Watch Out for the Urinary Tract Infection

 

I wanted to share with you all an experience I recently had with a friend with whom I have worked with for the past 27 years. His name is Adão, but had the nickname “João David.” He spent some 13 years in Brazil in the ministry of evangelisation and helped distribute Christian music and audio cassettes, educational and motivational videos for children and adults, Christian motivational posters, and Activated Magazines. On his return to Europe, he did the same in Portugal, adding to the list CDs and DVDs, and Anchor articles. Adão was a fruitful distributor of TFI materials in both Brazil and Portugal until just recently. Here’s what happened.

When Adão became 67 he was eligible for a pension as he had paid his contributions for 6 years and had served in the military in Mozambique for two years. The two years in the military counted  double. That gave him 10 years all together of contributions to the Social Security system and eligibility. However, we continued in our ministry of distribution although we moved to more follow-up and provisioning as time went by and we became older. Recently Adão had been recording audios for a TFI online radio program in Brazil for his friend Gabriela. He's now 78.

In October of last years, my wife suddenly was called away to her homeland of Tenerife to help one of our older sons apply for disability. He was born without a cerebellum which causes certain motor and visual disability. As a result of him not having his disability certified, he was not given any special treatment and ended up with only temporary employment. Therefore, as our lives were coming to an end, we wanted to help Jorge (35) obtain his disability rating which would help him gain employment and may include other benefits.

With my wife away, that left Adão and myself to manage our finances. She had told us she wanted us to do without her part of the support as she would be living in another country and wanted to save her finances for an investment in a future project, however, the Lord may lead. As our income was going to take a dive, we thought it better to see if we could move in with other community friends or find a cheaper rent. To not make the story too long, we ended up deciding to visit one of my daughter’s who offered to take us in.

I felt the Lord leading me to my daughter’s place with Adão. She said she had room for both of us and since Adão was her “uncle,” she needed to take him in, too. Adão wasn’t so sure about moving north again, as we had just moved out of a house we had lived in for sixteen years, last February. He wanted to stay in the village we had moved to more south and was willing to rent an accommodation for 650 euros, which was 20 euros more than his pension. I really thought he wasn’t thinking right. He wanted me to continue my work in the association in Lisbon and come and visit him on the weekends and bring him food from the association.

However, I (77 in February coming) wanted to retire from working at the association. My daughter was going to have a baby and was asking me to come live with her and be a help to her in her new experience. I felt the Lord calling me to do so. I finally convinced Adão to come with me and give it a try. So about mid-December we journeyed north to Viana do Castelo from Peniche where we had been living since last February.

The first days we visited friends and contacts and I noticed Adão was very quiet. He would usually participate in any witnessing or talking I would have with our friends and contacts. However, he was unusually quiet. One friend asked him, “Adão, aren’t you going to say anything?” Adão just shrugged his shoulders. Then our friend asked him if he wanted a glass of Porto. Again, Adão didn’t speak, but just shook his finger “no.”

Earlier the same day, we had visited a friend who had for many years given us a big turkey for Christmas. As we said good-bye to this woman friend who is a widow, Adão hugged her and started kissing her on the cheeks as he hugged her. She responded kissing him back. It was almost embarrassing for me as I couldn’t understand Adão’s behaviour as he’s usually very reserved in giving affection. She seemed to understand he needed comforting, even though none of us knew what was happening to Adão’s health at that time.

It might have been the next day when I was called away to do an errand for the association in Lisbon. Since Adão was acting strangely, I thought it was best to not have him get further stressed with a long trip down to Lisbon and back. I asked my daughter if Adão could stay and she and her husband agreed. At 6:00 am Saturday morning the 20th, I set off on the errand, leaving Adão behind. (I must confess I kept getting the verse, “two are better than one for they have a good reward for their labour,” but I brushed it aside as being illogical, for surely it was better for Adão to stay back than to come with me on a long trip.)

However, some time before noon, Adão left the house not saying where he was going. He left the door open. When he wasn’t home by night-fall, my daughter made a missing person’s report and her husband went around with his car trying to locate Adão, to no avail. The next day they returned at noon to the local Police to confirm their missing person’s report from the day earlier. Adão had been found in a local about 10 kilometres away from where they lived. He had gotten lost and then became delirious and was unable to ask for help. He was on a road with very little housing and stayed the whole night sitting in the shelter of a bus stop. During the night some bikers came and stopped, but he was unable to ask for help. In the morning around 8:00 am he tried to enter a car parked outside a small family factory and the owners asked him what he was doing. They realised he was not well and called the police.

The police came for him around noon as the night Adão was out had been the coldest of the year. Various accidents had happened on the motor-way because of ice. The police had been busy and unable to attend to him until later. My daughter and son-in-law were able to pick him up and bring him back to their home. My son-in-law had to go to work, so Adão was left with my daughter, who soon realised that Adão needed medical attention. She called the ambulance and went with him to the local emergency. He had various tests and intravenous feeding. By morning he was discharged and told he would need follow-up with a psychiatrist for he seemed to be suffering rapid dementia.

