On Friday I just had a cough. By Saturday I was dying in hospital
YESTERDAY Health Secretary Shona Robison made a significant announcement that she will run a national campaign to raise awareness of sepsis.
She had previously ruled out such a move but now she has changed her mind.
This is such welcome news to all of us involved in the vital campaign against this condition, myself included.
Four years ago, I was a fit and healthy businesswoman and mum when a bad cough just refused to go away. My doctor examined me on a Friday afternoon and decided I had a chest infection and gave me antibiotics.
On the Saturday, I was dying with less than a 5 per cent chance of survival. Total organ failure within an hour of arriving in hospital. My sepsis was a result of acute pneumonia that wasn’t obvious to my doctor or me.
Early recognition of the symptoms is absolutely vital and any campaign that makes more people aware of those signs is bound to save lives. It pains me to say that the ‘golden hour’ of treatment that means the difference between life and death is being missed all too often.
I survived sepsis but unfortunately my luck stopped there. I lost my legs and hands as a result of my body overreacting to the infection and shutting down the circulation to my extremities. They turned black and gangrene set in, adding to my infections.
Amputations over several operations were necessary and my life changed forever. There are many horrible illnesses that threaten our families. Most, though, involve major planning of treatments and operations and cures over a period, and are rarely so instantaneous as septic shock. There is no time to plan or prepare.
I set up the Finding Your Feet charity to support amputees and those with limb difference. They come from many illnesses, and many are nasty and long-term, but sepsis is there in an instant.
You die in an instant OR you survive, dependant on the reaction of those around you and their awareness. Survivors can have horrible scars and effects from the poison. Amputations like mine, organ dysfunction such as kidney failure or lung damage. I had two-thirds of a lung removed earlier this year as a result of sepsis and pneumonia damage and I am sure my friends
‘Sepsis acts fast – and so must we’
and family will tell you I am a bit dizzy and forgetful at times.
Of the people that develop sepsis, a quarter of survivors suffer life-changing disabilities. The blood poisoning can kill in just a few hours and there are many, many sources of initial infection: a cut, a knock, a cough, a cold, a germ and so on. It is not restricted to old age, bad health, poor lifestyle or vulnerable adults.
It can happen to anyone. It’s silent. It’s often mistaken for everyday illnesses. Sepsis is an equal opportunity killer.
When it was first announced earlier this month that there was to be no formal campaign from the Scottish Government to raise awareness, we decided to do what we could ourselves.
Thanks to social media, we shared a video that has now been seen by over two million people. We received thousands of replies from people telling us their sepsis stories. Many said they had never heard of sepsis. Some survived against the odds with some horror stories and many told of their grief and their shocking losses.
We are encouraging everyone to #speakaboutsepsis and get their stories out there. Every single one raises awareness and keeps the subject current. If I have my way, ‘I had never heard of sepsis’ comments will be a thing of the past.
I was also delighted the Scottish Daily Mail got involved with its own campaign to put pressure on the Government. It’s the combined effort of all of us and the Government and NHS staff that will make the biggest difference to making a radical change.
Please join me in speaking about this devastating condition. If you or someone you know has suffered through it, tell your story. Make others aware. Sepsis acts fast and so must we.