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It's a year since I got #sepsis after a simple case of cystitis developed into an E-coli infection in my bloodstream. I spent 2 days thinking I had severe flu, but went to A&E on July 16th last year just in time. (I still felt like a timewaster)
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(1/9)
By all accounts I got there just in time. I was still able to walk, talk, eat, drink, urinate normally. I only had a few of the symptoms on the sepsis checklist posters.
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(2/9)
But my resting heartrate was incredibly high, my breathing fast, and my temperature over 39C with aches and chills like never before. I sent this pic to my loved ones, still maintaining I was fine.
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I have never been in fear of my life like I was that first night. Diagnosis isn't easy. It took a while before the tests showed up exactly what I had, but the tour de force of intravenous antibiotics did the trick over the days that followed.
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(4/9)
One year later, I still have lingering effects: muscle aches and sporadic fatigue I didn't suffer from before, and my stamina is not what it was. But unlike so many, I emerged largely unscathed.
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My message to anyone who thinks it could be sepsis is don't delay seeking urgent medical attention like I did. (The current Covid crisis makes this even more difficult, and I appreciate that.) I was almost apologetic for 'bothering' A&E. I thought they'd send me away.
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(7/9)
But another night at home could have meant a very different outcome. And something so serious and life-threatening CAN develop from something so apparently 'trivial'. You don't need to have all the symptoms on the poster.
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At least 48,000 people in the UK die with sepsis each year. Of ALL ages, backgrounds and levels of fitness.
That's 5 people dying with sepsis every hour.
40% of survivors are left with permanent, life-changing after-effects. (9/9)
#sepsisawareness
@MTWnhs @SepsisUK
That's 5 people dying with sepsis every hour.
40% of survivors are left with permanent, life-changing after-effects. (9/9)
#sepsisawareness
@MTWnhs @SepsisUK
