Sepsis nearly took a mother's life. Now, she wants others to know the warning signs.

The day began like any other ordinary day at home for Jenna VanderWeide.

She changed the dressing on a wound on her leg, grabbed a book and went outside to relax.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she felt lightheaded.

The roughly 50-foot walk from her back porch to her bedroom suddenly felt impossible.

“I would walk a few steps, and I would sit in a chair,” she said. “Then, I’d get up and walk a few more steps and sit in a chair.”

A nurse herself, VanderWeide checked her blood pressure. The reading was dangerously low.

When her husband, Ryan VanderWeide, walked into the room, she told him she needed to go to the hospital.

Within a short time, Jenna VanderWeide was transported to AdventHealth Winter Garden, just minutes from the family’s home.

She was suffering from sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection that can progress quickly and damage the body’s organs.

Jenna VanderWeide remembers being in the emergency department and later being moved to the intensive care unit. After that, much of her memory disappears.

“The hardest part is that I remember the morning of Feb. 10, and then I woke up months later,” she said. “I really couldn’t figure out how I had lost three months of my life.”

Why recognizing sepsis quickly matters

Sepsis can be difficult to recognize because its symptoms can vary from person to person and may resemble other illnesses.

Signs can include fever or feeling very cold, confusion, shortness of breath, extreme pain or discomfort, clammy skin, and a high heart rate or weak pulse.

“Sepsis can become life-threatening very quickly, and the early signs are not always dramatic,” said Elizabeth Dalchand, MD, assistant medical director of AdventHealth Celebration and sepsis lead physician for AdventHealth's Central Florida Division. “If you have an infection and your condition is getting worse, it is important to seek medical care rather than wait and see.”

Because sepsis can progress rapidly, early recognition and treatment can make a critical difference.

“With sepsis, early recognition can save lives,” said Arun Malhotra, MD, facility medical director of the AdventHealth Winter Garden, Ocoee and Millenia emergency departments. “When sepsis is suspected, every moment counts. The body’s response to infection can progress quickly and begin affecting vital organs. Recognizing the warning signs, listening to your body and seeking medical care promptly can help us identify sepsis earlier and start the right treatment as quickly as possible.”

That commitment to early recognition, rapid intervention and multidisciplinary teamwork has earned the AdventHealth Winter Garden ER team the Sepsis Guardian Award, recognizing excellence in sepsis care.

For Jenna VanderWeide, the progression was startling.

“It wasn’t like I woke up feeling bad,” she said. “It was something that really came on very out of the blue.”

The day her daughters came to say goodbye

Four days after Jenna VanderWeide arrived at the hospital, her family faced a moment they will never forget.

On Feb. 14, Jenna VanderWeide’s condition had deteriorated so severely that her five daughters were brought to the hospital.

Their oldest was 15. Their youngest was 11.

They were brought in because there was a very real possibility they were about to say goodbye to their mother.

“Feb. 14 was a bad day,” Ryan VanderWeide said.

He remembers his wife's condition worsening, and the outlook became increasingly grim.

“It was just not looking good,” he said. “That night was probably the lowest point of this whole ordeal.”

While Jenna VanderWeide has no memory of that day, Ryan VanderWeide remembers the fear of facing a future without his wife and the mother of their five children.

Then, the next day, something changed.

“For some reason, the next day, things started to look up,” Ryan VanderWeide said. “It was kind of amazing how it was like night and day.”

His wife had turned a corner and there was hope.

A long road back to her family

Surviving sepsis was only the beginning of Jenna VanderWeide’s recovery.

She spent an extended period hospitalized and eventually required a tracheostomy and feeding tube.

Her recovery later continued through specialty care and rehabilitation, with additional hospital visits along the way.

Her goal through it all was simple: She wanted to get home.

“I have five daughters,” she said. “I had been away from my kids for so long. I was like, ‘I’m going home this time.’”

Because Jenna VanderWeide remembers so little of the period when she was critically ill, much of the story has been pieced together through her husband, her family and the people who cared for her.

Months later, during another visit to AdventHealth Winter Garden, Jenna VanderWeide experienced something she did not expect: Team members began coming into her room to see her.

“They knew who I was. I didn’t know them, but they knew me,” she said.

Nurses and other team members told her how they remembered caring for her during the weeks when she could not remember them.

For Jenna VanderWeide, those encounters helped put faces to the care that carried her through one of the most frightening chapters of her life.

“I wasn’t just one person or one number or someone in the bed,” she said. “The whole person was being cared for.”

Faith and care through the darkest moments

That care extended beyond that of Jenna VanderWeide.

On Feb. 14, someone at the hospital brought five teddy bears for her daughters.

Team members helped make the children feel safe during an experience no child should have to face.

Ryan VanderWeide decorated his wife’s room with family pictures and cards from their daughters’ dance community.

Their church family prayed with them and supported them. AdventHealth Winter Garden's pastoral care team also visited, checked on the family and prayed over Jenna VanderWeide.

For Ryan VanderWeide, faith became an anchor during the uncertainty.

“I knew God was watching us,” he said. “I just had faith that she was going to come back.”

Jenna VanderWeide remembers hearing about people from throughout the hospital who played a part in her journey, including intensive care, occupational therapy, speech therapy, nutrition and other teams.

For her, that is what whole-person care looked like during a time when both she and her family needed healing and hope.

Turning survival into awareness

Today, Jenna VanderWeide is sharing her experience during Sepsis Awareness Month because she wants others to recognize something she learned firsthand: A serious illness does not always announce itself clearly.

Her message is to listen when something feels wrong and not feel embarrassed about seeking help.

“Don’t be ashamed to go to the hospital ever,” she said. “You just have to get it checked out.”

On Feb. 14, five daughters came to a hospital believing they might have to say goodbye to their mom. Today, their mom is still here to tell the story herself.