outside medical treatment for Mumia! Also, 4/9 commentary from Mumia Thursday, April 9: Updated list of events (above) Wednesday, April 8: BuzzFeed News health condition. : Two summaries from Apr 6 visit to the prison and PA DOC pictures of Mumia. : created. : Summary from Apr 3 visit to the prison and PA DOC pictures. : Online campaign created. : Son and other brother allowed visit. Mumia transferred back to prison at night. : Wife and brother allowed visit. of Mumia’s health UPDATE DETAILS: Saturday, July 4: Dear Sisters and Brothers, On Monday, June 29th, Keith Cook, Mumia’s brother, and I visited Mumia. We went partially because we had learned that Mumia had had a fever for eight days, and that there was no assessment as to what was causing this elevated temperature. We had called one of the attorneys, Bret Grote, to communicate that with such a sick person an eight day old fever should have been assessed as to its source and significance. Bret then called the DOC and theydid blood and urine tests at the infirmary subsequent to our visit. Keith noted that Mumia’s skin looked less flakey than it had just a few days earlier when Keith and Wadiya, Mumia’s wife, had visited him. He thought that overall Mumia looked somewhat better. To me, Mumia looked worse than he had the last time I had seen him on May 28. Mainly his skin, particularly on his forearms, was so unnaturally black, many, many shades darker than his natural skin color.. The three of us discussed how these ups and downs that characterized some visitors’ impressions, especially the ups, were actually minor, sometimes merely cosmetic, depending on how much vaseline Mumia got to put on his skin, and how soon after his therapeutic baths the visits were. We were visiting him right after his therapeutic bath (which he receives three times a week), and he had just covered himself with vaseline, so while he looked better than he had a few days earlier , within less than a half hour into his visitwith us he was itching and quite uncomfortable. Mumia felt his itching was becoming worse again. He is, according to Wadiya, often given, despite this serious skin condition, filthy prison jump suits to wear when transported to the hospital. Mumia’s sugar level, too, has once again risen and goes up to slightly over 100, not as alarming as his highest levels when he went into shock, but not as stable as it had been and indicating that the problem has not been solved. Of greatest concern to Keith and myself, and to Mumia, was that Mumia has still not been given a diagnosis. More and more tests have been done, and still no conclusion as to what is making Mumia so sick for so many months now. His legs continue to be very thin and are heavily bandaged, and his skin very cracked and sore. Though not as gaunt as he looked at his worst, he is still nowhere near his normal weight. He is able to walk and uses the wheelchair only when in the visiting room. Prison doctors have expressedconcern about his falling in the visiting room and have ordered that he always use the wheelchair for those visits. They are no doubt concerned about possible legal suits. On less urgent but nonetheless serious issues, Mumia has been wearing glasses in which one lens is broken and kept together with scotch tape for over a year now and his repeated requests to get new glasses have been met with “You have already filed this request”. Also, Mumia has not had access to his visiting list for many months, despite his requests for such, meaning that he is unable to make any adjustments that may be necessary or that he might wish to make. Though these not the most dangerous of the issues in Mumia’s health crisis, immediate legal action is necessary to address these violations of Mumia’s rights on the part of the DOC. Demands for clean clothing, which should be provided without any demand, but which are especially relevant when someone has such a serious skin disease as Mumia has does,should also be filed immediately. Mumia’s outside doctors have yet to see him and permission for them to do so has still not been granted. It is clear that the current medical plan is not working and that immediate and urgent changes need to be made if Mumia’s underlying problems are to be addressed. Assessments of what the prison has done to cause or aggravate the kind of severe health problems Mumia seems to have developed in such a short period of time must be thoroughly evaluated by experts on the kinds of extraordinary conditions Mumia is demonstrating. Mumia’s health situation can not continue to be under the DOC’s control if he is to get better. Demands for his immediate release must escalate! Please keep calling John Wetzel, Secretary of the PA Department of Corrections, 717 728 4109, and Tom Wolf, Governor of Pennsylvania, 717 787 2500 explaining that the DOC has failed to address Mumia’s health problems effectively and that he needs to be released to get such careimmediately. In the struggle for our brother’s life, Suzanne Ross, Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition and International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal Monday, June 1: Dear Mumia Supporters and Friends, My apologies for not getting this report out earlier. The Oscar Lopez Rivera protest and the Left Forum took pretty much the entire weekend from Fridaynight through Sunday night. I saw Mumia for an extended visit this past Thursday, May 28. Mumia seemed much better able to handle a four