A woman has told of her experience of sepsis in a bid to warn others of how quickly and unexpectedly it can happen. Serena Jaipaul went from feeling normal to being close to death within hour.
Serena, 44, from Merstham in Surrey, was told, having waited all night for an ambulance, that any further delay would have likely meant she would not have survived.
It was a normal Saturday for Serena, who had been to the hairdressers and out with her boyfriend before heading to stay with a friend overnight. She felt fine when she arrived, but said it was around 5pm that day that she started feeling pain around her kidneys.
She initially dismissed it as simple back pain, but a couple of hours later the pain had got so intense that she decided to call the non-emergency 111 number. They were told that an ambulance was coming within half an hour, but, as the hours went past and calls to 111 and 999 were made, the time kept getting pushed back, reports SurreyLive.
With her friend not being a driver and a taxi not an option as by that point Serena had started to vomit frequently, they had little choice but to wait. An ambulance arrived at around 5am the next morning.
"I've had children, and this pain was far worse," Serena told SurreyLive. "The hospital staff were surprised I stayed conscious for as long as I did with the pain during those 10 hours."
Upon arrival at St Helier Hospital in Sutton, doctors quickly realised that Serena was seriously ill. Scans revealed she had a kidney stone of about 1.3cm in diameter that had got stuck while trying to pass, and when the area behind it got infected she had gone into septic shock. She had no underlying health conditions and had never had a kidney stone before.
Serena was sent for emergency surgery, placed in an induced coma for 24 hours, and woke up in intensive care. She then had to stay in hospital for another three-and-a-half weeks, followed by four weeks at home with an IV drip. From there she started a long road to recovery and experienced frequent joint pain and fatigue.
Still suffering from long-term effects after two months, she found The UK Sepsis Trust, which put her in touch with others who had experienced similar, so she didn't feel alone. Now, more than three years later, she's still not quite back to 100% but says she is classed as one of the "luckier" ones to have experienced it, as others have had limbs amputated or died.
According to The UK Sepsis Trust, five people die from sepsis every hour in the UK. Of those who survive, 40% suffer permanent and life-changing after-effects - but early diagnosis can make a huge difference.
New guidelines have recently been published encouraging healthcare professionals to treat those who are very sick with sepsis within an hour, and those who are less ill within three hours. This extended time for treating milder cases allows medics to ensure they are prescribing the correct antibiotic.
Serena is now eager to spread the word about this common but poorly understood condition.
"Sepsis can happen to anybody at any time," she said. "It's a silent killer and it's just so fast. It's all about understanding the signs and not being scared to say if you think you might have it."
SurreyLive approached the South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) for comment about Serena's case in January 2019. A spokesperson for the service said: "We are very sorry whenever it takes us longer than we should to attend a patient. Each call is triaged based on the information provided at the time. We are happy to speak to Mrs Jaipaul about her care and we welcome anything which increases awareness of and highlights the dangers of sepsis."
Signs of sepsis to look out for
According to The UK Sepsis Trust, these are the six important signs of possible sepsis to look out for in adults:
- S lurred speech or confusion
- E xtreme shivering or muscle pain
- P assing no urine (in a day)
- S evere breathlessness
- I t feels like you’re going to die
- S kin mottled or discoloured
These are the common signs in children over five years old:
- Is breathing very fast
- Has a ‘fit’ or convulsion
- Looks mottled, bluish, or pale
- Has a rash that does not fade when you press it
- Is very lethargic or difficult to wake
- Feels abnormally cold to touch
These are the common signs in infants under the age of five:
- Is not feeding
- Is vomiting repeatedly
- Has not passed urine for 12 hours
