Valentines Day marked the tenth anniversary of the death of one of my very best friends from sepsis. He had collapsed on the Saturday, blue lighted to hospital and made comfortable until the Monday. He was diagnosed with sepsis on the Monday morning but passed the same afternoon. It strikes me that with the (whose name one must not mention) pandemic a lot of other serious infections like sepsis, MRSA, C-diff and Norovirus no longer get the attention they need. Do keep them in mind if someone, particularly in hospital, becomes ill. Besides my friend dieing another friend was in hospital for a month and off work for three with it, and the friend of a friend lost both legs, one arm and part of their remaining hand to it. The link is to an article about a young man who suffered multiple amputations after contacting it after eating the leftovers from a Chinese takeaway.
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My OH has had sepsis something like 9 times over the last few years.With her, it's been fairly obvious that she has the markers and I've needed to act quickly.
But the first time I noticed something was wrong, I made the mistake of phoning 111.
The operative I spoke to was very dismissive of the symptoms and advised I phone the doctor next morning (this was at 3am).
I told the op to get someone who was medically trained to call me back straight away, which she did.
The result was a blue light ambulance dispatched immediately.
I asked why the op had dismissed it and was told they're not medically trained but only ask questions and give advice. Apparently, because I'm her 24/7 carer, I'm far more experienced to determine if it's an urgent call.
Big lesson learned! Don't take no for an answer and if in doubt, it's 999.
If I'd delayed and waited till the morning, she might well not have made it through the night.
You're quite right Michael. My friends husband passed away just before Christmas. He'd been admitted with sepsis and whilst in hospital he kept getting other infections and sadly he lost the battle.
My neighbour had sepsis during the height of the pandemic, the ambulance arrived and the Paramedics said he had all the symptoms of C but gave negative tests.
He was in hospital for about 7 months, which was awful for his wife who was not allowed to physically visit, she also has her mother in a care home who also has Alzheimer's and again she couldn't see her.
Her husband has been home for about 9 months and is a shell of the man he was, he is only recently out of a wheelchair and using a frame to get about.
He and his wife are in their 50's and she especially is in a managerial role and very capable and feisty!
I can't say whether he had less help/support/treatment because of the pandemic but I do think she had to bully people to get things done, this of course could have been the case whether we had C or not.
I know she was the same with regard the care home, while she is a very strong and prepared to fight where necessary it must have been exhausting for her.
My point is there is no doubt that because of the drain on all resources the pandemic caused, it would be very difficult to say that people were not being treated for other problems especially life threatening ones.
There is a lot of research to be done in the future regarding C and I will be long gone before some meaningful findings are published.
None of us have ever lived through something like this and I hope we never do again and there will be a lot of learning to come out of this.
Can I ask you please to replace the word 'bully' due to it being a nasty/negative behaviour.
My husband had his first sepsis episode 2011, renal failure, irreversible damage, still coping. Against all odds, still has his leg. Last sepsis from ant bite. Unfortunately I worry, hard not to, as he hides any ulcers or redness. Under kidney specialist, liver specialist and cardiologist. We deal with life as a team, at the moment, I'm his carer, just had my 5th stent, coping also with Functional neurological disorder. Our son making plans for us to move closer for more help. Sorry to sound not more positive, just hard coping with latest stent. Take care. Live every day to the best of your ability. Moni
Anniversaries are always hard I feel. You know it’s coming up, and then relive that time around it. Best friends can’t be replaced can they? Tell us a bit about him?Sepsis is awful, just takes over so rapidly doesn’t it. My husband didn’t have that, but osteomyelitis and had to have toes amputated!
I can relate to this I contracted sepsis in late 2017 after suffering a cardiac arrest it was found to have attacked my heart I didn’t know much about sepsis before but after 3 life saving surgeries my life has been turned upside down I still suffer from health problems but thanks to our wonderful NHS staff I’m still here to tell the tale I completely agree that the pandemic has taken the spotlight away from many horrible diseases but sepsis has it warning signs and if more people were aware of them the less we would lose family snd friends
I was lucky, I got diagnosed when I was in hospital last June and they got it in time before it damaged my organs, can't be more thankful of our NHS.
Hi Micheal, three gp’s thought I had sepsis last year and I was blue lighted from the surgery. I had virtually no care because it was the weekend, told doctors don’t work then. Put on a geriatric senile dementia end of life ward as I’m 74. Turned out I had Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and should have been on a burns unit. Also they refused me all my heart medication.I’m amazed I am still alive. Needless to say I am discussing this with a lawyer.
