SEPSIS SURVIVAL IN THE BUCKET

ON THE LAST DAY OF  MAY 2019 SEPTIC SHOCK BLIND-SIDED ME!

SEPSIS SURVIVER ACCOUNT

Sepsis is a problem in hospitals all over the world and one that has increased in American hospitals. September 13 is WORLD SEPSIS DAY and September is Sepsis Awareness month.

I am writing to relate my own experience of Sepsis and Septic Shock and to make other Rhode Islanders and my readers worldwide  realize that they and their loved ones are not alone but are part of an increasing number of victims of this dreaded systemic infection

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Dr Susan Duffy of Hasbro Children's Hospital wars of the special dangers of sepsis to infants and babies:

“Sepsis is the leading cause of serious illness and death among American children and affects more than 42,000 children annually.

The move to enhance sepsis care at Hasbro Children’s is a response to the recognition that sepsis is the major cause of death in children worldwide, with over 18 million cases per year. 

Sepsis is the leading cause of serious illness and death among American children and affects more than 42,000 children annually. It is the number one cause of inpatient pediatric mortality and  accounts  for 7 to 9 percent of all pediatric deaths.

At Hasbro Children’s Hospital, sepsis is the leading cause of inpatient deaths. Between 2009 and 2015 there were 102 intensive care deaths; 31 percent had a sepsis-related diagnosis and 47 percent of deaths had a related infectious etiology. The mortality from sepsis is highest in infants and children with chronic medical conditions, but it also affects otherwise healthy children.  

The costs of pediatric sepsis are significant, not only because of acute care but also because up to 40 percent of survivors suffer from lifelong disabilities, which increases associated costs.

Sepsis Is a Medical Emergency

Pediatric sepsis is a medical emergency and survival is linked to timely treatment with targeted antibiotics, isotonic fluids, vasopressors, and aggressive supportive care. In 2017, approximately 200 patients at Hasbro Children’s Hospital were treated for severe sepsis or septic shock, and there were 6 sepsis-related deaths.

Sepsis is caused by the body’s dysregulated response to infection. Unlike most adults with sepsis, the presentation of sepsis in children appears on a spectrum, with the early signs and  symptoms  overlapping routine childhood illness.

The first indications of sepsis in children may be alterations in heart rate and temperature, and subtle changes in perfusion that signal systemic dysfunction. The onset of sepsis is difficult to predict, but once the systemic response to severe infection begins, it is challenging to manage. For that reason, specific screening for risk factors and early signs of sepsis should occur in all settings that care for childhood illnesses.”

The 2019 Sepsis Awareness Survey revealed that most U.S. adults are more aware of less common and less deadly conditions than they are of sepsis, which takes a life every two minutes.   For example, despite stroke affecting less than half the number of people diagnosed with sepsis each year, the three stroke symptoms listed in the survey were correctly identified by most adults (57%). Yet, more than one-third of adults say they do not know the symptoms of sepsis at all, and only 14% could correctly identify the four symptoms of sepsis listed in the survey.

SUDDENLY IT BECAME PERSONAL

My personal encounter with sepsis and Septic Shock started the last day of May 2019. I was at home in Pawtucket and I was frightened because I felt exhausted and was finding it difficult to walk because of the dizziness and light- headed feelings. I use a walker due to chronic pain caused by ruptured discs and sciatica. This was a different severe pain that had moved from my lower back to my left abdomen. I worried about kidney stones. I took my temperature and it was 100 degrees. This added to my fears because in the past when I have had a UTI I would not spike a raised temperature. I knew that for me a high temp meant that something wicked was coming.

A friend of me came by because she was alarmed by my symptoms and horrified by my appearance. She called 911 immediately and promised to care for my husband. When the local firemen arrived, she asked them to evaluate me They said that I was very sick and should be taken to an emergency room. All my doctors are at Brigham Hospital in Boston and we asked if they would take me there, but they refused. They would only take me to a Rhode Island hospital.  My friend pressed them and asked if there were any private ambulance services that would take me to Boston. She called a couple of their suggestions and finally found one that was willing to go to Boston and had an available ambulance.

I hardly recall the ride but I do remember how the man in the back with me kept talking and keeping me awake and monitoring my vital signs. We were rushed into the Emergency Room at Brigham Hospital and I was soon on a gurney. My temp was 103 degrees. “You just went to the head of the line,” the orderly said as we moved swiftly into the operating room. When I awoke I was in the Intensive Care Unit with Septic Shock.

I felt my limitations so severely when I was in Septic Shock. I could not think straight. I was so grateful when my old college friend Terry appeared in my room. She was attending the celebration of 100 years of Emmanuel College. She was so funny and so sane. Then my son Joe appeared –he had flown all the way from Los Angeles-- and brought my husband Yash up from Pawtucket daily. Later Mary Ellen came from New York and her sister Clare--such rocks of friendship and stability.

Can you let God “look upon you in your lowliness,” as Mary put it (Luke 1:48), without waiting for some future moment when you believe you are worthy? Consider these words inspired by John of the Cross: “Love what God sees in you.” What does God see in me? I guess his own IMAGE, the bit of divinity that he created and gave to each of us--my immortal soul. 

I tried hard to dwell on that while I was in the ICU and in Septic Shock but it eluded me. Only the visits of the Chaplain and the Reikei volunteers conveyed a sense of peace and also a sense that there was a place beyond this. After one session, the Reikei person said-- you kept on talking about the bright light. But you were sent back. Now you must discover--WHAT WERE YOU SENT BACK TO DO?

WHAT WAS I SENT BACK TO DO?

  I am not the first and I will not be the last , So I should tell what happened to me and unite with others.

This understanding of what I could do now came clearer to me yesterday. Stephanie a personal home aide came to help me bathe and in conversation I told her about my Septic Shock experience and she told me that her mother-in-law had died of Septic shock last October. Her description of that woman's two year downhill spiral was such a mirror of my own. The only difference was that she was re-admitted to a hospital and she became sepsis again.

This made me also more aware of how each of us is so alone with our experience. Some hospitals have support groups for Septic Shock Survivers, but I do not know of any and I certainly have not been invited to participate in one.

This is wrong—it is part I fear of a cover-up mentality that afflicts American life.

Instead of facing our flaws we deny them and nothing improves.

That is why it is important to participate in SEPSIS AWARENESS MONTH and SEPSIS AWARENESS DAY –SEPTEMBER 13. This blog account of my experience is my attempt to make readers aware and also to tell all the other Septic survivors in Rhode Island that you are not alone.

Let us unite and get the word out there