On The Styx

It seems that ultimately the prognosis of my third aunt is effectively hopeless. Too much brain damage, a shattered pelvis, renal failure and a fever that refuses to go away simply means it's just a matter of time.

What does disturb me is that the whole matter smacks of incompetence. The doctor reportedly claimed that her fever was due to brain damage interfering with homeostatic body temperature. The pelvis fracture was recently discovered. However, since she was admitted to the hospital after a fall, it seems likely that her pelvis was fractured then. If anything, it should have been something that was tested for first. As for the brain damage, she was able to speak when at the hospital, but was already running a fever at the time. Unless it was a brain fever or some other infection, it seems improbable that her brain was so damaged that it could no longer regulate body temperature.

Just a couple days back, they found that she had no running infection, but continued antibiotic treatment nonetheless because of the fever. What seems unusual is that she was diagnosed with sepsis at the time of admission, which was what was proposed to have caused her fever in the first place. It would be probable that her sepsis was associated with kidney failure rather than an infection. More importantly, a fracture can also be associated with the onset of sepsis due to the fact that the fracture was identified as "severe", and necrotizing of tissue in the fracture area is probable.

On the whole, the claims of the doctor do not make sense and could indicate that she was experiencing some rare condition or that the medical personnel at the time did not take the necessary actions to ascertain the nature of her injuries and determine appropriate treatment. It may also be probable that there was a misdiagnosis involved either due to staff overwork or inexperience.