The Nerve That Could Stop Sepsis
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Patients chose to enter the clinical study of vagus nerve stimulation rather than going down a continuing checklist of biologics. And why is that? Well, it's because the biologics have black box warnings. That means the side effects are so serious that you can get sepsis from immunosuppression, or you can get cancer, or you can have other problems. So patients prefer to actually try the vagus nerve therapy, unless I say Said about seventy five percent of them had a significant lasting improvement. This is
the Sepsis Spectrum, a podcast about antimicrobial resistance, sepsis, and how to expect the unexpected in your practice.
Sepsis Alliance gratefully acknowledges the monetary support provided by Vantiv for this podcast series.
My name is Kimberly and I am a sepsis survivor. My story begins by waking up. From a long Sleep. Um, that is all I recall. As waking up and being told. Um of my sepsis survival um events and the trials that I experience. Um after being in hospital for nearly a month. Um when I awoke, I was told. That I had gone into severe sepsis shock as a result of having an unknown or undiagnosed kidney stone. I remember preparing for my 50th. birthday, getting excited about having Um a photo shoot. and having a uh birthday party. Um, in the time that I was in a medically induced coma, that I had in fact suffered. Cardiac arrest. I was down for about five minutes. I had two brain aneurysms or strokes. Every major body system was failing.
And um we just did not know how devastating a sepsis diagnosis would be. When I woke up. I noticed that my hands and my feet were uh hard, they were cold to the touch. Um I was unable to move them. And they were beginning to curl. The last doctor that I was able to visit was my vascular doctor. And at that time that's when he explained to me that I had um dry gangrene. I had all four of my limbs amputated. And I know that each stage of my recovery I had a whole host of doctors and nurses and specialists who saw me, but then they didn't see me. They never saw what happened after I was discharged or after I was released. And I want to just say that sepsis is such a devastating disease. After my amputation, I was fitted for prosthetics.
I worked very hard to get in prosthetics and to master them. I did suffer two Strokes. And uh fortunately I had no debilitating. results of those strokes, but it has left me very aware of the fact that sepsis is something that destroys body systems and is has devastating effects. Every step of the way, my recovery was Um profound and remarkable because of the cutting edge and new treatment options that are made that were made available because of sepsis research and because of sepsis advocates.
What is Kimberly Emanuel’s sepsis survival story and how did it shape the episode?
Hi everyone and welcome to the Sepsis Spectrum. I'm Nicole Kupchik, critical care nurse, clinical nurse specialist, and your guide through the unpredictable world of sepsis. Or as we like to call this season, sepsis and multi organ dysfunction syndrome. The story we just heard was Kimberly Manuel, a survivor who woke up from a coma to find her body, life, and world completely changed. She unfortunately suffered so much from septic shock, cardiac arrest, two strokes, to the loss of all four limbs. And yet she stood again, no small part thanks to modern medicine, relentless research, and Sheer determination. I think Kimberly's story captures something profound we often touch on is that sepsis isn't just a battle in the bloodstream, it's a storm that reaches the brain.
It alters consciousness, cognition, and identity itself. Even when patients survive, their minds may still be fighting to find their way back. And their body does its best to do the same. That very discourse, one of the brain and immune system being constantly in conversation, is where today's guest has reshaped medical science. Dr. Kevin Tracy, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health, a pioneer of vagus nerve research, and author of the great. Great nerve. Dr. Tracy's work bridges inflammation and neuroscience, revealing a fascinating communication network within the body.
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