Thank You to ICU, RAH

Hello my name is Fiona and on 30th October 2023 my dad and I's world turned upside down when out of the blue my mum Donna was rushed to A&E at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and it was discovered she had a severe renal infection (sepsis) that has resulted in a dead kidney. While having an emergency operation to unblock her kidney her heart stopped for one minute and we thought she was gone. She was admitted to ICU where she stayed for 15 days, unconscious and intubated. For the first five days my dad and I spent morning to late evening by my mum's bedside while the dedicated ICU team cared for her, spoke to her, played her music, treated her infections and ensured that me and my dad were looking after ourselves as well.

On the fifth day an extubation was carried out but unfortunately she couldn't breathe and we nearly lost her for a second time as it was discovered one side of her heart was blocked, her heart rate was too high, her temperature spiked and she developed a fungal infection. The quick thinking team of doctors and nurses managed to re-intubate her, put a cooling body suit on and hooked her up to a dialysis machine to clean her blood. After 10 days my mum was successfully extubated. After being tubed for so long she was so thirsty, the nurses were so kind to allow me and my dad to give her mouth swab sponges of her favourite summer fruit juice and soon we were moving to High Dependency all thanks to their wonderful care and attention.

If it were not for the incredible doctors and nurses in ICU my amazing mum would not be here today. ICU were the most kind, caring team of staff, letting us stay until 2am some nights when I just couldn’t leave mum’s side, keeping us informed every step of the way.

We will forever be grateful to them, and to show our thanks I have organised a walk to raise money for ICU at the RAH. We are walking from the Erskine Bridge to Balloch, 16km (10 miles), on Sunday 7th July and hoping to raise at least £500. We are grateful for any and all donations, however small.

My mum is still in and out of hospital as her dead kidney is continually reinfecting her but she is not strong enough to have an operation yet to remove it, yet she faces everyday head on and puts on a brave face. She is always the first person to be there for everyone else and puts herself last, this time she is coming first and I am so proud of how strong and brave she is!