Isobel Garnett

My husband died in May this year after a battle with lung cancer. It took a lot of fighting with our health service to get him treatment and a diagnosis it was a nightmare for both of us especially him. This went on for a few months then he got finally diagnosed with lung cancer but in the meantime he got no treatment because they did not know what stage he was at. He finally got his results and was stage 4 lung cancer. The only treatment he got was antibiotics then four week later he died at home in our bed with my arms round him.

I felt depressed, bereaved did not eat so lost weight immune system getting weaker. I got a lot of bites down my garden when doing a lot of clearing up. The bites got aggressive and were all over my body even in my privates. Soon after a felt unwell like a cold, then started shaking. I thought it was a bug so left it for a few days. Getting worse by the third day, I was so weak and on my own so I got scared. The pain all over my body was so great, I could feel my body shutting down and felt so disorientated, I was slurring my words and very emotional. I phoned 111 for advice and they sent an ambulance. The paramedic looked at me struggling to breath and said I had sepsis. I felt bad thought I was dying at one point.

After a two-hour wait in hospital, they treated me with intravenous antibiotic. The hospital gave me a good check over then sent me home later that night with antibiotic. I was very poorly for the next week then I felt it come back again. So back into hospital feeling very sick and very unwell with my temperature very high shaking so much all the symptoms. More antibiotic, more tests then sent me home. It took a long time to get my strength back and I am still not the person I was before sepsis. But I have survived and glad I caught it so early, and I thank the paramedic who was so quick to spot it.

I have found that if I get a cold it takes much longer to get over it and I don’t heal as quickly and do get very tired. But that’s a small price to pay for some other stories I have read and as I have said before I am alive and quite well.

Most people don’t know what sepsis is or how deadly it can be. There seems to be a great ignorance about it I do wish people were more aware.