My name is Heather, and three weeks ago I lost my dad to septicemia. He was 55, happy, healthy, didn't smoke or drink often, had no health problems and kept himself in considerable shape.

Three weeks ago last sunday he started feeling shivery like he had a cold. I was convinced it was a cold as I had been off college with it the week beforehand.

By the following day he had gotten considerably worse. His joints were aching and he wasn't able to sleep. By this time we'd guessed it was the flu but in the early hours of that night he had gotten up to go to the toilet and collapsed as he tried to open the bedroom door. He didn't know how long he had been unconscious for and woke up not knowing where he was.

He injured his ankle pretty bad which left him unable to walk as it was so swollen. When he eventually did get to the toilet he was vomiting quite violently. By the tuesday I knew he had to see a doctor as he had to crawl to get to the toilet and couldn't hold down any food, and could hardly drink any fluids as his throat was so sore.

His skin had also turned a yellowish colour. The doctor came out that evening, took his blood pressure which turned out to be rather low, but said it was just the flu and prescribed him co-codamol and gave him a sick line for a week. Come the thursday morning I had woken up to find my dad on the phone to NHS 24 who called an ambulance out to our flat.

He was really bad by this point and it broke my heart to look at him. He was struggling to breathe, his skin was really yellow and he was screaming in pain crawling to the toilet. He also hadn't slept since saturday night.

The ambulance was there in no time but the two men only stayed for 5 minutes, didn't seem interested or even check my dad's blood pressure, take his temperature or anything.

My dad explained to them he'd had flu before and it was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling now. The men shrugged it off and said "yeah you think you had the flu...This is the real flu".

I asked if they would take my dad to hospital as I was extremely worried but they refused as it was just "the flu" and to keep taking the co-codamol and he'd get better. I had been running about like mad after my dad that whole day and was exhausted so I went for an hour and a half's nap.

When I got up I went to see my dad and he had deteriorated dramatically, his skin on his body had gone a purple colour, he couldn't breathe out his nose and was struggling like hell to breathe out his mouth.

His skin on his face was even more yellow and I couldn't make out anything he was trying to say. I have never been so frightened in my life. I ran downstairs to my neighbour who came up immediately and called an ambulance.

When it got here the men mentioned septicemia and took him to hospital straight away. When I got to the hospital I was eventually taken into the family room and a nurse came in and told me my dad had passed out in the ambulance and that he was extremely septic.

This gave me the fright of my life as he'd not slept since the saturday so I knew something wasn't right. Around an hour went by and the nurse came back through to tell me they'd tried everything and my dad wasn't responding to any treatments and that he only had minutes to live. They were right, and he died moments later.

The doctors didn't know what had caused the septicemia so had to hold an autoposy. After doing this I was told that they were unable to figure out what had caused the sepsis and that further investigations will be carried out, so to this day, I still don't know why my dad is gone.

I had a letter from my doctor saying that they found an organism in some of my dad's tests, though didn't say what it was, and that if me, my family or neighbours feel generally ill or have a sore throat then we'd to contact the doctor immediately. We have all been fine.

It just puzzles me so much how one day a person can be fine, singing in the car with you then four days later, with no explanation, is gone.

It also infuriates me that the first ambulance that came on the Thursday morning didn't take him to hospital because there is a good chance it could have saved his life.

I'm finding it really hard to come to terms with this and get closure as I still don't know what took my dad's life.

He was my best friend. My mother left the family seven years ago and since then me and my dad were closer than close, did everything together and I could tell him anything.

I just don't understand this.

If anyone could give me any advice at all I would really, really appreciate it. Thank you.

My wife had multiple gallbladder stones. She is taking medicine for rheumatoid arthritis. In June 2009, she was admitted due to septicemia. Thanks to God, she is recovered now. I would like to know whether gallstones (not giving trouble) can cause septicemia or not. Gallstones are removed already after six months of recovery.

Anon56154: I am so sorry about your mum. She sounds like a wonderful person. You and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

My dad almost died of septicemia a year before he actually did die. He had a urinary tract infection and we didn't know it. When someone has kidney failure due to diabetes like your mum (and my dad), their immune system is also usually severely compromised, and something small can become a raging forest fire in a very short time.

Your mum may have stepped on a rock or stubbed her toe at home, but because of the poor circulation, present chest infection, kidney failure, diabetes, etc., whatever happened just had free rein in her body. It sounds like she just didn't have enough resources left to fight it. It's hard to say why the other doctors didn't catch the condition of her foot. I'd ask them, though.

In any case, again, you have my deepest condolences, my thoughts and my prayers.

i lost my mum three weeks ago. She died of septicemia. she was in our town hospital for seven weeks with a chest infection, then they sent her home. Two days later, she had to go for dialysis as she was a kidney patient at the royal london hospital.

they told us my mum had a gangrenous foot and that they would have to take her whole leg away on that monday, but on the saturday before, my mum did not respond to anyone and she died at 3:30 p.m. due to septicemia.

