Story told by her loving daughter, Chantal

My mom had been suffering from diarrhea for a few weeks. On January 3rd, I took her to the emergency room for the first time, where she was diagnosed with a UTI and given antibiotics and diarrhea medication.

Despite taking them exactly as prescribed and me following all recommendations, there was no improvement. The diarrhea worsened, making her weaker. She spent an entire week in bed before being hospitalized. The night before I first called the paramedics, she was extremely weak and could no longer walk to the restroom, so I decided to change her while she was in bed. That’s when I realized she was passing bright red blood in her stool.

I waited a few minutes, knowing she would have to go again, hoping the bleeding would stop—but nothing changed. At that moment, I had no choice but to call the paramedics.

She was admitted, and in the emergency department, the alarm “CODE SEPSIS” went off.

Days later, while still hospitalized, my mom’s severe diarrhea was diagnosed as C. diff on January 20, 2025. Unfortunately, by the time we got to the emergency room, she was already in severe sepsis. Thankfully, she was discharged after five days, and I, her daughter, cared for her around the clock as she recovered at home. She could no longer stand, walk, or do anything on her own.

At first, things seemed to be improving—the diarrhea stopped, she was eating a little more, and she was gaining enough mobility to at least turn herself in bed when I changed her.

Then, on the morning of Thursday, February 6, 2025, her right side became completely immobilized, feeling limp like jelly whenever I tried to move it. I called the paramedics again, and she was taken back to the hospital.

That Thursday, my mom underwent an emergency exploratory laparotomy for a rupture in her colon, which had caused a severe infection, leading to septic shock. Her heart rate and blood pressure were completely unstable, no matter how much medication was administered. She was extremely swollen from fluid retention due to kidney failure. I approved emergency dialysis, which was performed immediately.

She was placed on a breathing machine to aid in her recovery. A colostomy was performed, and both the incision and the colostomy were healing well. Though sedated, she was still aware—she would nod and try to communicate with me.

On the morning of Thursday, February 13, as I walked toward the ICU, I received the worst call of my life.

My mother’s heart had stopped. Despite 20 minutes of resuscitation efforts, they could not save her.

I lost my mother. I lost my best friend.

From the moment my mom was first hospitalized, I was by her side every single day—taking care of her, comforting her, and trying to make her as comfortable as possible. I reassured her that everything would be okay.

I lost my mother to sepsis—and looking back, I can’t help but wonder… If I had known the earliest signs, could I have kept her with me just a little longer?