Christmas was soon coming. Adão started having trouble holding his pee and began peeing in his pants, and in his bed, regularly. Unless we fed him, he would sit in his room doing nothing. I ended up getting sick for a few days before Christmas and my daughter was taking care of Adão. On the 26th my wife arrived from Tenerife and the next day we had a meal with our son-in-law’s family. Adão was  participating, but not talking. Our plan was to take him to the local health center after first going back to our last apartment and closing it up. We decided to take Adão with us as not to cause our daughter who is eight months pregnant added stress. We were having to feed Adão and treat him like a baby. We bought diapers for him to wear as he was constantly peeing in his pants before he could get to the toilet. We didn’t know what was the matter and thought it was a result of rapid dementia which he seemed to have the symptoms of.

However, Saturday the 3rd of January at 8:00 in the morning Adão ran away from home. He jumped out of kitchen window and ran to the street without shoes or socks. He ripped off his pyjamas and ran nude in the streets of the small town we had been living in. The neighbours called the police when they saw what happened. My wife and I went looking for him and eventually found him in an alley with two women not letting him run away. My wife was able to subdue him and managed to put part of a bathrobe on him before the police and ambulance arrived to take him to the local hospital. It was heart breaking to see a faithful brother’s mental health diminish so rapidly.

On the 5th my wife was flying back to Tenerife and we were closing up that apartment while Adão was in hospital. Two brethren living in the area came to assist me in the packing as I was emotionally  distraught from all that had happened. The hospital started talking about not releasing Adão until further testing and to see if he would regain his cognitive abilities. The assistant social worker was dubious of Adão returning to normal family life.

Of course, we put out prayer requests to various prayer groups we knew of. Everyone was praying for Adão. We couldn’t understand how Adão could come down with dementia so quickly, though he did seem to have the symptoms of rapid dementia. However, in a conversation with my son in England, he mentioned that sometimes a rapid dementia is caused by a urinary tract infection. My daughter-in-law who works with old folks in northern England had had experience with such cases as a social worker there. She said that once the urinary tract infection was cleared up with antibiotics, she had seen patients recover their depleted mental capacities in a period of around two weeks. She said the urinary tract infection could be the cause of Adão’s sudden dementia. Once the infection is cleared he could possibly regain his faculties.

That’s what we are now praying for and claiming God’s restoration of Adão's mental abilities, as the hospital has finally detected that, in deed, Adão has a urinary tract infection. "For I know my thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thought of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope in your latter end," Jeremiah 29:11.

The urinary tract infection is not easily detected in older people as they don’t experience the severe pain when they urinate that a  younger person would experience. They don’t realise they have an  infection. The infection can cause loss of appetite, withdrawal and lack of ability to communicate or know what one’s needs are. The person can suddenly answer aggressively or be aggressive. Can experience delirium. Have an inability to hold one’s urine.

Adão had all these symptoms, but we were completely unaware of the effects of the urinary tract infection. We thought Adão had sudden dementia, when in fact, his dementia may be being caused by the urinary tract infection. I wanted to write about our experience to advise and inform everyone I know of the symptoms of a urinary tract infection, so that you too could be on the look out for your older friend or parent.

Urinary tract infections are quite common in older people, but since they are not easily detected, it’s important to be on the alert. Make sure your loved one is consuming sufficient liquids. If suddenly your loved manifests some of these symptoms or behaviour, it may very well be they have a urinary tract infection. If not treated the urinary tract infection can damage the kidneys and ultimately cause sepsis and death.

Please keep Adão, (João David), in your prayers and that he will make a complete recovery of his health and his mental capabilities. Thank you.

Excerpt from Google AI search:

Urinary tract infection in older people symptoms:

In older adults, urinary tract infections (UTIs) may present with "classic" urinary symptoms, but they are uniquely characterized by atypical symptoms—most notably a sudden change in mental state.

Atypical Mental & Behavioral Symptoms

In many seniors, especially those with dementia, the following may be the only signs of a UTI: Sudden confusion or delirium: A rapid change in mental status, which may include incoherent speech or inability to pay attention.

Behavioral changes: Increased agitation, aggression, withdrawal, or sudden mood swings.

Hallucinations or paranoia: Seeing things that aren't there or feeling unusually fearful.

Lethargy and fatigue: Extreme tiredness, drowsiness, or a sudden loss of energy.

Atypical Physical Symptoms Falls and balance issues: Sudden unsteadiness or unexplained falls.

New or worsening incontinence: Sudden bed-wetting or loss of bladder control.

Decreased appetite: A sudden lack of interest in eating.

Hypotension: Low blood pressure or a fast heartbeat (tachycardia).

Classic Urinary Symptoms

Older adults may still experience typical UTI signs, though they are often less pronounced: Dysuria: A burning sensation or pain when peeing.

Frequency and urgency: Needing to urinate more often or more urgently than usual.

Urine changes: Cloudy, dark, bloody, or foul-smelling urine.

Pelvic pain: Pressure or cramping in the lower abdomen or back.

Signs the Infection Has Spread (Kidney Infection)

If a UTI moves to the kidneys, it is a medical emergency. Watch for: High fever (over 101°F / 38.3°C) or, conversely, a very low temperature.

Chills and shaking (rigors).

Pain in the side (flank), mid-to-lower back, or groin.

Nausea and vomiting.

Note for Caregivers: If you notice a sudden, drastic change in an older person’s behavior or mental state, seek medical advice immediately, even if they do not have a fever or painful urination.

This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional. AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more