Category: Personal stories

My sepsis episode

Retired but still active, I was struck by sepsis in 2006, without really being aware of the severity of what was happening to me. Apart from chills, which I attributed to a slight fever (38.4°C), I felt no pain. Although I experienced intense fatigue from the first few days, I did not worry too much about it and attributed it to a neurological condition I had been suffering from for several years.

At the time, I was volunteering at a palliative care clinic. I did notice that the wound on my tibia, which I had sustained at the clinic after contact with one of the wheels of a patient's bed, was not healing. It was only after four or five days, and at the insistence of the nursing staff, that I decided to have blood drawn the following Wednesday. The results came in that afternoon and were not good. The doctor therefore decided to take a blood sample, a urine sample and some culture tests on Friday, during my visits.

Septic shock due to peritonitis

I am Angélique Dammer a woman of 52 years. In September 2022, my husband and I took our boat sailing towards Purmerend. Moored at Purmerend, ordered some food, watched some TV and then went to bed. My husband always lies with the dogs in the front part of the boat and I lie in the tip of the boat (my husband still snores sometimes, hence the name).

That night I developed terrible abdominal pain but also a fever, which was new. The abdominal pain resembled the pain I had a year before when I had my breasts preventively removed with reconstruction because of a BRCA-2 gene, then I got constipation in my intestines.

I am Kathleen. A 38-year-old woman, primary school teacher and mother of two young children.

On 27 February, I don't feel very well in the morning. Fatigue, muscle and joint pains and general malaise play tricks on me. Later that day, I gradually develop a fever. By evening, I start shivering heavily. I pick up the children from school and day-care and ask my husband to be home on time. Meanwhile, I feel very sick. With antipyretic medication, I get the pain and fever somewhat under control. I inform my sister because I don't trust it. She is a nurse and often assists me with advice. The night is difficult. 

I am Paul, born in 1954. After a career in sales, I am retired. 3 children and 7 grandchildren keep me busy. My hobby is making toys, so that hits...

In early September 2023, I had been feeling unwell for several days and my GP took blood and the results (infection rate) indicated a serious problem. She made an appointment for me at the hospital where I went on Friday, but was sent back saying "next week we are going to examine some things". I was simply miserable and had been running a fever for several days. The day after, my partner found me unconscious on the floor and I ended up in the emergency room of the UZA in Edegem where, my partner and daughter told me, the word "sepsis" was immediately dropped and I was apparently given priority.

Before I start my story I will introduce myself. I am Wendy 54 years old. I am married and have 2 daughters aged 25 and 29.

A few years ago, I went to a lecture on kidney stones, where I bumped into a former colleague (Carine). We had a drink and a chat. Here Carine told me she had been seriously ill, septic shock. I sympathised with her and was glad that she was doing well (at the time I didn't know any better).

Kenny 40 years Sepsis after Streptococcal infection

26 January 2023 I contracted a bacterial cold due to a sick employee. From my own knowledge, I knew antibiotics were the only thing that could help me. However by the GP no written. The first 2 days passed and at first there was a slight improvement, but on afterwards I felt that this was getting worse and made another appointment with the GP. The day of the appointment ( 31/1/2023) my mother came by and saw that something was wrong and took me straight to A&E.

I live on the edge of a nature reserve with my husband and three sons. My hobbies are walking, running and good food. My story began with a tumour in my right breast. Four days after my first chemo, I stumbled into A&E with severe abdominal pain. I was immediately operated on. 'The inhuman pain the day after surgery was normal,' the doctor said, 'within a week you will be home'. The seven foreseen days turned into four hundred and eighty-seven.

Monday, March 7, 2022, the first day of a new working week went normally until I developed a nasty abdominal/stomach pain shortly after noon. As the pain did not go away, I called the abdominal surgery service of a nearby hospital. There, I was advised to come in through the emergency room.

A gripping testimonial around sepsis from Krista Bracke:

I am Michael (b 1946) and retired after an international career with a large accounting firm. Nowadays, I am still involved in an NGO and the ESA (European Sepsis Alliance).
In early 2016, I had to undergo surgery to remove the rest of my colon, the first part of which was surgically removed in 1990 following colon cancer.