SALT LAKE CITY, UT (September 17, 2025) – Tomeka Casagrande will never forget a video she recorded on her cell phone on a January evening a couple of years ago. She had just come out of surgery and, amid sobbing, recorded the "goodbye" video for her husband who was at home in Clearfield with their two young children.
Tomeka, 36 at the time, was gravely ill with sepsis and wasn’t sure she was going to make it through the night. Her journey had begun four days earlier when she started experiencing pain that she believed was caused by a kidney stone. She had had kidney stones before, and as a nurse, she thought she had a handle on the situation and would just tough it out.
As she became sicker over the next few days, she rebuffed her husband’s repeated suggestions to go to the Emergency Department. But as is common with many individuals who have sepsis, her judgment was clouded. Finally her husband prevailed and took her to the ED, where the doctor immediately recognized that she was in bad shape.
“I was super sick," she recalled. "Sepsis is the real deal."
Tomeka’s journey continued for the next six months, during which she was hospitalized on five separate occasions and had two additional surgeries.
“Going from the living room to the bedroom was very taxing,” she said.
Even when she was cleared to go back to work, she could only work partial days because she was so weak. In the end she changed jobs for one that wasn't as physically demanding. Today she is the assistant manager at Holy Cross Hospital – Davis, a job she began two years ago after recovering from sepsis.
Tomeka is passionate about educating her nurses about the signs and symptoms of sepsis. She hopes her story can help educate Utahns about the nature of sepsis in hopes of minimizing the impact of the condition on future patients.
“Sepsis is an extremely serious condition and can often be life-threatening,” said Dr. Abdul AbuQare, the medical director of the Intensive Care Unit at Holy Cross Hospital – Davis. “Sepsis can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death if not treated quickly. Nearly 2 million adults in the U.S. contract sepsis each year. It can worsen quickly, so early diagnosis and treatment are critical. If you think you have sepsis, get to the Emergency Department as quickly as you can.”
Sepsis is the body's extreme response to an existing infection. Common signs and symptoms of sepsis include:
- Slurred speech or confusion
- Extreme shivering or muscle pain/fever
- Passing no urine (in a day)
- Severe breathlessness
- Feeling as if you may die
- Discolored or mottled skin
Tomeka says it’s important for family members to ask questions if a loved one is sick and any of these symptoms. If there is any concern, she encourages people to seek immediate medical care.
According to Dr. AbuQare, there are a number of things that people can do to lower their risk of sepsis.
“Sepsis prevention starts with infection prevention. Practice good hand hygiene, keep cuts and wounds clean and covered, and stay up to date on vaccinations.”
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