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Long story short, my husband is in hospital again, second time this month. Yesterday all the sudden in the morning he could not talk, could not walk, fell and could not use his arms to get up. And had penile bleeding and weakness. And sat for breakfast and was falling asleep while eating, sort of semiconscious, very low blood pressure. 85/50. By the time ambulance arrived he became delirious and agitated at once, so unlike him.Yesterday drs told me they did some tests, no infections although maybe some pneumonia, which he had at beginning of this month along with pericardial effusion. That one bothers me as it can turn into something worse if underlying conditions are not treated. Apparently ignored or insignificant as doctors told me. Basically they telling me he is fine, my intuition is telling me he is not. Our medical system is horrible at this time and I am sure something is overlooked. Doctors have few minutes for each patient. From googling symptoms everything points to stroke or sepsis, but drs say not likely. Overwhelmed and unsure what else to ask doctors?

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Insist on CT scan and MRI to look for a stroke. You don't want likely, you want 100% facts only. Plus any swelling in the heart sac, like pericarditis or an effusion of fluid, can cause big issues.
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Reply to lealonnie1
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Yes, Lea.
I can insist, I live in Canada and hospitals are overwhelmed, overcrowded, not enough staff. People are dying waiting in line, so in hubby’s case everything is blamed on Parkinson’s which is unlikely as progression does not happen from day to day. Not drastic one anyway, he was fine Friday night.
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lealonnie1 Jan 25, 2026
I'm so sorry you are dealing with such sub par medical care. How scary and frustrating at the same time. Prayers out to you for a resolution to this issue.
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That is what I told drs pericardial effusion looks serious. Yes I am someone who wants facts only, not likely or unlikely.
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Reply to Evamar
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His doctors should have done both an MRI and a CT scan to rule out stroke as to me it certainly sounds like he had one. Or possibly he was having seizures.
My late husband had sepsis and septic shock in Nov./Dec. 2018 but I don't recall any new stroke type symptoms from that, keeping in mind that he had a massive stroke in 1996 that left him with permanent disabilities.
I hope you get to the bottom of what's going on with your husband.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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Thanks funkygrandma,
I cannot force drs at hospital to do that as I said system is overwhelmed.
Or it can take days, or I can discharge him and take him for private MRI.
This is what I read re stroke vs sepsis.
Yes, sepsis can mimic stroke.
Sepsis-associated encephalopathy or severe infection-induced physiological stress can cause sudden neurological deficits such as confusion, slurred speech, weakness, or unilateral paralysis, which are often mistaken for acute stroke. About 9.6% of patients suspected of having a stroke are found to have alternative diagnoses like sepsis. 
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Reply to Evamar
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I don't have any advice, just want to say I'm so sorry that you and your husband are suffering through this.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Thank you Geaton
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Reply to Evamar
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Thinking of you and your husband and hoping for some medical clarity soon! 🙏
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Reply to SnoopyLove
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Thank you SnoopyLove
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Reply to Evamar
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Evamar, so sorry this happened and hoping you get some answers soon. ((Hugs))
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Reply to Hothouseflower
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His pneumonia can cause some of what discribe. Is there another hospital he can go to. I just read this about his perocardial effusion...

