- Joined
- Mar 14, 2023
fucking hell. thank you for explaining so clearly. i didn't realise how fragile the kidneys were and that kidney infections and sepsis both render the patient susceptible to the other.Recurrent kidney infections are dangerous for both reasons. Most UTIs thankfully don’t get up to the kidneys but when they do it can cause a lot of damage. Kidneys are relatively delicate organs and Gruffin’s UTIs have progressed to the point of sepsis so these are not mild infections. Major infections like hers often cause scarring on the kidneys and if such scarring gets severe enough it can lead to renal failure. Either chronic kidney infections or a single big infection that goes septic can do serious damage, and Gruffin is prone to BOTH.
thank you. it makes sense that the repaired areas will be easier for bacteria to colonise and hide in. it sounds like the entire situation is just a clusterfuck, with loads of things that can go wrong and each of them on its own has consequences, and they all increasesuceptibility to the others. there is just no way someone who consents to this as a possibility is sane enough to give consent.As On A Journey said above me, the answer is both. If the nephron (functional unit of the kidney) is destroyed, it is gone for good. And the post-infection repair can cause scaring of the kidneys and the urinary tract, which in turn give additional nook and crannies that bacteria can hide and perhaps even evade being exposed to antibiotics.
I brought up Gram-negative because most urinary-tract infections are Gram-negative, and Gram-negative endotoxins are directly cardiotoxic. This said both Gram-neg and -pos bacteria have evolved antibiotic resistance with equal gusto, and Gram-pos bacteria -- such as the Staph that Elephant Dick is having right now, can cause widespread damage through their own mechanisms.
Hard to say how repeated infection affects her immune system. I don't think it predispose her to lupus, but it does make her lupus harder to treat (many drugs used for lupus are immunosuppressives, contraindicated for people prone to infections)
i'm friends with someone who works on identifying pathways that could be targeted by novel antibiotics. she said the academics have tons of strong leads for new antibiotcs, and the reason they aren't being developed is because pharma companies prefer investing in drugs that you'll go on for life, not a week or two. she also said bacteria from the air colonised her agar plates that had been treated with antibiotics, so resistance is just in the air. just great.
i don't understand how governments aren't stepping in and getting new antibiotics developed. generally i prefer small government but in cases like this where we are all so vulnerable and nothing is being done in industry, i feel like no harm can come by governments funding new antibiotic development.
and what a life she's living. can't imagine she ever feels well enough to fully enjoy herself.but at least she'd had her life-saving surgery, right?