Mark Dillon

In 2009 I got a hospital infection and sepsis. (Sepsis and Healthcare-Acquired Infections) Although at the time I wasn’t being treated for either my wife, Dawn, knew something was very wrong with me. Doctors thought my condition was due to an earlier back operation but Dawn was having none of it. She demanded that my temp be taken, which showed I had a fever, and led to them taking BP (low) and HR (high). Consequently immediate surgery and 8 weeks hospitalisation for intravenous antibiotics.

When I was feeling much better, Dawn and I was advised I now had a 60% mortality rate.

Why did I survive? Dawn’s insistence and penicillin. My medical records, as long as I remember, said penicillin allergy, but due to my worsening mortality rate, they administered penicillin regardless. Fortunately for me I didn’t have an allergy and moreover because I’d never taken penicillin (at least for 43 years) it worked on the infection.

My learning? Doctors are not always right. Learn the symptoms and if in any doubt question. Above all don’t take antibiotics when there isn’t an infection. Not doing so now could save your life.

Thanks if you’ve read my story and please find out the signs of sepsis.