Noel Whitman

My grandfather, Noel Whitman, was a healthy 61-year-old who loved to golf, do woodwork, and hunt. He worked at Blue Shield and had been married to my grandmother for 33 years. In June 2013, he had just purchased a dream house where he planned to have fun with all of his grandkids. On 6/20/2013, my grandfather was at his new house working in his barn to set up his woodshop. On 6/21/2013, our family’s life and his would change forever. My grandfather woke up and got dressed for work. He threw up at his desk, so he took the day off work and thought he had either eaten something bad the day before or was coming down with the flu. He vomited all night.

On 6/22/2013, my grandfather felt very tired, but he thought it was from being up all night vomiting. He had fever and chills. At noon, his family took his vital signs because he seemed so sick, and they found his pulse to be elevated and blood pressure low. He was also running a fever. They decided to take my grandfather to the emergency room, thinking he was dehydrated. He got up and dressed himself but got really weak and couldn’t get back up to get into the car to go to the ER. Grandma called the ambulance. Paramedics took my grandfather’s temperature and it was 107 degrees. As they were loading him onto the gurney, he looked like he was having a seizure. On the way to the hospital (only 2 miles away), he became unresponsive and had to have a breathing tube inserted. At the ER, they put him on life support and said he was in septic shock. They spent the day trying to keep his blood pressure high enough because he was experiencing disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), a complication of sepsis, and was bleeding and making blood clots internally. (Sepsis and DIC) This caused damage to all of his internal organs. We weren’t sure if my grandfather would live through the night. The doctors said his infection was caused by pneumonia and/or a urinary tract infection, both of which he didn’t know he had, and had disguised themselves as the flu when he began throwing up the day before.

The next ten days were a nightmare as he fought for his life in the Critical Care Unit. For a few days, he opened his eyes. We had hoped he would recover, but knew it would take a miracle. By 6/28/14, his infection was returning with a fever and the doctors tried to treat all of the other complications. The damage to all of his organs caused him to be on kidney dialysis continuously. His liver was not working, there was damage to his heart, he couldn’t breathe on his own and was on a ventilator, he had to be on IV medication to keep his blood pressure high enough, and he did not respond to anything or anyone. The doctors were concerned his brain had been injured during the septic shock. Doctors were also concerned the internal bleeding and infection had damaged his intestines. In short, nothing was working properly.

My Grandfather served in the Army during the Vietnam War and managed to survive. But his body could not keep fighting sepsis. It overtook him on 7/5/14 and he passed away peacefully surrounded by his family.

Our family and his friends miss him terribly. We share his story because we hope other people will recognize that the symptoms of sepsis can appear like the flu, and someone can go from having no symptoms to being on life support in just 28 hours. Recognizing the symptoms earlier and getting prompt medical attention can be the difference between life and death.

 

Note from Sepsis Alliance – John started a fundraising page in his grandfather’s name. You can find it here.

Source: by John Artley (Noel's grandson)