Sepsis Survival Stories

I want to share my relative’s experience with sepsis. He had a history of stomach issues for many years. Near the beginning of 2019, he went to the hospital in pain many times, and each time he was sent home with nothing – sometimes pain pills, but he was never held for testing. In July 2019, he went to the hospital with his sister. They finally admitted him as his stomach had extended out quite a lot and was rock-hard. He ended up in ICU, and after some tests, he was found to have multiple hernias. He was operated and…

My father was Ronald Heva Peal – Sim’oogit K’amlaxyaltkw of Wilps Luux Hoon – from the mighty Nass River Valley and traditional Nisga’a lands. He was born to Sam & Ida Peal in October 1945. He was an Industrial Education teacher from 1979 – 2002 at Nisga’a Elementary Secondary School in Gitlax̱t’aamiks. My father experienced two heart attacks in April 2012 at the age of 66. After the second one and although he started to regain strength by exercising and eating healthy, he got very sick and seemed to have a common cold, but he just couldn’t get rid of…

Stanley Namox is from Witset, Thin (Gifyu) House Clan, located in Northern BC. N’ik is Stanley’s Chief Name. To the BC Sepsis Network, Stanley is a recent patient partner with the Patient Voices Network who has many stories to tell. In this interview, Stanley recounts his experience with sepsis as a result of pneumonia, what he noticed that caused him to seek medical attention and what he would like to share with other patients, families and health care providers. Stanley is leading the way on how to respect and treat one another the way you would want to be treated….

I started the summer of 2017 as a healthy 45-year old health care professional with well-controlled diabetes. Over the summer, a new diabetic medication was added to my treatment plan – one of the new “wonder drugs” for diabetes. One of the possible side effects was risk of infection, and despite all the precautions, I had the bad luck of contracting a bladder infection. This progressed to a kidney infection and didn’t get better despite two rounds of antibiotic treatment. I developed a chest infection which I put down to a bad cold that was going around, and over the…

My name is Richard Cave and I am a survivor of sepsis. I am an above-knee amputee as of September 22, 2016. Since 2013, I have undergone 18 surgeries for vascular disease and diabetes. I’m a certified Peer Councillor for the Canadian Coalition of Amputees and volunteer every Tuesday at Peace Arch Hospital to council new amputees and heart/stroke victims. I’m also a patient partner at Peace Arch and Delta Hospitals, working on various committees within the hospital structure to provide a patient’s perspective to health services. In March 2018, my bladder stopped functioning for three days after vascular surgery….

Today I bounded from bed at my usual get-up time of 6 am. Shaved and dressed up, I emerged into the glorious morning sunlight. My daily walk through the neighbourhood filled another invigorating hour before I enjoyed breakfast. Emails, Google searches and a few chapters of a crime novel consumed several more hours before a delicious lunch prepared by Anne was served. A lazy afternoon included a 1960’s rerun of Gunsmoke, to which I was addicted, followed by research and writing activities as I chronicled a current literary project. Due to the summer heat, I postponed a bicycle run I…