Patients & Family

Sepsis Alliance provides information and resources to help you better understand your or your loved one’s sepsis diagnosis.

Diagnosed with Sepsis

For anyone recently diagnosed with sepsis, this is the place to start.

Sepsis Basics

Sepsis Survivors

Some sepsis survivors recover completely and resume their lives, while others may struggle to cope with enduring effects of their illness. Here you can find information to help you navigate post-sepsis life.

Survivor Resources

Caregivers

When your loved one becomes ill with sepsis, you may not know what sepsis is or how to help them. Here are resources that may help you navigate this complex and difficult journey.

Caregiver Resources

Lost Loved Ones

Losing a loved one to sepsis can leave you with grief as well as many questions. Here are answers to some of the questions you may have after losing a loved one to sepsis.

Resources for Loved Ones

Sepsis Alliance Connect

Sepsis Alliance Connect is the virtual support community for anyone affected by sepsis.

Sepsis Alliance Connect

Faces of Sepsis

Elexa Ferguson

Survivor

My sepsis story is long, but I’ll try and keep it short. The week of Thanksgiving 2024 I felt fine, slight sore throat but nothing extreme. Day before Thanksgiving I had some lethargy but managed to help make dinner with my mother in law. Then on Thanksgiving day, in the morning my body aches set in. Extreme all over body aches, nothing could stop them. I was in tears I was in so much pain. I tried to eat thanksgiving dinner with my family, but it was cut short by my body aches and pain. I spend evening, while everyone ... Read Full Story

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MistyAnn McMillan

Survivor, Survivor

It wasn’t my intention to pray, but as I rocked back and forth on my knees with my elbows stretched up the side of my bed, that’s how it would have appeared, and that is exactly when I realized I was in trouble. I had been sick for a couple of days with nausea, and a general unwell feeling but this day was worse than ever. I was alone in my bedroom with my children in their rooms doing the things teenagers usually do when their parents aren’t hovering. I grabbed my notebook and started writing from my position on ... Read Full Story

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Teresa Heidenreich

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

My journey with sepsis began unexpectedly, unfolding over several months filled with intense, recurring pain in my upper right abdomen and stomach. Despite undergoing numerous ultrasounds and CT scans, the doctors were at a loss. It wasn’t until a procedure called ERCP that the mystery was finally solved: I had several stones lodged in my bile duct, igniting a painful bout of pancreatitis. After the procedure in May 2021, which removed all but one stone, I found myself hospitalized for six exhausting days, clinging to hope as I prepared to recover at home. As I settled back into my routine, ... Read Full Story

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Jill W.

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

I am a healthy, active 50 year old. Next Wednesday will be the one year anniversary of waking up with pain in my knee like I slammed it into a wall overnight. I rode my bike easily to an exercise class at 6 am but by 8 AM my knee was a giant ball and I couldn’t put any weight on the leg. A first visit to the ER didn’t show signs of fever or redness so I was sent home at noon with crutches and instructions to return if fever . By 3 pm the fever had set in ... Read Full Story

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Robert Wilgenhof

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

I had suffered a gastrointestinal perforation, this is hard to talk about. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel) I was in the ICU for along time, two long surgeries. I coded on being admitted and in the ICU. I was fully septic and was not expected to survive. I did, I had to learn to walk again. It took years of rehabilitation. It’s been hard. But I refuse to accept defeat or anything less than positivity. Although. I know I’m not quite as awesome as I used to be, but I’ll get there!! Read Full Story

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