Inge shares her experience of critical illness, sepsis and diagnosis of Sheehan’s Syndrome

Looking back now this brave (and proud) smile belies how difficult these first 14 days back at home were. I could barely hold Logan (almost 4 months old) and didn't dare to lift him from his cot because I could barely hold myself up. I was so grateful to be home!! I had spent 84 days in ITU and was self-catheterizing daily as my bladder had nerve damage - this was a compromise from the urologist. I could go home if the occupational therapist could teach me how to diligently catheterise every 4 hours to slowly retrain my bladder.

It had been a small victory - I had been discharged after suffering from recurrent severe abdominal sepsis on the 18th of August. Logan was born via emergency c-section on the 19th of May, and I had spent only 2 nights at home after my initial discharge 22 days after his birth. I quickly took ill again (septic, weak and very devastated that I would have to leave my husband and young children and newborn baby to have further surgery).

The source of the sepsis was later pinpointed as my uterus which had suffered damage during Logan's failed vaginal delivery. I was 35 at that stage and his pregnancy (my 2nd) was healthy and happy, and I went into labour at 39 weeks. After 80 minutes of 2nd stage labour and failed vacuum and forceps attempt, I was wheeled out of the suite into theatre for an emergency c-section.

I couldn't hold him when he was delivered as he was in severe distress and was taken away to NICU. I recall my husband bringing McDonald's to the maternity ward after midnight and then I don't remember much beyond fever dreams and people around me. I had started haemorrhaging that night and was taken back to theatre where they stopped a bleed from my Broad Ligament and cleared 900 ml of blood from my abdomen. I was whisked back to maternity but deteriorated quickly, delirious and critically unwell I was transferred to ITU and started my slow fight against sepsis.

I tried to express milk in those first few days when I was awake, with a friend helping, but had no milk supply which I thought was normal because I was critically unwell.

I had a hysterectomy 5 days after Logan's birth as this was the source of my sepsis and was damaged beyond repair. I was never going to have another period, and I think this was one of the reasons I didn’t have a speedier diagnosis of Sheehan's Syndrome.

I recovered from sepsis and went home after 3 weeks with a c-section scar and severe pain and discharge from the wound. Within 2 days I was back in ITU and this time I was critically ill and the doctors took the decision to allow my other children (Josh, 6, and Zoe, 5) with tiny baby Logan to come and visit after hours (a chance for them and I to say goodbye), the day after Father's day, and it was after this that the turning point came.  I had multiple laparotomies and cleanups and a graft to cover my intestines while my abdomen was left open.

I survived and could go home!! But I was weak. I had no energy. I could not lift my arms over my head and my mum had to help me to shower or bathe. I slept a lot and I slowly recovered the ability to urinate which was a major victory for me after 6 weeks! My family took turns taking care of Logan day and night, and my mum and my husband have bonded during these first 7 months of Logan's life, for which I am grateful.

Fast forward 3 years; I have taken a role as an Occupational therapist in South London and the commute from Kent to London daily is gruelling. I work across three different units and have a large workload and caseload, but I love my job and I am so grateful to be back in the workforce (I had been out of work since ITU for 3 years).

I start losing weight. And honestly, I'm chuffed, I'll be 40 soon and I don't feel great in my own skin (the 16 abdominal surgeries and subsequent reconstruction has left my stomach irregular and bulgy with a scar where my bellybutton used to be).

But I start looking gaunt and I start worrying that I am unwell and losing weight fast. In the end, in March 2023 the children all get chickenpox and it is this infection that triggers my one and only adrenal crisis to date - I will be forever thankful to the unnamed EMT who responds to me at home with an ambulance because I "feel strange".

Despite normal blood sugars, okay blood pressure and heart rate and a normal ECG, she trusts my gut instinct, and I am blue lighted to A&E majors.

It is in majors that I get unwell, and my bloods reveal severe hyponatremia (dangerously low sodium), hyperkalaemia (high potassium) and raised parathyroid hormones. I am treated initially for meningitis (severe sensitivity to sound, light and throbbing headaches with neck and back pain). A CT and MRI reveal a pituitary gland that is of normal size and configuration but patchy under contrast. I am discharged home after a week with steroids and a query diagnosis of suspected adrenal insufficiency.

I am referred to endocrinology at my local NHS trust and I have a short synacthen test and later an insulin tolerance test that reveals that my pituitary gland is producing very small amounts of growth hormone and my adrenal glands do not respond well - I have partial secondary adrenal insufficiency and I am finally diagnosed with Sheehan's syndrome after discussing my own research on the topic and my birth history of blood loss and muscle and energy changes after this in January 2024.

Learning how to live with secondary adrenal insufficiency and how to respond when I am unwell or when I had burnout last year has been a learning curve.

I now work in the same trust where I receive my treatment in a very busy Stroke Unit. I love working in the NHS and I have never felt this supported and encouraged in a workspace where my manager and colleagues support me to work at my best and some days at my not-so-best. I have found a home doing what I adore - helping others. And I am grateful every day for the help of others that keeps me standing - particularly my husband who takes my mood swings, fatigue, sleep disruption, all the changes my body has had to endure in the past 8 years, the preoccupation with my health and the trips to A&E when I feel horrible - it takes a village to stand tall and brave. I am grateful for my village and for God's grace and provisioning in this journey with Sheehan's syndrome.