grievingmuma-blog

[grievingmuma-blog]

Meet Heidi

This is my much loved, happy, healthy, funny, precious baby Heidi.

Heidi died from Pneumococcal Septicaemia on the 11th of July 2019. She was a healthy baby girl, taken far too soon by this silent, fast killer.   Since her sudden death I am on a mission to raise awareness of sepsis in the hope of saving another child’s life.   I had heard of sepsis, but was not aware of the signs, I just didn’t know what to look out for.   As well as raising awareness I have been raising money for charity, to research more about sepsis and work to stop sepsis now,

You can visit our nominated sepsis charity on their home page sepsisresearch.org.uk to learn about the fantastic research into sepsis they are working on.  They are the UK’s only sepsis research charity and also work to raise awareness of sepsis symptoms in Scotland.

Please take the time to read through the signs and symptoms of sepsis, it could save a life one day.   Sepsis is more common than breast, bowel and prostate cancer and kills 52,000 people a year, please don’t think it can’t happen to you. 

Fast heart rate and shortness of breath

High fever or low temperature (Heidi had both, her highest was 40c and her lowest 35c)

Clammy and pale skin (Heidi was pale before we took her back to the hospital)

Feeling cold or cold hands and feet. ( Heidi’s feet were like ice when she first fell ill)

Chills or shivers

Not passing as much urine as usual (Heidi experienced this)

Extra sleepy, not responding how they normally do (Heidi looked right through me, like she didn’t know who I was and was very sleepy)

Pain or discomfort ( Heidi moaned when her legs or arms were moved)

A weak or high pitched cry or crying a lot (the sound of Heidi’s cry was different and she cried more often)

Blotchy, blue skin, lips or tongue, a rash that doesn’t fade (Heidi had a rash on her hands and her skin was blotchy)

Vomiting or diarrhoea (Heidi vomited a lot)

Refusing milk and food, or finding eating and drinking difficult (Heidi normally loved her food and struggled to eat much, she wouldn’t even take her favourite snack towards the end)

Has a fit or a convulsion ( Heidi had one fit during her treatment)

The trouble is the above symptoms are common with flu, cold, viral infections, they are easy to miss or ignore. Not all of the symptoms appear at the same time and not every child will get all of the symptoms. But if your child ever has a combination of these symptoms and you are concerned, just asking your doctor or nurse ‘could it be sepsis?’ could save their life.

 If you would like to read about the symptoms in adults and older children, please visit the UK Sepsis Trust website here.