hour visit than he had been when I last saw him, and had I not had to leave, it would have been an even longer visit. He was still in a wheel chair because his swollen feet and legs make it very painful to stand. Despite this pain he makes sure to walk at least a half hour a day. Though thin because of the huge weight loss, he looked a lot better than when I saw him about a month ago. He has gained some weight but is still way below his weight prior to getting ill. He is eating a greatdeal, ate much more than usual even during my visit, is still given a diabetic diet, and feels his body is trying to recover from the huge skin and weight loss. His face and right hand are completely clear. The rest of his body is not but the itching and pain are mostly gone. Mumia spoke energetically and his mood was very positive. He spoke of how close to death he had been. Had there not been an international outcry about the lack of appropriate treatment, in fact AGAINST the “treatment” that was bringing him so close to death, he was sure he would not be alive today. He continues to be very grateful for the love and support he has received for several months now, and expresses graphically how he could feel it in the air. Once again, he was in awe of our movement, its power and effectiveness. I had greeted him at the inmates’ entrance to the visiting room because I could see him struggling, recognizing his shower sandal covered foot sticking out into the visiting room, andwent over to help him maneuver the wheel chair in. Even a small thing such as getting through a doorway with a large wheelchair is not made easier by the prison staff. By contrast, Mumia spoke of the extraordinary kindness and gentleness of the inmates who help him with ordinary activities such as bathing in the infirmary. Mumia remains in the infirmary. He continues to get the therapeutic baths prescribed for his skin problem. He is no longer taking ANY medication for the diabetic symptoms he had developed. Yet his sugar level which he monitors daily is in the 80’s suggesting that the so called medical “care” he had gotten at the infirmary had brought on the diabetic crisis. Once the medication was discontinued he seems to have recovered significantly from that aspect of his illness. The big news, which Mumia told me with great relief as soon as he walked in, was that the prison doctor had just told him, as he was coming out into the visiting room, that the biopsy results wereall negative! This was cause to celebrate … but with caution. I say BIG CAUTION as all the reports Mumia is now getting are based on the prison doctors’ oral diagnoses. They are interpreting the hospital reports, and neither Mumia nor his wife, lawyers, or consulting doctors have been given the actual medical reports. The Department of Corrections is refusing to hand over these reports, claiming that they don’t have to do so because the case is now in litigation unless forced to by the courts. The health risks of not sharing the extensive hospital reports which were based on extensive testing are considerable as it is impossible for Mumia’s private doctors to advise the prison doctors on how to treat Mumia without having those full reports. This is one of the demands we must make immediately: RELEASE THE HOSPITAL RECORDS TO MUMIA, HIS WIFE, AND HIS LAWYERS so that they can immediately be shared with Mumia’s private consulting doctor. It is absolutely outrageous, and in violationof the Department of Corrections’ own regulations, to withhold medical records and reports from the client, his closest kin, and his lawyers. It is clearly dangerous to Mumia’s health for the DOC to be denying Mumia’s basis rights on this issue of medical record availability. Mumia’s lawyers have already challenged this latest threat to his medical care. We will keep you informed as we get additional information. In the meantime call and e-mail the DOC and demand that Mumia’s hospital records be released to him, his wife, and his lawyers immediately DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, SECRETARY JOHN WETZEL E-mail Wetzel’s secretary: We have definitely made some progress, but we have a long way to go. We still have no diagnosis of the diabetic picture, no diagnosis of the skin problem, and no diagnosis of the extremely swollen feet and legs. And, we have no hospital records. Most important, Mumia remains in prison where he cannot fully recover nor get the kind of care he needs. Henever should have been in prison in the first place, but he surely should be released now. For Mumia, for justice, for all our political prisoners, Suzanne Ross Thursday, May 21: Below are pictures from Wadiya Jamal’s (Mumia’s wife) trip to visit Mumia on 5/21. You can listen to her interview outside the prison .Pam Africa, Suzanne Ross, and Bob Nash accompanying Wadiya Jamal in her first visit to her husband, the first visit by anyone to Mumia in almost ten days, We wanted to guarantee that she got in. They had the driveway barricades with six or more corrections officers and two vans. The local newspaper, the Republican Herald, sent a reporter who interviewed us and took pictures. Other pictures include Joe Piette of International Action Center and Henry Hagins of the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition who were part of the group that accompanied Wadiya and her attorney, Rachel Wolkenstein. You can hear Wadiya’s description of Mumia’s health. Not great. A long way to go