My close relative is suffering from this and i just need to understand whats happening and what can be done.

She had a urine infection after a pilgrimage. She also suffered from a fractured hip/back issue for which a titanium plate was inserted in her back. Infection/fungus grew there and had to be removed. The infection spread to other body parts. They have tried all anti-infection drugs but the drugs have no effect - It is antibiotic - resistant infection if i understand it correctly.
There was water retention which was causing a lot of pain and she was admitted in the ICU - since then there is swelling of intestines and pancreas. Creatine has also shot up to 4.

The hospital says we have tried everything we can - but we cant fight the infection

Whats next ?

This is written as per my understanding - please bare with me.

My dad has been in the hospital for 14 days, almost died from septic shock from an infection from his kidneys. He was doing well, a little confused and paranoid but nothing too crazy, and going to get released today. He woke up this morning in full psychosis, won’t let the doctors treat him, totally freaking out. They are sending him to an in-patient psych ward. Has this happened to anyone else? He has a history of BPD and ADHD but never nothing to this extent.

Hello everyone,

I found out recently that when I had Influenza A in March of 2025, I also had and was treated for Sepsis. I found this out through a Subject Access Request I made to my hospital, as I felt something was missing from my discharge form, as the severity of my flu infection was unusually severe (it literally put me in the resus ward), and I didn't believe it explained fully the aftermath my body went through and is still going through.

I developed some unpleasant side effects of the flu, including various autonomic symptoms & syndromes, worsening of preexisting conditions, and completely unexpected gut consequences.

I am now reliant on a wheelchair where I was walking before, am on medication for my heart rate and blood pressure, looking at IBD, my asthma is worse than it was before, my ME is worse, etc. Basically, everything is worse and I feel like shit *all the time*

What interests me is that the sepsis and the antibiotics used to treat it (Tiecoplanin and Gentamicin) were all documented in the physicians notes and vitals documentation. But completely left out of the discharge form. Nobody but the people who treated me in resus that day knew I had sepsis, until I found out for myself.

I think that telling me could have helped me explain things much easier in my 100+ appointments that I've had since then, because my life has completely changed, and I'm still suffering over a year on.

And with the potential IBD (everything else has been ruled put, inflammatory markers came back highly positive), I would be at a much higher risk of getting sepsis again surely?

Should I take this information that I've receieved to my GP and have it noted on my file that I had sepsis? I just dont understand why they left it out completely, especially since they said they expected me to crash and didn't specify why.

Almost 2 weeks ago, I (35f) woke up extremely cold and shivering. After 12 hours, I agreed to go to the emergency room via an ambulance. While I was in the ambulance, my temperature was taken and found i had a 104° fever. While in the E.R. I was given IV fluids for dehydration, something to help break the fever, and they took blood cultures. I was sent home late that night after the fever broke and my temp was back to 97°.

I spent roughly 36hours after being released from the ER that night fighting fevers with Tylenol as directed by the ER, my highest temp reaching 102. Right around the 36-hour mark, I had gotten a call from the hospital asking how I was doing. When I told them that I was still battling with fevers, they told me something in my blood cultures was indicating that I needed to go back to the hospital for IV antibiotics.

I was admitted to the hospital for 6 days, getting IV antibiotics every day. Other than getting extremely depressed and not wanting to be in the hospital, there wasn't much craziness while I was there. The final diagnosis was e coli from a uti that turned septic.

I was released this last Monday. Since I've been out of the hospital, whenever I'm asked how I'm doing the only way I can answer is by saying, "I'm better than I was when I went to the hospital, but I'm far from being 100%".

I honestly don't know how else to explain what I'm experiencing. I've been noticing the ways that I feel is worse than when I got sick, none of which are really logically coorelated to the symptoms i was having at the height of being sick. To say it's confusing to me is an understatement.

Okay, I understand the brain fog due to the 104 fever, but I don't understand why after taking the same exact walk that I had been taking twice every day for a month left both of my calves so sore the next morning, as if I had ran 5 miles. My joints, specifically my hips, are extremely stiff and they lock up while I'm just sitting. I feel like when I'm walking I'm unsteady, each step is taken cautiously as if the ground might disappear under my feet, so basically become hyperfocused on how I take each individual step. My stomach is unsettled with literally everything I eat, so I can only take a couple bites of food before it starts feeling too heavy in my gut.

