On a Wednesday evening in January 2018, Georg Sigrist fell ill. He felt sick and had to vomit. Because there was a flu epidemic going around, he initially thought it was an infection and went to bed. But the retired civil engineer quickly realized that this time it was different. “Instead of sweating, I got chills like I’d never experienced before,” he says. “My bed, which I had made myself before our wedding, was shaking so violently that my wife was afraid it might collapse.”

The next day, he developed a high temperature and severe pain, from his neck to both shoulders. Georg Sigrist was weakened and even fell. But at first he couldn’t understand what he was experiencing. On Saturday, he felt so bad that his wife called the emergency services. They said it was probably the flu. But his condition did not improve. On the contrary: the pain increased and sleep was hardly possible. Day after day, he lost more and more strength. On Sunday, he was barely responsive. “I was no longer myself,” he says. “I could no longer think clearly.”

Early on Monday morning, his wife drove him to the family doctor. Blood was taken there and the sample sent to the laboratory. A new appointment was scheduled for Wednesday. But he couldn’t wait that long. On Tuesday, his condition deteriorated massively again. Back at the surgery, the lab results showed that everything had to happen quickly. Georg Sigrist had to go to hospital immediately. “My wife drove me straight there,” he recalls.

Suddenly an emergency

In hospital, he only perceived the situation as if through a veil. “It was like being in a dream,” says Georg Sigrist. “I just thought: they’ll fix me.” Numerous examinations followed until it became clear what was behind the rapid deterioration: Georg Sigrist had sepsis, triggered by the intestinal bacterium Escherichia coli. E. coli occurs naturally in the human intestine, but can cause serious infections outside of it. The exact origin of the infection remained unclear. “I heard the word sepsis for the first time during the MRI examination. I didn’t know what it was.” Georg Sigrist was treated immediately and stayed in hospital for two weeks. Because his condition soon stabilized, he escaped intensive care, but was monitored around the clock.

What Georg Sigrist wore in hospital was music. His wife brought him a CD player and concert recordings on which he played the saxophone himself. He listened to Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach. For hours, over and over again. “My only wish was to be able to play the saxophone again,” he says. He not only found distraction in music, but also an anchor. It reminded him of the life that was still waiting for him and became a silent promise to himself to find his way back.

On leaving the hospital, Georg Sigrist said that it must have been five to twelve when he arrived. The doctor replied with a sentence that he would never forget: “It was more like five past twelve. You should have come a week earlier.” It was only at that moment that he realized how serious the situation had actually been.

Return to life

However, the story was not over when he left hospital. Georg Sigrist received antibiotic infusions on an outpatient basis for a further three weeks, administered by two Spitex nurses from his community. He then had to take medication for a longer period of time. The many medications also had unexpected side effects. His sense of taste changed so much that he suddenly tasted foods that he had never liked before. Georg Sigrist takes it with dry humor: “At least that was a positive side effect.”

In the first two years after the sepsis, he looked ahead and tried to find his way back into everyday life. Physically, his recovery remained difficult. In addition to a general weakness, Georg Sigrist suffered from severe back pain. But it wasn’t just his body that needed time. His mental health was also thrown off balance after the sepsis. Georg Sigrist experienced a vulnerability that had previously been alien to him. “I suddenly burst into tears at sad movies or at the sight of happy children.” He also experienced anxiety in the dark and when alone, insomnia, nightmares and fear of going to bed. He developed depression, which felt “like homesickness” to him, and suffered from high blood pressure.

Invisible consequences

Then something happened that threw Georg Sigrist off course: the flautist suddenly left the musical trio, the harpsichord player moved to Lucerne – the well-rehearsed trio suddenly disbanded. And the music that had sustained Georg Sigrist was gone.

At first, Georg Sigrist had no idea that the emotional outburst could be linked to the sepsis. Only in retrospect did he begin to understand that the illness had not only deeply shaken his body, but also his emotional balance. He also realized something about himself that went back a long way. As a boy, he says, he was very emotional. Later, he put on a protective shell to deal with emotions differently. “After the sepsis, I felt like I had lost the protective cloak I had acquired as a child,” he said.

The fact that this new sensitivity was weighing so heavily on him finally led him to seek help. He turned to a psychotherapist. A step that cost him a great deal of effort. “It goes against my nature to share personal problems with others,” he said. In order to better understand his feelings and learn to deal with them, the therapist encouraged him to write down his experiences and thoughts. What was initially only intended for himself became something bigger over time. Today, Georg Sigrist is convinced that his story can also encourage others. That is why he has recorded it in his book “Erlebnis Sepsis und mein Weg mit den Langzeitfolgen” (The sepsis experience and my journey with the long-term consequences).

Sepsis can affect anyone

For his recovery, Georg Sigrist said, medical treatment was not the only decisive factor. His inner attitude also played an important role. “My consistent will to become healthy again had a major influence on my recovery.” Step by step, he found his way back into everyday life. But sepsis had changed his view of life. Before the illness, he had hardly ever thought about the possibility of suddenly having to die. Afterwards, he became more aware of that possibility. However, he is not afraid of death.

The anxiety and depression have now largely disappeared. “I am still more sensitive and sometimes have slight depressive moods,” said Georg Sigrist. It is precisely these invisible consequences that show him that sepsis is not simply over when you are discharged from hospital.

The fact that he was affected by sepsis still bothers him to this day. Even after retiring, Georg Sigrist felt mentally and physically active, robust and healthy. “Sepsis can affect anyone,” he said. “I was never seriously ill, I didn’t smoke, I didn’t have diabetes, I didn’t drink alcohol or take drugs. So I wasn’t really a high-risk patient, apart from being a senior citizen.” This is precisely why it is important to him to show that sepsis can also affect people who are in the middle of life and feel healthy.

His message is clear: you have to become aware earlier – not just when everything becomes dramatic. Precisely because the symptoms can be unspecific at first, it is important to take changes seriously. “You shouldn’t wait until it’s almost too late to react,” said Georg Sigrist. In his case, the signs were not clear at first. However, the symptoms then became extreme. Georg Sigrist’s story is therefore both a warning and an encouragement. It shows how quickly a supposed flu can develop into a life-threatening sepsis. At the same time, it makes it clear that early action can be crucial, even if the road back afterwards remains long.

Text: Katrin Hürlimann
Photo: Valentina Verdesca