Donna Turner

My mother came to Colorado to have a back surgery. This would be her third. All she wanted was to stand and walk up-right. Instead she suffered for two years fighting large bed sores the size of golf balls going deep into her gluteus maximus almost reaching the spine. (Sepsis and Surgery, Sepsis and Pressure Ulcers)

They had tried skin grafts that were not successful. She went daily to have these sores cleaned out to make sure she didn’t get infections.

On January 15, 2017 I received a call from the rehabilitation center where my mom had been residing for a couple of weeks. She had fallen in her bathroom and laid in between the toilet and shower, unable to get up for 18 hours. I spoke with her on the phone and she sounded good just the day before. The call I received was not a good one. The nurse said that they took her by ambulance and was in the ICU. She would not wake up.

My brother and I flew out that evening and drove to the hospital. Upon arriving we spoke with several doctors that said she had sepsis and that it affected her brain as well. We had two options. We could let the doctors treat her but they said she would never be the same or we could put her in hospice and let her go peacefully.

I had to watch and wait for my mother to pass. She lasted seven days. On January 22, 2017, my mother passed away. It has been so difficult to deal with losing her. If it wouldn’t have been for those bed sores, I believe she would still be with us today.

A word of advice to all, if ever you have a loved one that cannot get out of bed and needs to be turned on a constant basis, please watch for any sores that are forming because in a blink of the eye, my mom was here and then gone too soon.

She was my hero and the strongest person I have ever met in my life.

Source: Jamae Garvin - daughter