My dad, my aunt and uncle and I were there when she died. my mum wasn't only my mum but my best friend as well. I would talk to her every day on the phone. She had my two granddaughters as well and my oldest who is 5 were so close to my mum. my mum also had diabetes. i miss my mum so much i still can't believe she has gone.

it's so hard. i wake up crying and go to bed crying. me and my mum were so close. the docs at our local hospital didn't tell us my mum had septicemia, so would they have known or not?

I have just returned home from hospital after developing septic shock after child birth. I was in for six weeks.

I was so sick the doctors gave me a 30 percent chance, then later gave me 1 percent chance. They were doing everything they could and it was up to me to pull through. I was put in an induced coma for eight days, during which time i received dialysis as my kidneys were failing.

Later on, i had to have two different chest drains which drained about 3.5L from my right lung.

After several infections and setbacks i finally moved from ICU to the medical ward, now breathing without the ventilator, for lots of physio to be able to walk again and regain the muscle i lost from being in bed for so long.

I am a mother of two, a newborn and toddler and i'm only 26. Had doctors not ignored my symptoms i would never have become septic and wouldn't have missed the first six weeks of my baby's life.

My symptoms were: Rash all over, low blood pressure, fever, rapid breathing/shortness of breath, just feeling terrible.

I am from New Delhi, India. I lost my father recently, and the docs agreed it was due to Septicemia (Sepsis in short).

It all began the month before with a lump just below his jawline which, after an incision and a biopsy turned out to be TB positive, but was curable.

He was put on AKT 4 medicine dose and advised for six months. Unfortunately within 2-3 days his appetite went for a toss, his stomach swelled up and he felt breathless. Over and above he was hiccuping all the time.

He was taken to Max Saket and was rushed to the ICU because his BP went dangerously low. He was administered with BP inducing drugs and on life support, antibiotics and the ventilator. An MRI unfortunately could not be done as was kept alive at this moment.

In the meanwhile he developed infarcts in the brain which made him a vegetable and finally he died due to a sudden BP drop (40/26) and then went into a cardiac arrest.

From what I have read above in this website and a few more, it surely does seem it is a clear case of Septicemia. I felt helpless as I put my Dad into the best possible hospital in the city, and saw him go further away, day after day. today as he is no longer with us.

I sit at my desk looking for answers. What happened to him, when did it start, did he know there was something wrong within him, why didnt he tell us, could I have done something differently, could he have been alive today -- and so on.

Anyway, I hope if someone reads this, he/ she is able to take better care of their near and dear ones, so that they can be around for a while more. Much Love. i!

i lost my wife to septicemia three months back. she was only 26 and had undergone iin-vitro fertilization at R N R hospital, delhi. she was absolutely fine but after ovum pick up she was infected -- i don't know from where. but i lost my everything. Doctors please take care.

Hi my best friend died three weeks ago from septicemia. i was wondering if there is there a cure? x

i think i might have this. I'm 13 and was picking my nail in the dark then fell asleep. i woke up and i had picked right through the nail to the flesh, and red flesh had risen to the surface. it's oozing yellow pus. my mum put antiseptic and a plaster on it but i don't think it will help. my friend had this, too, when she was younger, in her leg. a red line crept through her veins and she went to A+E. luckily she was well treated and came out a few days later. you can die from this disease. i did some research, and there is an over 50 percent death rate. i'm really really scared and don't know how quickly i should act or what i should do, as it might just be a normal infection. please give me some advice, and can i just say to anyone who finds this page to take it very seriously? i don't mean to sound all doom and gloom, but i could well be dead by the time you read this. value your life. you never know how long you've got.

my pa is in intensive care now with septicemia. something ruptured inside him and his tissue and organs are badly infected. the doctors just want to keep him sedated and pain free. this is the third day now that he has been ill for. and i wish we could know if he will recover or die in a few days or a month.

My mother died, due to unexpected reasons which I never imagined. She was ok in the morning, dull in the afternoon, she told me to that i should bathe her at 2 p.m. i did, then she slept. I thought that it was a normal fever, but what happened was after 7 p.m., she was out of mind. She was speaking to me but sometimes irrelevant things to me. I was shocked then. i called my father then we admitted her in a hospital at 8:15 p.m. The last words she spoke to me were, "You will be hungry. go and have your food" at 10 p.m. so i went home after 11:30 p.m., and returned after 12:40 a.m. to see my unconscious mother. Then she went silent, and her breathing was dull. She was struggling to breathe, then the next day, in August, she died. The doctors told us that the reason may be that her sugar was more than 400, and also septicemia, but don't have the proper reason. At 11 p.m. that day, when i heard that my mother's heart beat was stopped, i felt a pain in my heart which i could never explain. in my life my mother was everything. From my young age, she was my father, a loving mother, a sister and like a girl friend. i called her daily and talked to her for at least 30 minutes. i sleep in her bed. She always forgave me and was always caring. in my dreams i see my mother frequently -- it was like she never died -- and me talking to her. when i wake up, i can't control myself as i know that it was a dream. Nowadays dreams are the best parts of my life. I can tell many stories related to my mom. when i feel sick, she counted my coughd. She was very caring and wouldn't sleep until I was better. I lived in a world called my mother in which i experienced only happiness and joy. now i am far away from my mother. now i know only to cry. I don't know how to breathe. i am like a fish out of its pond. I don't know how to describe my sorrows. i felt that i'm completely lost. every day. if i give a missed call i get a reply, but now that number is switched off for ever. Before, i sleep with my mother. now sometimes it seems i sleep in the grave where my mother was buried. it's been one month after my mother's death. i feel guilty and ashamed that i could not save my mother. my mother's name is Mala. she is beautiful even after death. I miss her. is this is a curse or this is the way i should walk through? i don't know. my brain is dull. i could not explain properly. i hope i see my mother on earth and definitely in heaven. This is how my mother died at age 51. my mom had fever for more than a week, but that was a very normal fever, but one day she became sick. She also speoke of some irrelevant matters, and lost consciousness then. She had 0 Bp, also hard to breathe. It all happened in one day. The previous day she was not ill, the last word she told me was to go and have food. that hurts me still today. The doctors said it wass septicemia, and she also had high blood sugar. i am still wondering how it all happened in one day. after all she had was a normal fever. who will comfort me now? My Mom Wisy mala, I miss you very much. mum i love you very much.

