VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Audrey Leishman was the picture of perfect health until a sickness almost ten years ago nearly ended it all.
"I just assumed it was the flu, and I would lay in bed for a couple of days," she explained.
She was 31 and a mom of two young children at the time. Her husband, professional golfer Marc Leishman, was out of town. Audrey developed a 102° fever, severe pain, and trouble breathing. The worried family finally convinced her to go to urgent care. That's when a nurse sounded the alarm.
"She pushed her chair back away from me, put a mask on, and said, you are very sick," she recalled.
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Nurses put Audrey in an ambulance and rushed her to the hospital. She went straight into intensive care, where doctors hurried to figure out what was making her so sick.
"They had to place me in a medically induced coma so that I could breathe," she said.
She spent five days in that coma. Doctors went on to diagnose her with Toxic Shock Syndrome, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, and Sepsis -- a life-threatening condition that happens when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection.
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"I had never heard of Sepsis." she said. "No one in my family had heard of Sepsis."
The healthcare community is working to change that.
"I think there's poor awareness about what Sepsis is and how serious of an illness it is," explained Dr. William Browder, an emergency medical physician at Sentara Health in Norfolk.
Sepsis can be tough to diagnose early. Symptoms you should watch for include:
- A high or low temperature
- Faster than normal heart rate
- Difficulty breathing
- Confusion
- Severe pain
"If you're having multiple symptoms and you feel you have a serious infection, it's very important to seek out healthcare early," said Dr. Browder.
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It's also important hospital staff know the warning signs. At Sentara Health, stepped-up awareness is paying off. According to Dr. Browder, the survival rate from Sepsis increased 36.7% across the healthcare system.
"It means we're saving lives," he added.
Audrey Leishman is saving lives, too.
"When we started Begin Again, I realized this is why everything happened," she said.
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The Leishman family's Begin Again Foundation supports survivors of Sepsis, Toxic Shock Syndrome, and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome with $1,000 grants, hoping to ease the financial burden so they can focus on recovery. An annual golf tournament fundraiser in Virginia Beach serves as one of the foundation's main events.
"I don't want families to have to worry about how to pay their bills on top of trying to survive and recover," Leishman said. "I know it doesn't fix everything, but if I can reduce the stress level even by a small amount, that means the world."