thoughthere has definitely been improvement. Below is a press release from 5/20: Family and supporters for imprisoned journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been discharged from the hospital and is now back at SCI Mahanoy, will hold a Press Conference for the purpose of reviewing Abu-Jamal’s rights to visitation by family, prison-approved visitors and lawyers. They will also be highlighting the importance of family and friends’ access to all medical records.The press conference will occur on Thursday May 21 at 1pm outside SCI Mahanoy, 301 Morea Rd, Frackville, PA 17932 Mumia Abu-Jamal’s wife Wadiya, and her attorney Rachel Wolkenstein will be visiting him on Thursday at 10am. Human rights activists will wait outside the prison until Wadiya Jamal and Wolkenstein exit the facility, at which time they will speak to the press. Also available to the press will be Pam Africa of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Suzanne Ross of The Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition andothers. Family members and supporters were horrified to learn in a phone call to his wife just yesterday that Abu-Jamal, sick as he was and surely posing no security threat, was shackled the entire time he was hospitalized for more than a week. During that time, he was not allowed to communicate with the outside world. Doctors have testified about the danger to diabetic patients, not to mention those with extreme skin problems, to be subjected to shackling. The cruelty and inhumanity of such treatment to someone so ill has been roundly denounced and this was attributable to the Department of Corrections and its Secretary, John Wetzel, rather than to the hospital’s regulations. Jamal’s lawyers met with POC lawyers by conference call yesterday to challenge his week-long incommunicado status which resulted only in guaranteeing that a lawyer could speak to Abu-Jamal by phone from the prison infirmary. Abu-Jamal, while in transfer to the hospital and during his hospital stay, was held“confidentially,” say authorities. As a result, family did not hear from him for an entire week. International and national visitors repeatedly have tried to visit him in recent days, but were turned away. Family, lawyers and doctors advising Abu-Jamal have all been denied access. On May 20 Wadiya Jamal, Abu-Jamal’s wife, finally received one 15-minute call on the eighth day of his disappearance confirming his presence at the hospital despite DOC and hospital officials denying he was there. On May 18, attorneys for Abu-Jamal filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of Pennsylvania federal court seeking immediate access to their client who has been denied all communication with them since May 12. Bret Grote of the Abolitionist Law Center and Robert Boyle are plaintiffs in the action along with Abu-Jamal. A motion for preliminary injunction and a temporary restraining order was filed, asking that the court issue an order granting Abu-Jamal visitation with his attorneys and wife. Thelegal action seeks to immediately restore Mr. Abu-Jamal’s constitutional right to access the courts. Bret Grote notes “The DOC is once again demonstrating its contempt for human rights and proper health care by holding Mumia Abu-Jamal incommunicado from his family and lawyers. Instead of recognizing the value of family support and legal consultation in protecting and improving his health, the DOC is treating Mumia like a piece of property that it can withhold access to and information about arbitrarily and with impunity.” According to Abu-Jamal’s attorney, Robert Boyle “The immediate relatives of a prisoner have a right to know the medical status of their loved ones in the case of hospitalization; and all prisoners have a right to communicate with their attorney, especially in case of an emergency. That my client and his family have been deprived of these rights is a constitutional violation.” The press conference supports the legal action that now has been taken by Abu-Jamal’slawyers and will underscore the legal arguments and foreground popular demands for Abu-Jamal. Tuesday, May 19: Below is an update from Suzanne Ross of the Free Mumia Coalition (NYC) on Mumia’s status as well as legal paperwork filed: Mumia’s wife spoke with him for 15 minutes yesterday (May 18) morning. He sounded good, she said, is feeling better, feels his skin problem is improving. He has had many tests over these last ten days of hospitalization. This hospital has more specialists and facilities than the last one. A bi
e coli in urine infographic
E coli in urine: Introduction
Image courtesy of: National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC)
E coli in urine is a common finding in patients with urinary tract infection. sometimes, E coli in urine is incidentally discovered when routine urine tests are done. At other times, patients with symptoms of urinary tract infection get their diagnosis confirmed when the lab discovers the exact strain of E coli in urine. Among patients admitted to the hospital with other medical problems, a significant number usually have E coli in urine. The presence of E coli in urine in those patients sometimes complicate the treatment of the primary disease. The symptoms associated with E coli infection in urine depends upon the age and health status of the patient and also depends upon the severity of infection. The infographic on top shows you what may happen when you get E coli in urine.
