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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here. Thanks to everyone who has weighed in. We went to see his GP's PA. She took blood and we will get the results tomorrow. He was unable to urinate so we brought home the sample cup and hope to get that to the lab tomorrow morning. She wasn't worried enough about him to recommend the hospital, said he could go home and sleep and try his best to stay hydrated (he has been sipping on water and had a few bites of food). I'm a little anxious that he wasn't able to leave a sample to get tested for a UTI today but I guess I'll put my faith in the PA that he's not in danger tonight.

To the PP's who talked about end of life decisions: thank you for bringing that up. I have not been willing to even consider his life ending from something that seems so simple (a low fever and fatigue) but I've thought a lot about it and obviously HE is the one who has the say about his own body and his own treatment plan. And when I think of how miserable he was the last time he was hospitalized (my normally upbeat, hilarious, optimistic and sharp father was basically praying he would either go home or die) I can't imagine asking him to spend another night in the hospital.[/quote]

I hope you are able to get the sample and that he's feeling better.

This could be a good prompt to have that conversation.  My mom had been bed ridden and suffering from dementia for a long time when she ended up in the hospital with a UTI.  The dr's recommended hospice given her overall extremely poor condition. These "simple infections" can be a blessing.  But my father - who was caring for her at home with the help of an aide - refused to consider hospice so she was treated and lived another several miserable years.  It caused a lot of bad feeling in the family because some siblings strongly disagreed with dad.  Based on our discussions when she was healthy, Mom would not have wanted to live that way but it's really easy for those who are closest to the sick person to just focus on the crisis in front of them rather than looking at the whole picture.  It is very important that your father make his wishes known to the whole family.  A joint conversation with his GP might help in understanding the degrees of care and implications of different interventions.[/quote]

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