Lilian Robert
“I felt something was no longer right at all”
Lilian Robert has survived three episodes of sepsis in the last two years. The consequences have fundamentally changed her life. Here she tells us how she experienced this difficult time.
Lilian Robert is the mother of three grown-up children and lives with her family and dog in the canton of Schwyz. She has a medical background and has also completed a degree in psychology in recent years. Her goal was to open her own practice for psychological counseling.
But in June 2023, her life changed drastically. “I was catapulted from a healthy life into an intensive care unit from one minute to the next,” says Lilian Robert. At the time, she was studying for a bachelor’s degree in psychology. When she was studying for an exam, she took a break, sat down on the terrace and fell asleep in the blazing sun. Hours later, her husband found her there: a fever of over 40 degrees and barely responsive. An unnoticed bladder infection had developed into pyelonephritis and finally sepsis. “I was suffering. But with antibiotic therapy, I was able to recover in June.” Despite this setback, she managed to catch up on her missed exams and complete her studies.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that occurs when the body’s own immune response to an infection damages its own tissue and organs. Without early detection and treatment, it can progress rapidly, lead to organ failure and septic shock and be fatal. Sepsis is one of the most common causes of preventable mortality and morbidity worldwide.
“My life has changed completely”
The following fall, Robert went on a trip with her family. But during the second week of the vacation, she felt increasingly weak. “The journey home was incredibly tiring and the suitcase felt like it weighed tons,” she says. Back home, she went to sleep – the next day she tried to go to the lab she was running at the time. “I wanted to keep going because it was the first day after vacation,” she says. But she couldn’t. She called her husband, who took her straight to the hospital.
“My life changed completely with this second sepsis episode,” says Robert. “I was much sicker than with the first sepsis.” The situation was very serious. She remembers: “When I was in the intensive care unit, I felt that something wasn’t right at all. I thought: If I go to sleep now, I won’t wake up.” It felt like something was giving way inside. An enormous weakness.
She also developed atypical pneumonia, which permanently damaged 20 percent of her lung tissue. She spent a total of six weeks in hospital, five of them with a high fever of between 39 and 41 degrees. She then spent several weeks in rehabilitation. She is still suffering from the consequences today.
The fear remains
A year later, Robert suffered another sepsis, this time due to pyelonephritis. “You have a greater fear of infections and become even more cautious,” she says. There was no follow-up care for sepsis in her case. “I still try to lead a reasonably normal life.”
“It takes time to accept that”
Lilian Robert has been living with multiple sclerosis for 17 years and has a weakened immune system due to the therapy, which makes her a high-risk patient. Since her sepsis episodes, she has been receiving a disability insurance (DI) pension. She has not been able to open her psychological counseling practice as planned because she can only work limited hours. “It takes time to accept this,” she emphasizes, “but I see it as a positive thing: I can use my knowledge for other opportunities.”
“It can affect anyone at any time”
Despite her medical background, Lilian Robert did not know what sepsis really meant. “I knew the term and the symptoms, but not the reality. Only now do I know how quickly sepsis can become life-threatening.” She has written and spoken a lot to come to terms with her story. And she insists, “We need to talk about it – because it can affect anyone at any time.”
Text and photo: Andrina Sarott
