Yvonne D.

In Aug 2022 I collapsed at home. No warning, no air, everything went black. 5 days in ICU, 5 more on a ward. Diagnosed with severe pneumonia. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I felt I was released too soon. Something was still wrong. No one listened.

2 weeks later I was back in the ICU shivering cold, low body temp, blood pressure very low and ambulance drivers hadn’t been able to get a pulse. Rapid breathing but breathless. In ICU 2 days and was then put to sleep, intubated and sent to a larger hospital on full life support. A bronchoscopy was done and a CT which showed nothing. Kidney function dropped to 18%. 4 days later sent back to local hospital to recover. 6 days later I was discharged, and terrified! None of this made sense. I was healthy before this.

I have a disabled husband so he tries but gets tired so fast. Now the worst part is the fear. Is this going to come back? What is that odd sensation I feel? Do I call an ambulance? Is this starting again? Little energy, and my body really deconditioned. Heart rate is 55 at rest but 130+ when I try to do a chore. Sleep is poor, and while I can do my own personal care, I can’t do much else for very long. My lungs got affected I’m sure. I’m having flashbacks and very depressed. Reluctant to go out. I still get periods of shortness of breath daily but 02 sats are good. So I dont want to be out somewhere and have this happen again. For me there was absolutely no warning. Very grateful to be alive but right now my quality of life is not so great. It was a nurse in the big city hospital that I was at that said sepsis! Thank God for her! It’s got to get better.