K. M.

My daughter has special needs and was living in an independent center. I tried calling her for 2 days with no answer. I called on the house supervisor to check on her and they said she was home, but in the bathroom every time they checked on her. I asked them to check her blood sugar and it was over 400.

I was out of town, so they called the ambulance. It took me 3 hours to get there. She was diagnosed with a UTI and dehydrated and given an antibiotic, but by the time I got there she was in a room with no IV or anything. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) I ask what treatment they were doing and they reply was the on-call doctor would be in in the morning. They called him a couple of times with the same reply (it was a Saturday night). I had a fit. My daughter was out of it and no responsive. I had to sign her out and take her to another hospital a half hour away at midnight, by this time. The nurse called ahead and told them we were coming.

People were waiting for us when we arrived. My daughter wouldn’t wake up. The intake nurse had an attitude at first but quickly changed when she tried talking to her. My daughter ended up in ICU for 10 days. She had c-diff too. What a scary, horrible experience. Even though she is only 41, she is in a nursing home now. (Sepsis and C. Difficile)

Source: Peg Ebert, mother