Are these normal things to experience after sepsis? I have such a hard time explaining these things to anyone around me because it honestly doesn't make any sense to me why I'm even experiencing these problems.

My mom was found deceased in her apartment after a wellness check. She had been gone for approximately two weeks by the time she was found, so unfortunately, I have very few definitive answers about what happened.

In the days leading up to her death, a friend told me my mom had been dealing with several concerning symptoms. She had cysts on her back that had opened or been popped, severe back pain, an episode where she nearly passed out, and what she described as low blood sugar.

Looking back through her text messages from around that time, something else stood out to me: her messages seemed increasingly “off.” There were unusual misspellings and sentences that didn’t sound like her. My mom was an author and spent much of her life writing, so seeing her communicate that way makes me wonder whether she may have been experiencing confusion or altered mental status.

After going through her belongings, I also found medication related to UTIs.

What makes me question sepsis even more is that she had experienced similar problems in 2023. At that time, she had a large cysts on her back that required treatment, and she was prescribed Keflex and Diflucan.

I understand that none of this can confirm sepsis, especially without an autopsy or medical testing. I’m not looking for anyone here to diagnose her after the fact. I’m just trying to understand whether this combination of symptoms, a potentially infected/open cyst, possible UTI, severe pain, nearly fainting, and apparent confusion, sounds consistent with how sepsis can present or progress.

I keep going back through everything trying to piece together what may have happened to her. Without a definitive medical answer, sepsis is one possibility that I can’t seem to shake.

If anyone who has experienced sepsis themselves, lost someone to it, or has medical knowledge is willing to share their perspective, I would really appreciate it.

And I’m sorry if this is rambling. I’m a son trying to understand how his mom died when there aren’t many answers.

Hello all
I need help - and please don’t comment “talk to a medical professional” because I have, and they don’t fkn care or want to help. I’m looking for specific advice on what to ask for/demand tests for etc when I next go to the doctor.
11 months ago I had sepsis. No one ever told me where the infection started or what caused it and it doesn’t say in my medical records.
It started on a Friday - I was at the 4wd show, it was a warm day. I started feeling a bit light headed and nauseous. I’ve always gotten really really severe period cramps and I had just finished my period. I progressed to having mild abdominal pains, which I attributed to that. After a few hours, I almost passed out, I became really disoriented, dizzy, light headed, almost threw up, and ended up on the floor somehow. My partner took me home and I slept it off.
The next day, I woke up with horrendous abdominal cramps, I was in excruciating pain every time I moved at all. I had work that day so I went to work. I’m a vet nurse, so my job involves a lot of physical work. At work, I was struggling, I was in so much pain and couldn’t really do my job properly, I tried taking some ibuprofen and Panadol but it didn’t help. I was restraining a possum for an exam and passed out, when I came around someone else had thankfully gotten the possum from me and made sure it was okay. I tried to get up again and passed out again. My boss bought me a juice box, thinking my blood sugar was low or something. I drank it, tried to get up, almost threw up and passed out again. Of course, my boss sent me home (approx 9am Saturday).
Stupidly, I drove home even though the hospital was right next to my work. When I got home, I had a warm shower and immediately felt worse on getting out. I could not keep myself warm at all (summer in Australia), I had multiple layers on, multiple doonas, aircon on 30 degrees. I was shaking violently, so so cold. I was in so much pain and I threw up once. I then began to drift in and out of consciousness and couldn’t actually keep myself conscious no matter how hard I tried.
Stupidly again, I drove myself to the hospital (4pm).
I was rushed straight through and have a pretty blurry memory of what happened. I was told I was in septic shock, my blood pressure was crashing, my temp was through the roof, I was about to start having my organs shut down.
I was started on some pretty gnarly antibiotics, narcotics for the pain, fluid therapy etc.
I stayed in ICU for a couple nights and was in hospital a week.
They did all sorts of tests, bloods, xray, CT, MRI, ultrasound, culture and sensitivity and a bunch of other stuff I don’t remember. No one could explain why this happened (which is terrifying and I have some trauma around this now) but eventually I stabilised and was sent home.
From there, I developed POTS and atrial tachycardia which my care team theorised is a result of the trauma my body went through.
My POTS symptoms are blood pressure drops and tachycardia, passing out, brain fog, chronic fatigue, urinary issues, nausea plus a bunch of weird funky heart stuff.
Now, ever since the sepsis I have had severe abdominal pain every time anything enters my gastro intestinal tract - liquid or food. Anything that goes into my stomach causes me so much pain. It’s to the point where I have to force myself to get enough calories in to sustain my life. I’ve trialed different foods and nothing seems to help. I have tried extensively to get this worked up with different doctors, the furthest I’ve managed to get with any of them was a coeliac test and a heliobactor test which were both negative. When I got the results that these were negative, my doctor pretty much shrugged her shoulders and said she doesn’t know why I’m in so much pain.
I can’t fkn live like this, it’s so awful and I really want to try and actually give myself a bit more of a quality of life. Sepsis and POTS has taken so much away from me, I’ve lost so much of my old self and my independence, I just want to go a single day without being in pain from trying to do one of life’s basic functions.
If anyone has ever had any similar experience or had any ideas of how I can try and get someone to listen to me and order tests for me to figure this out, I would be eternally grateful.
I’m definitely going to ask for maybe a scope or something but I want to come with a clear plan and requests so I can start making progress.
Thankyou if you read all of that!

