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Patients & Family

Here you can find resources to help you or a loved one understand sepsis.

We are constantly adding new information, so please come back again to see what new features are available.

Diagnosed with Sepsis

You’re not alone

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

What Does it Mean

Faces of Sepsis

You’re not alone

Read stories from sepsis survivors and from people who have lost someone they love to sepsis. More than 1,000 stories cover the many types of infections that can cause sepsis, and the outcomes.

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Barbie Nesser

Survivor

Hi my name is Barbie and I am 62 years old. It was June of 2020 when I had my 4th UTI in 6 months. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) I was prescribed Macrobid on June 10th. By Friday I was experiencing back pain. It was late in the day, but I decided to call my primary doctor. Luckily my doctor called me back. She asked if we could FaceTime. My doctor thought I did not look very well and I also developed a stye in my eye and I never had them before. It was evident that I was …

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Kari Wilford

Survivor, Survivor

I had surgery to save my left kidney in August 2019. Within a day of being released from the hospital, I had severe joint pain and a rising fever. (Sepsis and Surgery) The next day I woke up with chills so I called my doctor who assumed I probably picked up a bug and put me on antibiotics. A few more days went by and I went to the ER because I was feeling run down and the antibiotic didn’t seem to be helping. The ER doctor put me on a different antibiotic and thankfully told me to drop everything …

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Alyne Vasques da Silva

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

I spent a good part of the time looking for help in medical offices followed by several hospitalizations without any probable diagnosis, that’s when dyspnea, severe pain, high fever, edema and confusion started. It was then that I went to the operating room and found that I had a complicated asymptomatic appendicitis, which rendered me several days in a coma struggling in the ICU to cure sepsis, with some more severe complications came mediastinitis, necrosis in a part of the intestine , peritonitis and a stopper in the tracheostomy tube that led to a cardiorespiratory arrest that is difficult to …

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Doug Peters

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

In 2018 started to experience swollen foot, dizziness and hallucinations. Went to a number of specialists, including labs and imaging. My foot hurt the most and all Doctors said it was diabetes and to keep it raised. (Sepsis and Hallucinations) Several blamed it on drinking which I do admit was issue, however I was not and still not diabetic. Finally one day in Nov could not get out of bed for appointment. Grown daughter was at home checking up on me and Mother. She called a visiting nurse and they did come that day. Within minutes of checking my vitals …

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Taryna Widdicombe

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

After having a colonoscopy I was bleeding from my back passage. I told the doctor and he said it was perfectly normal. When I got home I had a really bad stomach pain. It felt as though my stomach had exploded. I then started feeling very cold. My husband gave me a hot water bottle and I went to bed. It was the middle of summer. I couldn’t settle and started feeling very sick, disorientated and I had no control of my functions. My husband called 999 an ambulance rushed me to hospital. I had a x-ray which showed I …

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Faces of Sepsis
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Military & Veterans

Many of today’s life saving medical and surgical procedures were first discovered or refined by the military.

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Mental Health

Sepsis survivors and family members of people who have had sepsis may find themselves experiencing emotional and psychological issues that can make it difficult to move forward.

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It’s About Time™

It’s About TIME™ is a national initiative to raise awareness of sepsis and the urgent need to seek treatment when symptoms are recognized.

Early detection is the best hope to survive and limit disabilities when sepsis is present.
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Erin’s Campaign for Kids

IN MEMORY OF ERIN BUG FLATLEY | 1978 – 2002

Erin’s Campaign for Kids aims to combat the high incidence and mortality rates of sepsis among children. The campaign creates awards and training programs for nurses and other health professionals to help identify and treat a disease that, by conservative estimates, causes over 18 child deaths per day or 6,800 child deaths in the United States every year, more than pediatric cancers.

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