A healthy body has a defense system that fights infection.
Sepsis is an intense reaction to an infection.
It can cause deadly damage to the body and lead to dangerously low blood pressure.
Sepsis fights what may have started as a small infection, but it fights the infection as if it's a war.
You end up with inflammation across large areas of your body.
It can damage tissue and even go deep into your organs.
Things that can lead to sepsis include a skin infection such as from a cut, a lung infection like pneumonia, a kidney infection, or a gut infection such as E. coli.
Sepsis can happen to anyone, but it's most common in babies, older adults, and people who have a weak immune system.
Sepsis develops very quickly.
It needs to be treated in a hospital.
And if it's severe, then you may be treated in the intensive care unit--the ICU.
The care team will be working hard, trying to find the infection that caused sepsis.
And then they'll use medicines such as antibiotics.
You will get an I.V. to deliver the medicines and other fluids to help you heal, which can take several days.
If you are in the ICU, you can expect to see tubes, wires, and machines everywhere.
The care team will help you understand what all of this equipment does.
Sepsis can be scary, but you won't be managing it alone.
Your care team is there to help and provide the treatment you need.
Knowing that your care team is prepared and will do everything they can to save your life can help you stay strong.