I didn't have a dramatic story or anything, apparently had an on and off kidney infection for a very long time and it quickly evolved into a week long case of sepsis. Died. Resuscitated. Went home on the fifth of​​ June. Im not like "bouncing back" though Ive noticed, some days I can walk for hours like I used to, but most days getting up to do laundry is an impossible task. My mental health went from okay to "one minor incident is making me lose chunks of hair". Fainting constantly. I don't know what to do or what to expect.

I cant afford any more doctor or specialist appointments to talk about this with them. What do I expect? I thought I had like a "minor" case of sepsis, my nurse made it sound like I'd be pretty okay after two months but now its almost September and I just feel like shit. I cant even walk my dogs or anything. Getting up to get changed or put on makeup is an all day activity. My friends are amazing, constantly calling and checking up on me, but its not enough. What do I do? What do I expect? I dont know what to do.

Hi all,

Waited a while to post this to give myself some time emotionally process what happened to me. I'm (31F) 7 weeks post hospital-discharge from my septic shock. It's crazy reading all the various ways in which people wind up getting sepsis..

At the end of July I got tattooed, a sort of bigger one on my thigh, which is something I am very familiar with as I am heavily tattooed. I did all the aftercare the same as always but within 36 hours of getting tattooed my health suddenly took an extreme turn fast. I became extremely tired very suddenly and wound up going to sleep around 7pm, by 11pm I woke up intensely vomiting uncontrollably. I spent the next 3 days in a delirious state, believing I had the stomach flu. I couldn't eat, drink, or even really stay awake. I was so out of it that at the time I didn't even realize how dire it was. Of all of the traumatic things I was about to endure, the 3 days I spent alone in my apartment is almost the worst of it all, because I realize if I didn't get myself medical attention when I did I would have died alone in my apartment.

On the third day I woke up and the gastrointestinal part of sickness had gone away, but I suddenly felt a sense of urgency that something was seriously wrong. I was so sick and delirious I really hadn't even been able to process that my thigh was becoming increasingly worse. I just couldn't even stay awake long enough to really understand anything that was happening. But when I woke up that morning I realized I spent the entire night shaking uncontrollably and moaning out of discomfort. Because I hadn't eaten or drank anything I knew I was severely dehydrated and the pain in my leg was becoming more and more unbearable and it was looking very very infected. My entire thigh was now an intense red.. I had decided to go to urgent care but I was alone and could not muster up the energy to get dressed and get myself there. It took me about 6 hours to get the energy to finally go. It didn't even occur to me that I could ask for help, I wasn't thinking straight. I started to notice rashes all over my skin, blisters forming on my legs, numbness, tingling and swelling in my feet, so many things.

Of course when I got to urgent care and finally saw the doctor she was extremely alarmed at the state I was in, I was freezing cold/uncontrollably shaking, barely able to speak above a whisper, I was tachycardic, hypotensive, I lost about 10 pounds just in those 3 days... and my leg was in a state. She took one look at it and demanded I take an ambulance straight to the hospital.

Once I got to the ER my condition seemed to snowball so fast. It took several hours for them to get the labs back and to officially diagnose me with sepsis. And this entire time I continued to feel a sense of urgency like I described before. I knew that time was of the essence, like I could feel that my body was starting to fail and fast, but I didn't know why until then.

