This may be quite long-winded so I apologise in advance.
My lovely wee Nonna broke her shoulder 3 weeks ago. She is 91 and the doc has put her on Tramedol and co-codomol as she is in a lot of pain. They are still deciding whether to operate or not. I am not happy with them operating as she has angina and a large hernia which should have been removed 15 years ago! She's become very very frail in the past 7 years since her son died and she is no longer the strong and determined woman I have always known. I just don't think she would be able to handle the anasthetic. I'm no Doctor though!
Yesterday she freaked me out slightly by asking me "Where has the little girl gone?" I asked her what she was taking about as there was no little girl in the house and she said "The little girl playing on the carpet next to the fire" I assumed she was just a bit delirious from the pain and the painkillers.
My mum phoned me tonight to say my Nonna is in hospital. She woke up at 5am screaming, and told my mum that she was on fire, there was water running down the walls, she could see fire in the corner of the room and there was a man in her room trying to kill her. Mum called the doc, he came to see her and thought it was her painkillers causing it.
She was taken away in an ambulance with my Mum and she apparantly had a small heart attack in the ambulance....I'm assuming from all the stress and upset. The hospital have said she has a very bad urine infection and THAT is what has caused the hallucinations. They are moving her to the coronary unit later tonight. My question (after all that!) is can a urine infection cause this? I am more inclined to think it was due to her painkillers but obviously the hospital and docs know better than me. I'm very worried about her. :(
Thank you for any help you can give me and apologies for rambling on! :)
Hi all, thank you for your lovely messages. I am just back from seeing her. The hospital are now saying her urine is clear, no infection but she has a chest infection which they are treating with antibiotics. She is still "seeing things" and talking a bit of jibberish. They are keeping her in until at least Christmas Eve and if she is still hallucinating by then they will do a CT scan. Fingers crossed the antibiotics clear whatever it is that is causing all this. I will keep you all posted and thank you again for all your advice and kind words xx
doollallyness can be brought on by several things, voddie. Sorry to hear it as I know that she is very special to you.
Sqad had the list and I would have gone for urinary infections as number one...to the others, like the Tramadol, add stress and that she may have had, the small heart attack associated with this. How's her blood pressure? Any signs of a mini-stroke?
Blood pressure has always been high. She is on medication for that. The hospital have ruled out a urine infection as her urine is clear. We asked if she could have suffered some kind of stroke but because she can move her limbs they have ruled that out too. Thanks for your suggestions DT x
Hi everyone, I just wanted to post a wee update. Sadly wee Nonna passed away very early this morning. She suffered two more heart attacks yesterday and the medical team told us they didn't expect her to survive the night and if she went into cardiac arrest they wouldn't try to revive her. My mum stayed with her all night and said her breathing went a bit funny, she took one big breath and then she stopped breathing. She said it was peaceful.
I just wanted to thank you all for your help and messages. Xxx
Sqad we knew she wouldn't get home, the poor wee soul really wasn't well and she was in the best place. I'm just glad her pain is over and (as I believe in it) she is now with her husband and son.
i am so very sorry to read what has happened, and i mourn your loss with you.
you can take a little comfort from the fact that whatever was happening to her did not last for too long .. that could have been bad for her, and very upsetting for you.
just look back at the good times, and know that she is at peace.
I can back up all the replies about urine infections causing hallucinations etc, but would also add that I can't take co-codomol because they make me hallucinate badly.
I also am sorry to hear this, and so near to Christmas. As you believe she will be with her husband and son this will comfort you. She is free of all pain now.