David Blankenship

My father died tragically and unexpectedly of sepsis on March 5th, 2024. It is now September 15th, yet we all feel like it was yesterday.
Mom and Daddy lived in Harlingen, Texas. He struggled with Type 2 diabetes and a few other health issues and was always checking his sugar and blood pressure numbers and diligently recording them. After my father died, I moved back to Harlingen to live with my mother. My sister lives in Colorado.

On February 25th, a mere 10 days before Daddy died, Mom was scheduled to perform in a pageant. Daddy was going to help with setup activities and then watch. During rehearsal, he started feeling cold, which is not unusual in big auditoriums, and went to sit in the car to get warm. After Mom’s performance, with Daddy watching and applauding in the audience, she checked on him in the audience and offered to get him a snack, but he was not interested in eating. They went home after the pageant. He said he didn’t feel well but ate some chicken soup and then went to bed.

That night he started tossing, turning, talking, and not making much sense. He wasn’t feeling well the following day, Monday the 26th, so he rested in his favorite rocker and watched TV all day. Mom suggested she take him to the ER, as he was still not feeling up to snuff. Daddy insisted he was fine. That night, Tuesday the 27th, was difficult. Daddy began flailing and rolling around on the bed, striking out and uttering strange, nonsensical words. He again refused to go to the ER. When he got up to use the restroom, he collapsed in there.
Mom then called 911 and he was taken immediately to the Emergency Room at a local hospital. The ER personnel asked if he knew his name, birthday, and the date. He muttered his name and birthday but couldn’t recall the date. Those were the last words he uttered.

He was admitted to the hospital that night. I immediately flew in and arrived on the 28th; my sister arrived on the 29th. He recognized no one and was crying out constantly when I was there. There was nothing I could do to help, other than trying to be strong by telling him I was there, that he was going to be fine, that I loved him, and was praying for him. He worsened during the night my sister stayed there. He began to violently thrash about, and it took six strong male attendants to keep him from ripping the various tubes and monitors from his body.

They asked my sister if she wanted him to be put on oxygen. She knew he had a DNR and asked if what they were going to do was considered life support. They indicated “no;” so she said go ahead and do it, and it did tend to calm him down. Later we figured out that, should they not have given him oxygen, Daddy would probably have died that night. However, in a way, we were consoled because the extra few days gave us time to accept the fact that Daddy was going to die.

hey took a lot of blood and were testing him several times a day, trying to find out what was wrong. We finally got word that it was a staph infection. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections) They were then able to give him the correct antibiotics. His condition continued to deteriorate. He was moaning, groaning, and thrashing so much that you just knew he was suffering and was in so much pain that only dying could put him out of his misery.

At this point, we were praying for a miracle. On the 4th, Daddy stopped fighting so much and his blood count numbers improved. We just knew our fervent prayers were being answered! However, God had other plans, and Daddy died the next morning, March 5th, at 3.50 am. He was 85 and would have celebrated his 86th birthday in only five days.

I cannot begin to tell you how we felt. We were heartbroken and distraught. What was sepsis and what was septic shock? And how did it kill Daddy in just days?

f I can say anything about sepsis to you, I would say to educate yourself on this disorder. We never really knew what sepsis was, and how it can fester in the body and kill so quickly, especially if underlying health conditions are present. It is a silent killer and can lurk in the body and strike without warning. It runs through the body rapidly, organs shut down, and then you are gone.

Daddy had chronic sinus infections for years and first used a Neti Pot before he switched to a Navage machine. He used regular tap water for these procedures although he had been advised MANY TIMES not to do this and to use distilled water. Deaths have been linked to the use of contaminated tap water in these types of mechanical devices. We think this is probably what got him in the end: tap water going through his chronically infected nasal passages and passing into his bloodstream.

More advice. Check your environment and be sure your loved ones follow the manufacturer’s instructions when using lavage procedures. This is especially important if they have chronic infections or open wounds because any unclean substance (as tap water) can travel through the body. Staph is a bacteria, which can cause sepsis. Make sure your home is secure and make sure you never have to go through what our family has.

Source: Sandie Dickens- I am a daughter