After a few hours in the ER they admitted me and brought me to a different floor. They suddenly were evaluating whether I needed to be transferred the ICU, they had me signing consent forms and things, asking me about my end of life plans/my affairs. I felt like a dear in headlights this entire time. I didn't really feel anything, just sort of felt like I was nodding my head agreeing to things I couldn't fully understand. This is when they finally told me I was in septic shock.

I was quickly moved to the ICU because I wasn't responding to the intense amounts of IV fluids. I had a central line placed in my neck and I spent the next several days in the ICU. I feel like I remember it all visually still, but I feel like I didn't retain my long-term memory from those days. It all feels like a blur, but I wasn't unconscious. My BP was 72/35 at the lowest from what my family and I can remember. My troponin was through the roof/ I had injury to my heart muscles, I had acute kidney injury and I think all of this was made much worse by the fact that I got to the hospital being so intensely dehydrated. At the same time I was very very aware of the possibility that if I made it out alive I might lose my leg. I was put on pressors and the next several days were spent watching every BP reading hoping my MAP would go above 50 then 60 and finally I'm so grateful to say it climbed above 65.

Eventually, I was moved out of the ICU and placed on a regular floor. I spent several more days there, I was taken off the IV pressors and put on oral treatment. All of my organ function returned to normal, my CT results showed nothing alarming/no signs of necrotizing fasciitis and so I didn't need any surgery. I mean to be so incredibly unlucky to have gotten so sick so fast the way I did but also to bounce back from near-death is so luckly. And this contradiction is something I have not been able to process and brings me so much confusing and discomfort everyday.

I'm struggling in my recovery in so many ways. But I also feel so lucky also.. Reading so many stories on here of suffering and the people that were taken from their loved ones in the most painful way, it's just all so disorienting and confusing and it breaks my heart.

Aside from the obvious depressive symptoms I've been struggling with, I have really intense brain fog and other cognitive issues. I have intense fatigue, tremors, muscle spasms, I had pretty bad muscle wasting/deconditioning so I have a ton of muscle weakness. I have been in PT for almost a month now and feel improvement is extremely slow. My nervous system is kind of a wreck. I am quite anemic now. I'm sure I could rattle of a bunch of other issues I'm still facing but it's all a bit much.

Since getting out of the hospital I've been to many doctors appts. I am working with an immunologist to find out whether I have Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) due to low levels of IgG. If anyone has any experience/familiarity with this I would love to know more. But essentially this could be an explanation why this happened to me.

Since I got sick, I've spent countless hours online reading medical journals, personal experiences from people, trying so hard to understand why this happened to me. I guess I just feel like if I can understand the why, I can process what happened to me. And to also know there may be a specific reason, rather than purely extremely bad luck, it would give me a sense of control or comfort and maybe confidence to know that this won't happen to me again. I have so much more to say but this is so long already. I feel so fragile still and to have had a brush with death has changed me profoundly in ways that I am not comfortable with. I so badly want to be someone who 'has a new lease on life' after surviving a near death experience, but I just don't feel that way. I just feel depressed. I know that these sort of mental health issues are common with post sepsis syndrome.

Just looking for a sense of comfort and community by posting this, sending lots of love and healing to everyone who is reading this impacted by this horrible illness. I am happy to answer any questions related to my story too.

