My brother became critically ill with sepsis just two days after we had spent Christmas Day 2017 together as a family.
His wife recognised the symptoms of Sepsis and took him to Tameside Hospital A&E where he was admitted into ICU. Later that night he was put on a ventilator as he was struggling to breathe. He was a fit, healthy non-smoker in his 40s who ran and played football regularly, and the father to two children, one of whom was only 6 at the time. Over the next two days, he continued to deteriorate as his lungs were not functioning, and ECMO was the only treatment that could be given. We feel incredibly fortunate that the A&E Consultant at Tameside recommended my brother for ECMO, and that Wythenshawe ECMO unit had a bed available.
On Saturday 30 December 2017, the ECMO Team came from Wythenshawe Hospital and operated to put him on the ECMO. He was taken by ambulance to the Cardiothoracic Critical Care Unit, CCU at Wythenshawe Hospital. After only a short time on ECMO in January 2018, the ECMO team undertook a trial taking him off ECMO which was successful and this was just the start of his road to recovery as his sedation was gradually reduced. 14 Days after he came off ECMO, a trial was done to take him off the ventilator. We were advised that his kidneys would be the last thing to recover, and he continued to need dialysis. They were the last part of his recovery in ICU and CCU, and beyond his release from hospital.
Every day we visited him in CTCCU and Acute Intensive Care talking to him, playing the radio with his favourite football team matches and music whilst he was unconscious and sedated. It was very hard not knowing when he would start to wake up and how he would be. ECMO can cause bleeds on the brain and scans showed he had suffered bleeds, yet these later resolved. Sarah from the ECMO family support group helped me and our Mum and Dad by providing information from her own experience, and reassurance. She also told us that it would be a rollercoaster and that some days would bring forward steps and others would be much more difficult as happened, such as when he was affected by new infections. Sarah’s advice to me to keep a daily timeline record was very helpful. Reviewing the timeline helped us to look back and see the positives when we, and he had difficult days.We later gave the timeline to my brother, as he wanted to look back at what happened during his illness.
A month after he was placed in an induced coma he fully came around after gradually waking. That was such a wonderful happy day for our family. Therapy started immediately and relearning how to swallow, speak, and to move took tremendous effort on his part and was physically exhausting. He began physiotherapy to strengthen the muscles that had weakened after being on a ventilator for around 6 weeks.
He was supported by speech and language therapists, physiotherapists, nutritionists and nurses and doctors who helped him to recover. In February, he moved to a rehabilitation ward and was discharged home on 23 February 2018 walking with a stick for support.
Thanks to his strength and determination together with the inspiration to recover for his wife and children, and with the support of his family he has made an excellent recovery in health, returning to work as a senior technical analyst in clinical health policy in September 2018. He has worked hard to develop his fitness, regularly attending the gym, such that on Boxing Day 2018 (a year after being critically ill) he went out for a run.
I wanted to share our family’s story of hope as Wythenshawe ECMO Family Support Group was invaluable. The support and advice I and our Mum and Dad received was such a comfort and provided reassurance when we were in a frightening and traumatic critical illness situation. I will never forget finding the ECMO family website and reading the family stories the night the ECMO team operated on my brother. We felt hope for the first time when we read the stories on this website, and we are sharing our story to let people know that a good recovery is possible.
I am now a blood donor after seeing my lovely brother receive several blood transfusions, and from seeing Sam’s pledge a pint video that Sarah shared with me. I hope if you are reading this our story will help you. Please remember everyone’s recovery develops at a different pace so don’t be disheartened; the best advice we were given by a Consultant in ICU was ‘Remain Hopeful’.
We are so thankful to the wonderful NHS staff for the care and commitment they gave to helping my brother including Tameside ICU, and the ECMO team, CCU and ICU at Wythenshawe, and the ECMO family support group (with special thanks to Sarah).