My mom developed sepsis after being hospitalized. She was elderly and there was nothing more the doctors could do. The family did not realize that this condition existed. If you know anyone elderly who has symptoms of sepsis, please go to an ER immediately. God Bless

I had a UTI and didn't realize I had it. I didn't have any of the usual symptoms. One day I got the chills, nausea, fever and I thought I had the flu. No improvement for two weeks. I finally fainted and went into shock. My husband took me to emergency and they admitted me. I was in the hospital for five days. I was septic and so very sick. Tests showed I had the UTI, then it went to my bladder and to my kidneys. I am fine now but have to be very careful.

What is weird is my mom didn't have surgery or anything. She had pneumonia and they said she was septic. She was super healthy and had no medical problems and to this day we still mourn after her. She was everything to me. And no she is no longer with us. It has been over a year without her and we are still trying to cope.

My sister died after her gall bladder operation. She was 36 years old. Everything was fine after her operation. The doc said that she was healthy enough for her release. But on the third day, she had complications like high fever, breathing problems, uneasiness, vocal change. She died of scepticemia. Please tell me the causes behind the disease.

My brother died back in September, symptoms. labored breathing, yellow eyes and skin, fever,weakness,bowel seepage, we suspect septicemia.

He was hospitalized for about 12 days.Blood pressure took a sudden drop, liver destroyed in a matter of weeks. coma and finally death. We are still in shock, He was the life of the party family member. Any one know of anyone dying like this, also was bleeding internally? All symptoms started to show shortly after his colonoscopy.

how do you know if you have it?

Hi, I am reading a novel, where septicemia is mentioned. The author describes a septicemia patient and say it was caused by "diprococcus in the blood". It is a novel written in about 1920, and I am sure the diprococcus part is wrong. But what could he have meant? Best regards.

Good afternoon. I am a 27 year old female and need to ask some advice. I had septicemia in 2006 in my womb. They did all the tests and i went for the laser treatment. Everything was fine no problems and after that i did not have any problems what so ever. But a while back everything started all over again. I started getting bad back aches my kidneys got so sore i could not walk. My cycle started on the 13 th April up until the 18 the of April there was clots as big as golf balls that was discharged. I was bleeding very bad and could not sleep without going to the bathroom more than once a night to change. My problem is i started again on saturday 26 April and again it is clots and the bleeding does not go down. I am worried about this and need to know is it possible for a female to have her cycle more than 21 days a month.

Will you please be able to advise. Regards.

I delivered my first daughter 4 and a half years ago - My daughter weighed 9.9 pounds when she was born and is healthy but I had septicemia post pregnancy. I have no clue about the reason for the sickness. I was in the ICU and had to undergo extensive treatment. Dialysis was administered 7 times. Almost 5 years down the line, I am fine now and i have been regularly doing my check ups including Creatinine, urine, blood test, ultrasound etc which have given normal results. I want to now explore the possibilities of having a second baby though my husband is strictly against the very thought of going through the pain again. Grateful for your advice on this. Would you go with my husband's fear or can you tell me if I can follow my gut feeling and observing my present condition go for it. Would there be chances of this repeating or could you give me some advice on any other reasons why we shouldn't plan to have a second baby?

hello sir, here is a small doubt for me. hope u can clarify it.... my mother died due to septicemia.... my question is.... after how many days a person affected with septicemia will die..... firstly her leg became very reddish and transformed into big wounds from which pus came out lightly... then we have admitted her in hospital. they cut the wound and took out the pus and left it to heal by its own and tied cotton bandages tightly.... we brought her back and after few days pus used to come out at her leg.... after operation she became very ill even she is unable to eat anything. even if she eats also she used to omit it... then again we have admitted her in same hospital. her b.p became very low, low heart beat, heavy respiration problem. even from the thigh region also pus used to come out. after a treatment of more than 25 days she went to coma. after two days she died. she even used to have high serum creatine levels. the bacteria found in that pus is klebsiella and after 22 days the reports told that it is staphylococcus. they used to give MAGNEX as antibiotic. sir i kindly request you to clarify my doubt that for what reason she died.