I was admitted in 2018 , just before C kicked off for spinal problems needing an MRI. I too was refused medication although mine was my painkiller (Opiate) every 3 hours because they didn't have enough nurses to deal with controlled drugs so frequently- they only did drugs every 6 hours. Should have been on an orthopaedic ward but dumped on a general ward. When, during the night I went into the corridor so my crying wouldn't wake people I was shouted at by a nurse for making a noise. She even raised her hand to hit me. When complained next day all I got was the sister who brought said nurse to accused me of lying. I discharged myself. Even before C the staff were overworked and stressed.
Hi Qualipop, did you make a formal complaint to PALS, I did am now taking it further, the NHS has insurance so I’m not taking from them directly. I should have been on strong pain control I got 2 paracetamol when I was admitted then nothing for 4 days. I also discharged my self, when you are covered in sores and your skin is peeling off and your ears start to bleed and no one takes any notice you know you are in trouble. Also I had to pay for eye care, with SJS there is a strong possibility of going blind Dermatology refused to send me to the emergency eye unit.
When I had a HA in 2019 the care in the Cardiac unit could not have been better and I only had a 5% chance of surviving it. Why can’t the rest of the hospitals be run to this standard? All the nurses there were male, because most heart attack victims are men, when I had SJS all the nurses were female and they really didn’t seem to care.
No I didn't use PALS that time. I have in the past and they were utterly useless. It took weeks for them to contact me and then they did nothing much. IT varies from hospital to hospital. I did do a formal complaint about a different hospital supposedly with the help of PALS. I ended up having to spellcheck and correct all their letters and the whole thing took 3 years. I sacked PALS and did it myself and got the result I wanted. The hospital changed their procedures and admitted responsibility. I hope you fare better. If they seem slow or start sending letters with false information, take over and do it yourself. YOu aren't hurting the NHS, you are helping future patients. Now with the HA you did well. I had the opposite. Paramedics said HA but because I wasn't grey and sweating and clutching my chest, the nurses in A&E ignored me and it was 5 hours before I was seen ( left on a corridor with a locked door; couldn't even get to the loo), couldn't walk, had no wheelchair. When I did get treatment and it was confirmed, cardiology were brillint
In 2017 my wife was halfway in her stage 4 throat cancer treatment when she contracted Sepsis.
This caused AFib and the blood in her Atrium made a huge clot that caused her to go into full cardiac arrest.
It took the team 25 minutes to get her heart beating on its own.
She then developed pneumonia on top of all this and was a week in an induced coma.
She survived and the cancer totally disappeared to the amazement of her cancer team.
This all happened in a Portuguese Oncology Hospital.
So sorry to hear about your friend. My Dad who passed away in November of last year had been admitted to our local hospital after becoming unwell, only to be sent home a few hours later. During the night he deteriorated and another ambulance called. He indeed had sepsis that the doctors in A&E missed. Having experienced emergency care myself recently I too found care and attention was lacking to say the least. I was told as I’m under various consultants at the hospital and a rather complex case I’d be better ringing their secretaries the following day to expedite appointments due as he(A&E Doctor) was bank staff, could not work the echo machine to check for pericardial effusion and although d-dimers were elevated it wasn’t his remit either. Our NHS is broken by beaurocracy and there is so much waste it is unbelieveable. I empathise with those on the ground having doctors and nurses in my family but whilst those in the back office of management continue on their overinflated salaries things will only get worse. Paracetamol is one of the worst wastes. It costs pennies at the shop but people go to A&E for it. Sorry for the long response.
Someone who is ill and on their own in A&E May not be able to express how they are feeling and with no one to shout for them will go under the radar.
"Someone who is ill and on their own in A&E May not be able to express how they are feeling and with no one to shout for them will go under the radar." Not just in A&E- on the wards too where nurses don't notice dehydration, bed sores, infections and horrific to say, malnutrition. I had to fight tooth and nail to get my MIL on a drip and a dinner plate sized bed sore treated and a special mattress. Even worse during the pandemic with no one to fight your corner.
It was awful to see my Dad go downhill like he did. It was heartbreaking. Also whilst I was on a ward some of the poor old ladies on there. I spoke our for them whilst I was on the ward but who knows when I got discharged. 😔
My friend works on a rehab ward for the elderly and goes mad about the neglect.
So sad. I watched an old lady be fed something for her lunch only for her to vomit it all over herself. She lay covered in vomit for over an hour despite another patient and myself pressing for nurses. So wrong and heartbreaking. 😔
I would agree with you. I also lost a dear friend to sepsis last year; he was only 51. His GP had ignored what turned out to be a heart infection for weeks, never actually saw him in person. Eventually blue lighted into hospital where heart problem was discovered. 2 days later they were talking about amputating both legs and one arm. Thankfully for him he died during the night. He would never have coped with living like that. More immediate GP investigation would have saved him.
My husband died of sepsis too 15 years ago while undergoing treatment for leukaemia. He too was gone in a matter of hours.
Please note my Likes are for the fact you took the time to read and reply to my post. The replies are quite sad and often the circumstances unacceptable.
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