Shelley Humphrey

On April 13, 2016 I was awaken by a phone call. Mom was being taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital for abdominal pain and shortness of breath. A few hours later she was being transferred to OSF St. Francis in Peoria, IL. My sister and I made the 1.5 hour trip to the hospital. After several hours of waiting to finally see her, we were told they were having troubles maintaining her blood pressure. They had put in an arterial line and central line and moving her to ICU. We stayed with her until she was settled in ICU late that evening and finally after a long day we left with a kisses and I love you’s.

With families of our own, my sister maintained contact with the hospital to check in for updates. By 10:00 am the next morning there was a mad rush for medical surrogates. Mom was married and her husband had taken a phone call from the hospital that morning and gave consent for intubation and then said he no longer wanted to make medical decisions for her. At that moment my world changed forever. Out of four children (2 boys, 2 girls), the boys told my sister and I that they trusted us to make the decisions. By that time were already making our 1.5 hour drive back to the hospital. We were stopped outside her ICU room by the doctor and told they were putting in a chest tube and that she probably wouldn’t make it. They had her maxed out on 4 pressors and they usually stop at 3. At this point we had no clue what was wrong with her. We knew she had an infection in addition to the BP issues but that was it.

Finally after a few hours we were able to see her. Intubated, arterial line, central line, chest tube, 2 IV poles with more numbers and buttons and fluids I have ever seen. I’m not quite sure when it hit me but with some medical knowledge somewhere sepsis came to my mind. I asked the doctor if she was in septic shock. She said they didn’t know, but I knew without a doubt that was it.

Over the next week we kept vigil by her bedside waiting for improvement. Maybe one day her BP would be better but kidney function would be worse. That was when I learned about Palliative Care. Then the decision. Keep trying invasive procedures like dialysis or make her comfortable. The agonizing decision was the worst thing I have ever had to do. I begged and pleated for her to wake up and tell me what to do. Ultimately we made the decision to let her go.

One week to the day she went in, Mom passed with all four of us children by her side. It wasn’t until I requested her death certificate that I learned I was correct and that she had died of septic shock. My mom was 57 years old when she died. On April 20, it will be 2 years since we lost her. Losing her was like losing part of myself. That week she was in the hospital will never leave me. On April 13th I will start to relive it all,every day of that week, every decision, everything. Mom had an infection that turned septic because it wasn’t treated fully. I don’t blame anyone but I have absolutely learned the consequences of not properly and fully treating an infection. I search articles and research for sepsis treatments and I hope one day no one will ever have to lose someone to septic shock.

Source: Angela, Daughter