Judith Wilson
I knew little about sepsis before 2018, but all that changed on 30 September 2018. My husband, Andy, was taken to the local hospital by ambulance on ‘blue lights.’ He had been in quite severe abdominal pain for some time. Our doctor was investigating, and we were still waiting for scan results. That evening, Andy actually said I’d better ring for an ambulance as the pain was getting much worse. When the paramedics arrived, they said almost immediately that he was showing all the red flags for sepsis. I knew that sepsis was serious, but I had no idea what was to follow.
He was seen in A&E but, to my amazement and confusion, a consultant sent him home after a remarkably brief period, telling him that nothing was wrong! He was still in the same pain as when he was taken there, we had no diagnosis and no paperwork, but we trusted the doctors and came home. Within a matter of hours I had to ring 999 again as he was in agony and was obviously very unwell. Having explained what had already happened, the call handler referred to her senior and was told this was not an emergency. As the waiting time for an ambulance was now roughly three to four hours, could we get to A&E under our own steam. I do not drive so our daughter-in-law rushed us to hospital. Andy was almost unconscious and was vomiting. The triage nurse took one look at him and took him straight through to resus. He was put on oxygen, given fluids and IV antibiotics, his obs were done, he had a chest x-ray and blood tests. He was admitted to a side ward overnight. I came home at about 3.00 am.
The following day, he had emergency surgery, a cholecystectomy. I found out later (when I asked for a copy of his medical records) that his gallbladder was gangrenous and the poison had spread throughout his body. When I asked the surgeon why he had been sent home (having been told that nothing was wrong), he assured me that the matter had been dealt with. At no time did he mention gangrene. He said that the operation had been ‘rather messy’! He did admit the surgery had been ‘life-saving’, and it was only Andy’s natural strength that pulled him through.
Then followed a three-month nightmare. There’s no other word for it. Andy was in Intensive Care (Critical Care and the High Dependency Unit) for approximately a month. He caught c.diff., had a chest infection which turned into pneumonia, a chest drain removed and repositioned, countless scans/x-rays, total organ failure and was on a ventilator for a short time as even pressurised oxygen wasn’t helping. He developed sepsis again. He was transferred to another hospital for a procedure which could not be done at our local hospital. In the end, they did not perform it because he was so ill. They inserted yet another chest drain to draw all the fluid off his lungs and gave him blood transfusions. By this stage, he was wearing adult nappies because the c.diff. had not responded to treatment. Fortunately, the second antibiotic DID work. He started to gain some strength. There was only one more antibiotic left in their arsenal to fight the c.diff. so I was relieved beyond belief when the second one did the trick.
Andy was transferred back to our local hospital for a further few weeks until he was strong enough to come home. He had post sepsis syndrome for at least two years, but I only knew this because of all the information that was available on American sites. It was never mentioned here in the UK at that time by anyone at all. The cholecystectomy left him with a huge scar. He has had further abdominal surgeries since to repair hernias from that first surgery. Coincidentally, he was diagnosed with MS very recently, so he has been through an extremely rough patch healthwise and is basically regarded as a walking miracle by many of our friends and most of the staff at the hospital when they recognise him on our many visits!
Throughout this entire period we often wondered if we should have taken legal action against the NHS or the doctor who discharged him from A&E that first night. We are not naturally vindictive people but it certainly seems to us that the particular doctor was negligent and should at the very least have kept him in for observation as we know how important it is to administer treatment for sepsis as quickly as possible, within the first hour of onset of symptoms if possible. When Andy was in ICU, covered in tubes and surrounded by beeping machines and computers, I did wonder if I should do something but Andy was so ill that I couldn’t discuss it with him. It was all I could do to keep up with all the visits and travel, and cope with not only my own worry but also look after the rest of the family.
I have done my very best to raise sepsis awareness but am shocked that, even now, some medical professionals STILL seem unaware of the importance of recognising and treating the symptoms. I have campaigned for leaflets, posters and information cards to be made widely available in all the appropriate places but have been told that the cost of producing and distributing such literature is prohibitive! It makes you wonder what is the value of a human life?
We are both, of course, immensely grateful for the care we have received from virtually all the wonderful staff in the NHS here in England, but it seems there is still work to be done. To this day, Andy still needs to talk about his experience with sepsis, asks me to fill in the gaps where he cannot remember what happened, and will (I believe) always be emotionally scarred (as well as physically) by this trauma.
Source: Mrs Judith Wilson - wife of Andrew Wilson