Just why is it All like this. I know this could be taken down if I don’t stay on subject so I will try. I have had repeated sepsis and staphylococcus aureus now, the 1st time I can prove, yes prove I had sepsis, well it’s a freaking story I just learned. I have chronic health issues and surgeries needed. I had an infection that started from a back stimulator. I knew I had an infection, red swollen, hot, just miserable 😭 I went in A lot to different hospitals, to different doctors, clinics no one listened. I was already a chronic walk in, I was put on palliative care. All this time only my boyfriend cleaned it. 7 months later. Luckily I had other infections so I was on some antibiotics. But TODAY, today I finally had been going back little by little into my chart. I found it the first actual sepsis test. I freaking get it, I had a severe heart attack it’ll be 3 years ago in September. I had my boyfriend drive me, I figured they’d send me home again, but I felt a weirder than normal flutter in my chest. We went in about an hour after telling them I thought I had had a heart attack, they took a sprained wrist back before me. I stood up dragging myself over and said “I guess I sprained my wrist too, can you take me back and tell me if I had a heart attack too?” They finally took me back sick of seeing me, I don’t remember much and or that rant is to much trauma, I had 2 stents put in and was in the ICU for 5 days. I had started wondering why I would have been in ICU for that. 2 weeks later they tested me again, I still had sepsis. No one informed me, so December I went to an urgent care for ear pain (dislocated jaw from previous fall undiagnosed) I collapsed. I had COVID-19 🦠great just what I wanted. 5 days ICU, 4 days regular room, I remember the second day wondering why the “WHO” DR was there and why he would be there for COVID-19, but I let it go I was delirious. Ya I had sepsis and again was never told. May the same year several strokes, seizures, yep you guessed it sepsis again. I mean uggg seriously. So I feel sick again 🫣 now what, they’ve just told me off for other health issues & they definitely won’t want to test me. I’m at a loss here, if I get lawyers I never get treatment that would matter anywhere, doctors don’t like hearing you have sued, the news? The hospitals get mad 😡 honestly this is rough. I feel like I have gone crazy or something. Everyone including these nurses who work with ALL these people are horrified for me, but that doesn’t help me. My local palliative doesn’t accept my medical anymore and my online palliative care can only do sujestions now without a local doctor on my side and no one wants me as a patient, “you have a complicated history”.

I do have a complicated medical history, but if they would read, write, test & input into computers I would be able to get out of bed, to feel safe going in to be tested, I have to write down positive tests with dates and times and have them confirm it on files. Talk about complications, I have memory issues since my strokes so this is very unpleasant 🥹

If you read this I’m sorry 😢 I know this will be deleted and I get it I’m a lot 🤕 when you had so many tests, they just stop reading them, not that they haven’t found issues, it’s they keep finding more before treating the last issue. Oh the joy of America’s health care 🫪

Is there some magical elixir? (That would be nice). Idk anymore. I tried seeing the doctor. Nope, don't care to do that again if I can help it. Anything people do on their own to recover? Is it just wait and die now? If this is how I am going to feel forever, I don't think there is any quality to it.

My friend, a 27 yr old male, currently weighs 73 pounds and is 5'10 in height. He had pneumonia, a spider bite on the foot, 2 brain bleeds, multiple organ failure and was in a coma for a week.

He went to rehab for alcoholism and was jaundiced. This all happened after he was released from rehab.

They said he was progressing in the right direction, but he's still on dialysis and failed the swallow test. Now I'm hearing about potential hospice.

Does that mean that's it?? Or can he still come back from this?? He's been in the ICU for over a month and I'm just so confused and I don't want to lose my best friend. But I also want to prepare myself for the worst.

So has anyone gone through something like this and survived? He no longer has pneumonia or sepsis, but his kidneys still aren't functioning. Even before the multiple organ failure, he had jaundice and ascites twice.

Hi guys,

I went into hospital for sepsis 2 weeks ago today. They never found a cause but I believe it was toxic shock syndrome due to my rash, symptoms, severe low BP, peeling skin following infection amongst other things all tied to tampon use and my period.

I had a 5 day admission for 4 different types of IV antibiotics and finished the other 2 days with oral antibiotics. I feel a lot better, I just have no energy. Everything is so much effort. I don’t want to get out of bed. Not in a depressed way, it’s just hard to muster up the strength to do things. I sleep a full nights sleep but I feel like I have concrete blocks tied to my body which make it hard to get up and move. Is this normal after sepsis? Is this something that will get better with time? I know I’m very early in my recovery but I’m a single mum to a toddler and everything is falling behind- cleaning, laundry etc. I need this to get better. What can I do to help this fatigue?

hi! i was reading some posts on here and saw that the general consensus for hair loss is that it typically happens 2-3 months post-recovery. i got out of the hospital a little over three months ago and i'm starting to notice some significant shedding. i have long, thick hair and i will be devastated if i lose it. i'm not seeing any density loss yet, but at the rate my hair is coming out, it may be soon. i really want to stop this before it gets too bad. does anyone have supplement or hair care routine recommendations? i bought some biotin but didn't start taking it yet. i also have thick, curly/wavy hair and i tbh don't want to have to take hair loss stuff yet because i don't want my hair to get any thicker - it's too hard to take care of! but i'd rather have too much hair then not enough though lol. thanks in advance!

