A real life account of being diagnosed with one of the UK’s most feared diseases
The following account has been anonymously shared by a legal team member whose Mother was diagnosed with Sepsis.
In late October 2016, I was working a long shift as a neonatal nurse and started to suffer with lower abdominal pain. I vomited and had diarrhoea and was unable to pass urine.
As the pain worsened and my temperate rose, I drove myself to A&E. There, I was given IV antibiotic and morphine.
After a few hours I was sent home. The following day I returned to work still feeling very unwell. On the way home from work I vomited again.
As I was feeling extremely exhausted, I went to bed but woke with a swollen abdomen. I had also vomited and passed urine in my sleep without noticing.
I rang my son and sister who called for an ambulance as I was unable to move. My blood pressure was too low for painkillers, so I was stabilised with IV fluid and carried out to the ambulance.
As I was in so much pain the ambulance was unable to move for over an hour until I was stable enough for the journey to hospital.
Once at the hospital, I was assessed after around 30 minutes.
Whilst I was waiting to be transferred to a ward, I suffered a sudden collapse.
I was then moved to the high dependency unit within A&E where I was fitted with a catheter and oxygen. After 24 hours I was moved to a different ward.
I was informed in the middle of the night that I had pancreatitis. This worried and upset me a great deal. My cousin had only recently died of this. However, after a few hours the surgeon returned and informed me that I did not have pancreatitis and it was in fact sepsis. I remained in hospital for 8 days.
Following my discharge, I made a very slow recovery.
I have now been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and suffer with lack of energy and strength on a daily basis.
I have never been able to fully return to my normal living and I have now been diagnosed with anxiety and clinical depression.
Suffering with sepsis has been life changing for me.
If you have experienced any form of medical negligence relating to sepsis then please visit our sepsis negligence claims page to find out more information about how you can make a claim.