End-stage Lymphoma and hallucinations?
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| Thu, 09-25-2008 - 1:23pm |
My grandma has end-stage B-cell lymphoma. The diagnosis came in May after a UTI caused severe mental status changes, delirium, violence, etc. and she had to be hospitalized. Her white blood cell count was through the roof, so after several tests, the diagnosis came back. It has progressed quickly, and hospice is guessing a couple more weeks. Her right lung cavity continually fills with fluid and collapses her lung and every 7 - 10 days we go in and they use a needle to drain the fluid. Over the last several months she has had several more UTI's and is at the point that she is fairly antibiotic resistant. Welll, last Monday 9/15 she had fluid drained and the procedure did not go well. After about 750 ml. of fluid, she started coughing, gagging and they had to stop. They usually get around 1200 - 1400 ml of fluid off. Her oxygen level dropped to 85 and her pulse was skyrocketing. The next day, Tuesday, she started having a really bad time. Convinced the nursing home staff was trying to kill her, my dad was trying to kill her, I am not really me. Screaming for help, etc. They changed her meds and put her on an antipsychotic. I also made them give her an antibiotic because this is a typical reaction to a UTI. However, it has been 8 days on the antibiotic and she is worse. Seeing dogs, bears, crickets, and frogs hanging from her ceiling. Thinking the nursing home workers are dressing in disguises, screaming and kicking at the nursing staff, refusing meds, etc. I am wondering if she needs a stronger antibiotic, dad thinks the antipsychotic is causing it, the psychiatrist and hospice think it is end-stage delirium. The problem is between my dad and I we have sat with about 5 people as they passed, and neither one of us has experienced delirium and hallucinations. Because of this dad is fighting for a change in psych meds, and I want a stronger antibiotic. But, I really trust her psychiatrist, he is a good guy. The Hospice nurse I am not so crazy about, but she has been doing this a long time. I guess I am wondering has anyone else had experience wtih delirium and/or hallucinations as an end-stage symptom?
I am wondering with how upset and paranoid she gets, if this is an end-stage symptom, maybe we should allow them to dose her enough to sedate her. But, if it is meds or an infection, when she is doing good she is still my sweet grandma. I hate to miss out on even a few days of that if I can have them.

Hi