In May, I had sepsis and, as a result of the sepsis, open heart surgery to replace a valve. Four times since I returned home, my vision has changed quickly. It is as if what I am looking at is cut up into boxes. When I look in a mirror, I see gold and reddish balls — a flash going off. My hands also start shaking. It only lasts 5 to 10 minutes. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi everyone, I’m a Septic Shock survivor—18 months later and doing well. I write a little about my experience on my Substack. Here’s my latest: https://pollysnewsletter.substack.com/p/how-to-love-your-body-after-it-nearly

I’ve had no organs shutdown! Hospital stay was 4 days partially waiting for a bed at a hospital During the wait I got multiple rounds of antibiotics and iv liquids.

Recently went to my ER follow up with my PCP on day 2 of being released from the hospital. I explained I’ve vomited twice, diarrhea has restarted, shortness of breath still and I’m still exhausted. I used the example of how just getting ready to get here wore me out.

She was basically like finish the antibiotics (hospital sent me home with 5 days worth one a day) she also did bloodwork.

I ask about returning to Work initially she said I can return tomorrow. I again reiterated my symptoms then she gave me a week only.

Is this normal?

I'm going to try to make this not too long of a story. Short story is: husband was diagnosed with bladder cancer in May. Had a PICC/nephrostomy tube inserted and left in place for a month, which is standard. Tube was removed 2 weeks ago with no issues. Had his first of 6 immunotherapy treatments last Thursday (they cath him, shoot treatment into bladder, remove cath and he has to hold it in his bladder for a couple of hours) and it went great. He was fine Thursday, Friday and through the weekend. No side effects or issues. Then Monday, bam, out of nowhere, he's sick as hell. Temp was only 101.5 but had chills and was weak. Called urologist and he said to go ahead and take him to er. He was lethargic and shaky the whole time we were waiting to be seen. They did a blood draw and determined he had sepsis. I think his WBC was 33.0 and his BP was low. Admitted him and had surgery that night to insert a stent into his kidney because they *think* that's where the infection was coming from (even though he had no kidney infection symptoms at all). Started him on iv antibiotics.

Now, 4 days later and it appears he's progressing well and responding to the antibiotics. He's in a regular room, not icu or anything and hopefully coming home tomorrow.

But here's where I'm confused and concerned. We've seen about 3 doctors daily-his urologist, an infectious disease doctor and whatever doctor is on call for the day, and every single one of them kind of rolls their eyes when I question the seriousness of his condition and shouldn't we be more worried? They all claim the word "sepsis" has been blown out of proportion and that it just means a bad infection and there's no need to panic. Funny enough, there's a HUGE stanchion sign at the main entrance of the hospital that says "Know the signs of sepsis"!!

My husband is a pretty healthy 68 year old, aside from the cancer which is under control and I'm just worried we're going to get home and end up back in the hospital again in a few days! Why does it seem like the medical professionals don't take sepsis as seriously as the rest of the world thinks it should be?? Are we overthinking it? (if you made it this far, thanks for being patient!)

Hi, I survived Septic Shock in April last year. ICU stay but no ventilator or sedatives were needed.

I'm interested in learning about others who have or still have some lingering issues post Sepsis, with memory, speech or other cognitive issues.

I have found thinking of the right word to use a struggle at least two or three times a day. When tired I have a stutter and struggle to formulate my sentences properly. I've had a rise in headaches and also find myself forgetting what I'm doing momentarily, why did I come into the kitchen again? Etc.

Has Sepsis affected you in this way? I'm very curious to know if it has gotten better for you, worse, or stayed the same.

I’m currently right around the two month mark since being told I was septic. I’ve been doing well since, aside from what I feel like has just been run of the mill tiredness. Within the last week, however, I’ve suddenly completely lost control over my bladder. I can’t hold anything anymore. I’m a college student and incredibly busy and active, so this is kind of the worst thing ever. I don’t know if it’s relevant to the sepsis, and I don’t have insurance so I’m not entirely sure how to go about getting it treated. If anyone’s gone through something similar post-sepsis, please tell me your experience.

Did any of you experience unacceptable or negligent service by nurses or doctors while you were so very ill with sepsis in the hospital? When admitted through the ER, I had been running fever of 104 for days, had a rash all over and my hand, feet and knee joints were severely swollen. That high fever alone is enough to alter your mental state. Then you add in the pain. The first room I was assigned had something going on with their nurses. All were short, rude and acted like they were mad at the world. After three days they collectively decided amongst them selves that I couldn’t possibly be so serious as to need constant assistance from them.

