MY MOM has been in S.I.C.U. for a month from sepsis from surgery?

her pulse is high and her respirations are 40-50, fever of 100, receiving 50 percent of oxygen in her trach ventilater. what does all this mean? also the doctor wants to take her off her antiobiotics-isn't that dangerous? or is it bad to keep her on them for such a period of time?

Sorry to hear about your mom...Sepsis, or septicemia as it's called is extremely dangerous and life threatening. If your mom has been in the hospital for a month with this illness and she's still sick, something is not being done right. Sepsis can be controlled, maintained, and cured by IV antibiotics. However, the doctors have to use the correct ones. The way they find out which antibiotics are useful is to draw blood cultures. These cultures are placed onto petri dishes allowing them to grow the bacteria. The lab will produce a result with what the bacteria is sensitive to and what it's resistant to. Usually there are 2 or 3 antibiotics that can be used as treatment. That's the medical side to it. Here's the business side...if you're mom has insurance, the hospital could be 'milking it'. There is no way that a person should be septic in ICU for a month. Get her out of there and place her somewhere else. Or call a private physician in to treat her. Look for an infectious disease doctor. Good luck.

wish you all the best, this sounds pretty serious, just stick to her doctors' advice and ask them to explain things, good luck

Of any question I have ever read, this is the question I would most wish I could answer properly. But I can't, and likely no one on Answers can do it unless he or she is a doctor. Listen closely to the doctors, ask why they are wanting to do what they plan to do, and if you just don't feel right about it, tell them you want a second opinion before they take such action. That's really the very best thing you can do, to advocate for your mother and to get the answer you need.

I wish I could give you an exact answer, but dont know her situation, nor am I a doctor. But my mom also was in the ICU and contracted (if that's the correct term) sepsis. It is usually not bad to keep someone on anitbiotics if it is actually fighting the infection. If this antibiotic is not fighting the infection then it's possible they have not identified the cause of the infection. My mom's vitals and oxygen were very similar to your mom's but she had Valley Fever (rare pulmonary disease only found in CA Cen Valley & select southwestern locations) that began her actual illness, which may be nothing similar to your mom's case. The infection that caused my mom's sepsis was never identified. They did run her blood through a machine to attempt to pull out the poisons, but it was not effective. Please make sure they have identified the cause of the infection and are treating it aggressively. Ask the doctor to explain to you why they are making the decisions they are making and what the potential outcome will be. If you do not feel comfortable with the explanation or think you are being left out of the decision process, consider getting a second opinion or transferring hospitals. Doctors should be willing to answer any questions/concerns you have to your satisfaction and keep you informed on all treatments/procedures before performing them.

Terry, you've been asking more-or-less the same question here for a week. It's time to have a sit down conference with the TEAM that is treating your mother and get these and any other questions answered to your satisfaction. We can't really do an adequate job by trying to pick apart the symptoms and treatments if they are isolated from the big picture, which is only available to the doctors who are actually taking care of your mom.

I am so sorry to hear that you mom is still sick and still on the vent. I was for sure she would be off by now. Her heart rate and respirations are so high is because of her fever and being septic. That is the body's natural response. 50% oxygen is still on the high side, but at least she is down from the 60% that she was on. Maybe the Dr. is taking her off her antibiotics because she is not responding to them and maybe he wants to try something else, or a different kind on antibiotic. Although you don't want to keep someone on antibiotics for prolonged periods because they will become immune to that antibiotic if it is overused. Good Luck to you.