E coli in urine: severity of infection
When E coli first enter the urinary tract, they go to the lower urinary tract which is the portion below the urinary bladder. In normal healthy people with good immune system, E coli may be just flushed out in the urine before they get the chance to invade and infect. However, when there is significant burden of E coli in urine or when the normal flow of urine is blocked or slowed down, E coli may proliferate and cause infection. At this state, the body tries to fight the infection by sending white blood cells into the urine. These white blood cells(WBC) can be detected in the urine with simple tests. The presence of WBC in the urine is proof that E coli in urine has caused infection. If there were just a few E coli in the urine without any WBC, they may not have had the chance to initiate the infection yet. Therefore, seeing E coli in urine does not always mean that you have urinary tract infection. Seeing E coli in urine along with WBCs definitely mean that you have urinary tractinfection.
In most otherwise healthy people, E coli in urine may only cause lower urinary tract infection. In some people, especially those with other medical problems or ones with very high numbers of E coli in urine, the infection can climb upwards. It can go all the way up to the kidneys and cause kidney infection. When E coli in urine causes kidney infection, the symptoms may be different from that of lower urinary tract infection. Lower urinary tract infection with E coli usually causes symptoms that are limited to the urinary bladder and urethra. Those people may have pain, burning or other symptoms that are present when urinating. When E coli in urine invade the kidneys, they usually produce systemic symptoms or symptoms that can affect the whole body. Example of these type of symptoms include body aches, high fevers, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting etc. As in any disease, the actual symptom in any individual patient depends on that particulars patient’s age, gender, general health,pain tolerance and other unique characteristics. The infected kidney can also be painful and the pain may be felt in the flank area of the side of the infected kidney.
In more extreme cases, E coli in urine can invade the blood vessels inside the kidneys and enter the blood circulation. From there they can circulate to the whole body causing widespread activation of immune system. The number of WBC in the blood can rise abruptly to try to fight the infection. The presence of large number of E coli in blood and the resulting increase with WBC as well as other infection fighting elements in the blood can trigger severe illness. This kind of overwhelming systemic struggle of the body while fighting widespread infection is called sepsis. Sepsis can make someone very sick and lethargic. Without proper treatment, sepsis can cause result in exhaustion of the body’s defenses and it can crash. When it happens, the blood pressure can go down and patients can go into septic shock.
I will describe some real patient cases who had E coli in urine. These are real patients I admitted to the hospital. You will learn how different patients with E coli in urine present and how they are treated.
E coli in urine: A 68 year old female admitted to the hospital with stroke
Mrs. G is a 68 year old female who was admitted to the hospital after she developed a weakness on the right side. She was diagnosed with ischemic stroke. She had some problems with speaking and swallowing. She was unable to get out of the bed by herself and was unable to control her urine. They inserted a catheter to help her drain the urine. Despite everything that was going on with her, Mrs G was relatively pleasant. He was still smiling even when her face was asymmetric and her voice as difficult to understand. She was working with her physical therapist and was moving as much as she could.
After two days in the hospital, Mrs. G had a low grade fever. She did not have complaints and she was able to speak in a better voice. We could understand most of what she was saying. We were worried that she might have developed on infection. But we did not know what kind of infection it was. We ordered a chest x-ray looking for possible pneumonia. We ordered a urine test looking for urine infection. Her chest x-ray came back normal but the urine had some white blood cells in it. E coli in urine takes a few days to show up. Until then you have to look for other things to decide if the urine is infected. Seeing more than 10 white blood cells in the urine is as good as seeing E coli in urine to diagnose urinary tract infection. But when you have not detected E coli in urine, the infection can be from any microorganisms. E coli is one of the most common bacteria that can cause urinary tract infection.
The full name of E coli is Escherichia Coli and it normally lives in the human colon. While most strains of E coli are harmless, some cause infection. When the harmful E coli finds a way to get out of the colon and climb up the urinary tract and cause kidney infection. The names of two other common bacteria that can cause urine infection are: Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Overall, about 70% of patients with urinary tract infection have E coli in urine.
We started Mrs. G on an antibiotics that would kill E coli in urine and would also be effective against other common infections. She responded to the treatment. Her fevers went down and she was able to transfer to the bathroom to urinate on her own. We took the urine catheter out as that was probably what helped E coli to climb up into her urinary tract. Finally the urine culture came back and sure enough we found E coli in urine.
I hope the story of Mrs. G helped you understand more about E coli in urine and how it gets there in a patient admitted to the hospital with stroke. Please check back soon as I will be uploading more stories about different other types of scenarios and how you get E coli in urine in those cases.
blood sugar levels effects blood sugar levels blood test
