Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A Nightmare Called Sepsis

An unfortunate event begins my journey in this 2013. This February, my mom passed away after 3 weeks of battle with sepsis. She was perfectly healthy at first but then suddenly she can't pee and her body is shivering and she feels cold. Little that we now, that's when her infection worsen.

According to mayoclinic sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. Sepsis occurs when chemicals released into the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammation throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that can damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail. In my mom's case her kidney fail and it makes her lungs filled with water and it makes her sepsis progresses to septic shock which make her blood pressure drops.

She progresses at the first week but it turns out her lungs aren't able to pump the oxygen throughout her body. So when the doctor try to stop the ventilator, she weren't able to breath and it leads her to vegetative state, a condition when the patient looks like awake but she's not aware of her surroundings. It really is heartbreaking to see her like that. But it brings us closer as a family. After 3 weeks without any progress, my dad decided to bring her home and do a home care with a slight of hope that she'll get better once she's home.Yet God has a different plan for her.

That afternoon, my dad just came after preparing the house for her coming. He walks towards the ICU with the home nurse to check the ongoing treatment. Meanwhile, I decided to go to the office..and meet them at home later in the evening. I just paid my transjakarta ticket when my dad called me and told me to go back to the hospital. Confuse, I threw my ticket away and walk back. And then I saw her...fighting for her life. I feel numb, my brain freeze and I can only pray for her best and that was when the doctor called her time of death. So I guess that was the answer to my pray. I believe she is happier and safe now, yet no words can't describe how much I miss her.

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