Sepsis Alliance

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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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Shanavya Waller

Survivor

I’m 28 years old. I had problems with my stomach pain for five years. I went to every doctor I could find to find out what the problem was. Nobody could find anything. They started telling me it was all in my head. So I tried one last gastroenterologist. She ran a light in me and found something but she couldn’t tell what it was. So she did another test and got a sample to make sure it wasn’t cancer. It wasn’t, so she sent me to a surgeon. He came right in and told me you have to get …

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Ron Jennings

Survivor, Survivor

In November 2012 I had my pacemaker changed out. (Sepsis and Surgery, Sepsis and Invasive Devices) The new pacemaker was attached to 2 wires that had been put into my heart 23 years earlier. About 2 weeks later the incision had become red, swollen and had blisters. The incision started to separate. The surgeon looked at it in his office and said, “I have no clue what is wrong.” He sent me across the hall from his office to my cardiologist. I wasn’t even given a “patient” room and was seated in a hall. The doctor looked at me and …

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Jules Pusinelli

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

I’m a 35-year-old mum of Miss 2 & Miss 4, from New Zealand but living in Singapore and I had sepsis in December 2016. I had laser treatment to remove incompetent great saphenous veins in both legs. A procedure that you’re supposed to walk away from less than an hour afterwards. I did not walk away. In fact I did not walk again for 2 weeks. I woke up from the sedation vomiting green, dizzy with painful contractions in my back. My blood pressure had dropped to 45/25. They waited a few hours to see if I would improve. I …

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April Sims

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

I was 42 at the time. In October 2015, I was just leaving work and started to have pain in my side. As I was driving home the pain was getting worse and worse. I felt as if I would pass out. I made it home and ran to the bathroom as I felt I had to throw up. It was the worst pain I had ever experienced. My Mom asked if she should call an ambulance. I said no, I’ll be ok. I took an Advil and the pain went away. My brother said he had had pain like …

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Katy Grainger

Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor, Survivor

In September of 2018, while living on the island of Kauai, I became ill with an infection in a cut on my finger and what I thought was mild flu symptoms.  (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections) I visited a medical clinic and was given antibiotics for the infection on my finger and sent home because my vital signs were strong with no fever and normal blood pressure. I was told to call the clinic if my symptoms got worse. I took my temperature throughout the following day, but assumed that because I had no fever, I probably didn’t have a bad …

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faces of sepsis
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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