scope l0min to diagnose, after years and seeing gyny,s having op, phycologists, it truly did my head in with the symptoms and affects, then when diagnosis and treatment that helped 90percent it did my head in that l, we, had gone through so much for so long, just through lack of referrral to right doc, the memory is still there, but filed away to the back of my mind, l had to or it would have drove me mad and made me bitter, l did let the docs know in a civil way, but how l,d been let down by surgery. l dont know if you,ll be able to put it to the back of your mind till youve spoke to a doc with your questions, and concerns, whether you,ll get much response depend on the doc, some are much better than others, but at least youll have let them know your thoughts and feeling,s, and that might help you put it to the back of your mind, doesnt mean we forget, but means we can go forward better.  l,ll scuse your pun. as we all need to get to bottom of it, its always the bottom end, is for me, plumbing dept, l hope you find a doc who you can talk it over with, we all need a bit of peace of mind some of the time, youll have enough to worry about with husband, at least it sounds like they can help him, thats a posative, Take it easy.
  • eric31962
    eric31962 kaydi

    Posted

    It may be that the dehydration has caused the kidney effects.? Just hope that all the effects can be reversed and that health can return for you both?

    Of all the cases that I have seen on this site yours seems to be the most serious, because of the sad lack of care that the health services seem to provide sometimes. We know things will go wrong and mistakes will be made. But what you outline just seems to show total lack of humanity.

    I was hospitalized last year for more than a month. When the hospital discharged me they ensured I had the correct drugs and knew how to use them. When things went wrong with my lines (I was on dialysis) I drove myself back to the ward at 00.30 am. and they spent two hours refitting the lines, gave me a meal and offered me a bed for the night. 

    Bit of a difference to what you outline, suppose I was just lucky.

    Thinking of you both, do take the opportunity to have a 'rest' if that is possible.

                                                Regards,  Eric x

     

    • kaydi
      kaydi eric31962

      Posted

      Hi Eric, that's what I assumed it was until I looked it up online and nowhere could I find that dehydration can cause kidney failure! I read it can cause kidney damage but it didn't say if the damage can be reversed. I'm so annoyed I missed the perfect opportunity to get some answers when the surgeon rang me as my mind went blank! I always thought kidney failure meant you had to go on dialysis until Don's illness. One of my kidneys was killed by repeat infections in my teens and that has certainly never worked again even though it was decided to leave it where it is as it wasn't causing me any problems. Yet they keep managing to get Don's working again each time. It doesn't make any sense to me and I'm going to ask our gp next time I speak to him. 

          Yes they certainly treated you much better than they have done Don. He was brought home in an ambulance when discharged on 9th June and again that is something I didn't think they did, normally one of his sons brings him home. He walked from the ambulance into the house and I was quite shocked to find his catheter bag wasn't attached to his leg with the usual leg straps but was just dangling from his willy! When I told the nurses that came out they said it should never be left dangling as it can cause a lot of damage (they did go into detail but I can't remember them!) but then added that maybe the hospital hadn't got any straps!! Hard to believe as the straps come with the bags - what sort of hospital doesn't have something as basic as catheter bags! I am beginning to understand why Don hates hospitals so much. 

          Something else I noticed when I visited him was the nurse helped him change his stoma bag, when finished she washed her hands even though she was wearing gloves but she didn't say a word about him washing his hands! I was disgusted and fetched him some hand wash but I wish now I'd spoken up about it as I've had a hard job getting him to wash his hands at home when he deals with his stoma. 

          Yes I am relishing this time alone, it's lovely being able to do what I want and I'm doing very little so my batteries recharge for when he comes home. This has helped my pulled back muscle and it's almost healed. 

  • eric31962
    eric31962 kaydi

    Posted

    I don't know that is an issue the (dehydration) I refer to. But It's obviously going to put strain on the kidney system.

    What I experienced in 2014 was sudden catastrophic kidney failure. Some nice GP prescribed large doses of iprobufen! but I'm up and kicking back since November of 2014

    I would suspect that you must feel washed out and exhausted after what you have experienced? I understand that it may be difficult but lifting a patient is something you just can't do on your own.

    We really hope Don' gets his strength back, please post with your progress.

                         Happy to hear of your success,

                                                                            Eric 

    • kaydi
      kaydi eric31962

      Posted

      I've never heard of catastrophic kidney failure - are your kidneys working again now or are you still on dialysis? I do know I have to avoid iprobufen with only having one kidney as I had the same experience as you in that I was prescribed 2 three times a day but luckily for me another Dr at the practice warned me off them saying they would kill my other kidney. 

          Yes I have been feeling pretty exhausted but the break is doing me the power of good. I think the hardest thing for me is dealing with my mixed feelings about Don refusing to go to hospital as one minute I'm seething with anger but then I remind myself he was incapable of thinking clearly so can't be entirely responsible for his actions and this calms the anger. The other day we talked about Andrew having to come lift him into bed etc and I said he shouldn't have let himself get so bad he couldn't get into bed and he said he knew he'd done wrong, I replied I was glad to hear it as it made me feel better but then he added that he went wrong by going to bed so late as his strength left him after about 9pm!!! I really don't think he has any idea of the stress and frustration he put me through! 

         Yes of course I will post with any progress. Let's hope it's all good from now on.

    • Neffie
      Neffie eric31962

      Posted

      Hi eric. My sister had to fo to Kidney dr.  She had a UTI, was on Bactrim antibiotic, her kidney numbers were really bad.  The Dr wants her to redo the kidney bloodwork, and urinalysis, because of being on Bactrim.   She also told her absolutely NO Ibrprofen, Alleve, ever. Just a Tynenol if abslolutely necessary.  Tough situations with kidney problems.  
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