Shortness of breath (dyspnea).
Chest pressure or pain.
Fast heartbeat or heart palpitations.
Lightheadedness or dizziness.
Fainting (syncope).
Fatigue.
Anxiety, confusion or other behavior changes (because of low blood flow to your brain).
Cyanosis (a blue or gray tinge to your lips or under your fingernails that happens when you have low blood oxygen levels).
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Thank you JoAnn and Hothouseflower.
There is no possibility of transfer to another hospital, they all operate over capacity. He is in apparently the best one, but he is being discharged today.
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Reply to Evamar
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Tell the doctors and nurses you want to rule out sepsis.
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Reply to southernwave
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Hello, 2 months ago, my husband was not feeling well. Also peeing blood. Some pain in abdomen and very fatigued. We went to ER thinking he had kidney stone , because he has had that before. They admitted him, checked for septis, put him on antibiotics, he did not have septis, was very agitated and 5 days later he was gone. They said he died of acute liver failure. Possibly from meds he was on. Yes the medical industry has gone downhill. I will be praying you find an answer.
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MTNester1 Jan 30, 2026
So sorry for your loss like that. Unanswered questions leave us with more pain and heartbreak that knowing why. Tragic. So sorry
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The medication hospitals use to treat sepsis can cause heart issues. This should have been discussed with you before they used it for full disclosure and consent to treat. If heart issues is a concern you need to find out what antibiotics and other medications were used and confer with his primary care provider (his doctor). ER doctors and hospital doctors should confer with his primary doctor. You can demand this before any procedure or meds are given. I think the next best thing is to talk to his primary doctor and discuss this possibility so tests can be given. Unfortunately we become advocates for our LOs because they can’t speak for themselves. With that we also become more in tune with medical knowledge. Unfortunately we have to. We know our LO’s baseline. These doctors do not and we need to tell them what is normal and what is not. It’s a battle and it’s hard. But a necessity. Good luck and I hope all goes well.
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Reply to Myraesq
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How is your husband doing now ? I saw he was going to be discharged .
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Reply to waytomisery
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I suggest tell the treatment team he is not at his functional or mental status baseline. You can not take him home in this condition and he needs further diagnostic work up. Does he have bladder or some other urogenital cancer? Has he been evaluated by urologist and nephrologist? What is his kidney function? Perhaps he needs transfer to a higher level of care in a major city with tertiary referral services. There will still be many difficult decisions ahead. First the logistics if you live somewhere remote or rural without access to tertiary level of care and traveling back and forth. Maybe it’s time to consider moving into a ALF or small patio home in a larger city or town with resources and getting away from remote environments. I’m not sure that applies, just supposing based on the data you supplied.
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Reply to Beethoven13
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We thought my mother had a stroke and it was a UTI. The nursing home she was in kept changing her catheter when it got clogged up instead of looking for the reason that was happening. The ER doctor said it was a UTI but everyone else at the hospital kept telling us she had a stroke. Several weeks later when she was seen by her neurologist, she confirmed the ER doctor was correct.
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Reply to TairDanes78
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Answering the question on face value, yes, without a basic patient assessment and vital signs, sepsis can mimic a stroke. It's pretty easy to differentiate between the two conditions, and the two conditions can occur together. They're very separate diagnoses but they could happen at the same time. Sepsis is essentially an infection that's impacting the entire body (It is a dysfunctional response to an infection). That is, someone can have an infection without being septic. The hospital will consider it sepsis if the body's response, lab values, and symptoms meet certain criteria.

So, what you describe could be "just an infection" that did not yet meet the criteria for sepsis. And yes, some of those symptoms could visibly "look" like a stroke. A stroke is relatively simple to rule out with a CT scan (and in my EMS system, that's the first place we go when we bring in a suspected stroke).

It sounds like what the doctors are telling you is that your husband's lab values and and vital signs do not meet the criteria for sepsis, and there is some other underlying reason for how he is presenting. They might as yet be unable to find the source and it may be that the finding the source of the problem is being masked by (a) his symptoms, (b) secondary infections, and (c) his Parkinson's diagnosis. It seems like a "can't see the forest for the trees" problem.

Please be wary of googling for symptoms because (as you've probably discovered) it lead you down some rabbit holes. What I would recommend is that you ask the doctors if they will sit down with you for a few minutes to give you a synopsis of where they are at. If you're in a hospital, a good time to ask for this is when the doctors are "rounding" (usually in the morning). Also, write down your questions on paper and number them and hand that list to the doctor(s). That way, you can check off your various concerns and it's harder for the docs to dismiss your concerns.

As for my qualifications, I am a community paramedic in EMS so I do a lot of follow-up and patient/health education as part of my job. Quite a lot of what I do is translating medical information for patients and family. I've also just gone through this with family members who had very complicated medical histories. Best of luck.
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Reply to MedicinNC
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Thank you all for posting.
Hubby had TIA, which resolved in hours, next day he was better already.
He was also over medicated which btw drs prescribed at the same hospital.
He has such myriad of symptoms it is impossible to know what next?
He will be back in hospital soon, he is really not well.
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