Frances Eyermann

I found my beautiful mother in respiratory arrest on March 25, 2017. She was rushed to the hospital where she was diagnosed with severe septic shock. I remember seeing her on the gurney, begging her to stay with us and slow her heart down (it was racing in the 200s). The hospital she was at transferred her to a larger hospital where she was put in the ICU and given less than a 25% chance of survival. She spent 4 days in a coma and then started coming around. She beat it!!! I should also state that she was in liver failure which also complicates her case, but this was not the cause of the shock.

She spent the next 10 months in and out of the hospital and rehabilitation centers to regain strength and mobility, but she was never the same. As we waited for her liver transplant she went into septic shock two other times, the third time being the deadliest. She was in a rehab center that was not taking care of her, but with all of the influenza and flu, they were the only option available to us. She was miserable. On December 19th I went to see her and found her shivering and not speaking, the night before she was running a 99 degree fever (I called up there and asked them to continue checking on her. In hindsight, I should have gone up there and I will have to live with that).

After spending a few minutes with my mom, I made the nurse call for an ambulance transfer. She spent 4 days in the hospital before she slipped into a coma. The sepsis sent her into kidney failure, heart failure, and the pulmonary edema was too much for her weak body to handle. Twenty-three days later my beautiful, precious mother died from septic shock. I wish I would have known that the shivering was also a sign of sepsis. I also wish I would have gone up the night before. Please continue to spread the word on sepsis and learn from my mistake. It’s too late for my Momma, but not too late for your loved ones!

Source: Kim Hinkamp (daughter)