Just hours before he fell ill with sepsis and went to the hospital, and never went home.
Ariana-Leilani has been diagnosed with neutropenia — low immunity causing high risk of infection. Although she can look perfectly normal, a few hours can mean the difference between life and death. Neutropenic patients are particularly prone to sepsis, which is the most common killer of Americans. It is an infection can suddenly turned into the life-threatening condition called septic shock.
Most vexing about sepsis is that doctors can only treat the symptoms. They don’t have an effective treatment for the underlying condition — antibiotics don’t work.
One thing that can help is prompt medical attention — especially when an infection is accompanied with some of the symptoms of sepsis, such as confusion, rapid heartbeat, shaking and skin rash. In a neutropenic patient, like Ariana-Leilani, GCSF is one of the medicines that can boost the immune system.
Read more: Sepsis, A Wily Killer, Stymies Doctors’ Efforts To Tame It
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