Caitlin Alsop was just 23 when a seemingly harmless rash began appearing on her face. At the time, she was otherwise a healthy young woman, and the rash seemed like a minor inconvenience. But what she didn’t know was that this persistent rash was the first sign of something far more dangerous brewing inside her body.
Sepsis: A mysterious illness unfolds
“I went to a couple of doctors, but I didn’t really think there was anything seriously wrong,” Alsop told news.com.au. The rash continued for months, and when she began experiencing flu-like symptoms—fever, sore throat, and ear pain—her general practitioner diagnosed it as just the flu.
Following her doctor’s advice, Alsop took it easy, and eventually, her symptoms seemed to improve. But the relief was short-lived. While out to dinner with a friend, Alsop felt as though she had bitten her tongue. Within hours, her tongue had swollen, and she began drooling uncontrollably. Struggling to breathe and speak, she reached out to her family, who suspected an allergic reaction. However, when she couldn’t swallow the antihistamine, it became clear that something far more serious was happening. Alsop was rushed to the hospital.
A race against time
Within 45 minutes of her arrival, doctors suspected anaphylaxis and administered two shots of adrenaline. But instead of improving, Alsop’s condition deteriorated rapidly. She faded in and out of consciousness, and a severe blue and red rash spread across her upper body. Alsop was transferred to Gold Coast University Hospital, where she was labeled a “medical mystery.”
Her tongue began to blacken, and there was talk of performing a tracheostomy due to the possibility of necrotizing fasciitis, a life-threatening infection that can destroy soft tissue.
Doctors eventually performed an endotracheal intubation and moved her to the intensive care unit. Her skin was literally burning from the inside out. An anesthetist suspected Ludwig’s angina, a rare but life-threatening infection of the soft tissue in the mouth and neck.
A CT scan revealed the root cause: an impacted and infected wisdom tooth that had nearly killed her. “I had no pain, no symptoms, and this nearly killed me overnight. It’s absolutely crazy,” Alsop reflected. “I didn’t know an infection could be so serious. Like so many young people, I had no idea an infection could lead to this. I was walking around, and then I was literally burning from the inside out in the ICU as a medical mystery.”
Her infection had developed into sepsis
Once the infection was identified, Alsop underwent emergency surgery to remove the tooth. Complications arose when her jugular vein began to be compressed, requiring further intervention to relieve the pressure. Alsop was placed in a coma for nine days. “I felt like a child when I woke up because I was just so disoriented,”
Alsop recalled. “I’d had such strong drugs. I couldn’t really eat, couldn’t really talk, and it was just a very interesting journey. But I was just so grateful to be alive, to be able to see, to hear, to breathe. I cannot describe that feeling.” For months afterward, Alsop endured the painful process of healing open wounds. It wasn’t until a year later that she learned just how close she had come to death. Her infection had developed into sepsis, a condition in which the body’s immune system has an extreme response to an infection, leading to tissue and organ damage.
A new lease on life
The realization that she had survived sepsis was both terrifying and transformative for Alsop. “I’m so determined to make sure that I leave this world a better place,” she said. But Alsop’s experience has also become a cautionary tale. “What’s really scary is the number of people who message me, telling me they’re concerned that their loved one is going through something similar. They see my story and want to make sure it doesn’t happen to them,” she shared. “We all have to work together to make sure that we prevent loss of life from sepsis.” Alsop now urges anyone who suspects they might have sepsis to seek immediate medical attention and to not be afraid to ask if it is sepsis. Early detection, she emphasizes, can make all the difference.