I’m an elderly widow with no family in town so I was alone. The pain and joint swelling required me to call for a nurse whenever I needed to go to the bathroom. Being that I was on iv fluids, this happened often. When I would ask for my pain meds, they about snapped my head off. I have had long lasting effects because of their treatment of me.

Today, months later, I finally got the strength to go through my medical records. On a specific day that one nurse was even more hateful. I was told by her that she gave me my Oxy pill at 2:30 pm. An hour later I was very sleepy but no pain relief. A couple more hours and I was in such agony it was affecting me mentally and emotionally. This nurse then waited until the end of her shift and filed a report against me citing that I said I was in so much pain I was going to harm myself. Others were in the room as witnesses said it wasn’t true. This never happened but it didn’t matter. It triggered a hospital mandate that I be moved to a secured room for observation. They gave me a shot of Dilauded as I was being moved out of their hair and to another floor.

So today as I reviewed the med list. I looked at that date. This nurse had given me an anti-itch pill that was the same size and color as the generic Oxy. Being a senior without my glasses on, it looked the same and she verbally told me that it was Oxy. Finding out what she did is infuriating . We all know how much pain and mental stress sepsis causes us even after we get home. For this nurse to inflict all of this on me because she was having a bad day or whatever is totally inexcusable and may even be criminal. Have any of you been mistreated while in the hospital? what should I do about what this nurse did (there were other things, this is just the worst).

My 70-year-old dad recently developed a septic right knee with Group B Strep bacteremia and sepsis. He underwent a surgical washout of the knee on July 29 and is currently receiving IV antibiotics.

Before this happened, he was recovering from a left foot wound (also diabetic), so he had intentionally been limiting his activity to allow it to heal. However, he was still independently ambulatory, able to walk without an assistive device, and was managing his daily activities.

Since the septic knee/sepsis hospitalization, we have been shocked by how much his function has declined in such a short period of time.

Currently:
-He has significant weakness and difficulty with transfers.
-He is unable to independently get up to use the restroom.
-He feels very unstable when standing and is afraid of falling.
-He has difficulty participating consistently in PT due to pain, fatigue, and fear.
-He seems much more cognitively “foggy” than his baseline. His reasoning, motivation, and ability to process information do not always seem like himself.

We completely understand that sepsis and hospitalization can cause major setbacks, especially in older adults. We are trying to balance encouraging him to participate in recovery without pushing him beyond what is safe.

A few questions for those with clinical experience (PT/OT, physicians, nurses, rehab professionals) or anyone who has gone through this:

How common is this degree of weakness and functional decline after sepsis?
Is it expected for someone who was walking independently before hospitalization to temporarily lose the ability to perform basic mobility tasks afterward?

What is a realistic recovery timeline after sepsis and septic arthritis?
What milestones would you hope to see over the first few weeks and months?

How much pain would you expect after a septic knee washout?
How do you distinguish normal postoperative/inflammatory pain from pain that may indicate a complication or ongoing infection?

How common are cognitive changes after sepsis?
Could the fogginess, decreased motivation, and changes in reasoning be related to sepsis-associated delirium, hospitalization, medications, or overall illness severity? How long can this last?

How important is early mobility in this stage?
We are worried about deconditioning. How do you encourage someone who is scared, exhausted, and in pain to participate without making them feel pushed?

What level of rehabilitation would you consider appropriate?
Given that he was independent before this illness but now requires significant assistance, would a more intensive inpatient rehabilitation program (such as Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals or a similar facility) typically be considered?

How do you balance pain management with rehabilitation?
Could better pain control actually improve participation in therapy, or do certain medications commonly worsen cognition, fatigue, and fall risk? They stopped Tylenol due to liver issues.

What functional goals would you prioritize first?
Would the focus usually be transfers, standing tolerance, toileting, walking with an assistive device, or something else?

Our biggest concern is making sure we support him appropriately. We don’t want to dismiss his fatigue and pain, but we also don’t want fear, inactivity, and deconditioning to make recovery harder.

For anyone who has seen patients recover from sepsis, septic arthritis, or prolonged hospitalization — what helped the most? What should families understand about the recovery process?