Julie Johnson

This is a tribute to my 64-year-old sister Julie. On January 5, 2025 Julie began vomiting and had abdominal pain at night. She said before she knew it, she was on the floor and “spent all night crawling to her phone” in her 400 square foot apartment. She called 911 and was taken to ER in septic shock. She was admitted to ICU and had 3 surgeries in a row to remove her colon. Her kidneys sustained an injury so dialysis was started.

She stayed in the hospital for 6 weeks. Then she transferred to a long-term acute care hospital for further dialysis and PT/OT. During her 8 weeks there she got 2 urinary tract infections and one was severe sepsis. She continued to decline and retain a ton of fluid so she went back to acute hospital on April 11. At the hospital she had multiple transfusions and another urinary tract infection. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections)

Finally on May 4 she was transferred to a skilled nursing facility for rehab. She did not progress too well on standing, etc., after so many infections and being bed bound. I went to her daily as I am a recently retired RN and wanted to advocate for her. On May 21 she seemed extra tired and the next day was confused so I mentioned to nursing staff she likely has another urinary tract infection and to do labs. The next morning she was much worse almost comatose, sitting up in bed. I got her to ER where once again she was in septic shock.

Her body was too tired to fight this new infection so she peacefully passed away on May 25, 2025 after being ill and in hospital for 5 months. I as an RN had really not known much about sepsis and it is very deadly very quickly and so many do t know what to look for in people. Julie was an active 64 year old who loved to rock hunt for agates and dirt bike. She also was a talented color pencil artist-sepsis really took her down. I miss her, but what sepsis did to her body over and over would not have been a good quality of life for her.

Source: Lori Peter, sister