Can this be bad? Pull through or not?

[KingKitty]

I know noone can tell me medical things and noone really knows. An uncle of mine is in hospital. Apparantly he has cancer but none in the family talked about it. It was all hush hush. Then they went to operate on him and they found sepsis. He's in icu now for a number of weeks.

Will he pull through or not? Anybody know anyone who experienced anything similar?

For some reason noone is talking about it and it's all hush hush. I don't know of his condition.

Can anyone give me any insights please?.

I didn’t want to read and not post. I don’t think anyone here can tell you anything for certain but patients in ICU are very sick. Hopefully he could get better but things can go wrong and he might not. I’m sorry.

Can’t you ask your family for more information on his condition if you want to know?

Sorry to hear you have a loved one going through this

Here's some information on treatment and recovery from sepsis
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/sepsis/treatment-and-recovery/

I know. I am concerned. For some reason or another it's all hush hush hush and brushed under the carpet not to be spoken about. Apparantly he's in icu a number of weeks.

I am concerned. My uncle is one my mum mother's brothers and she is completely unphased. Just Blake. No comprehension over the seriousness of it.

Again all hush hush within the family. Nearly as of they are embarrassed about the cancer or something.

I presume a younger person might have a better chance coming through sepsis but I don't know. I know sepsis is sersious. He's in his 60s.

How old? 50, good chance of pulling through. 90, not so much.

The surgeons went to operate on him and they found sepsis. How does that happen?

In his 60s

How old is he and what was his general health/ fitness like before this? Surgery + cancer + sepsis + lengthy ICU stay is a lot going on and his chances of a full recovery are much higher if he has youth and general fitness on his side.

Edited as realise you said he is 60.

You can look up sepsis survival rates and date on UK ICU stay lenth and mortality but none of those tell you what your relative's individual chances are, just the average and general trends.

Was he having chemo for his cancer? That can have a detrimental effect on the immune system and make a serious infection more likely.

I think it’s really difficult to say. I have cancer and I think it’s weird when people are funny about it, but I think it’s a generational thing. Certainly, my mum’s generation (75), it was very much a thing you don’t talk about. Whereas I tell everyone. 😂

As for the sepsis, it’s more likely they operated because of it or it developed as a result of the operation. It’s not something you just find that’s been hiding out somewhere. It’s very fast progressing. It’s hard to know what the outcome might be, but depends a lot on his overall health (cancer aside). I had a friend in his early 50s, who had kidney cancer and needed a minor operation (I think it was to put some sort of stent in), he got sepsis as a result of the operation and died within a few days. He was relatively healthy and well apart from the cancer. I’ve had a few friends die of meningitis related sepsis, also young and healthy. But there are also much older people who bounce back. A lot of it has to do with speed and suitability of treatment, how fast it’s started, is it the right medicine, how otherwise frail they may be.

Sorry that isn’t more helpful. If he’s getting ICU care, it sounds like they are doing what they should. Illness is hard for some families to deal with unfortunately.

He is in his 60s. I think approx mid 60s. Possibly.

I don't know his general health. He had some extra weight but he wasn't huge. I don't know anything else. Possibly high blood pressure because that runs in the family. But I can't be certain. His face was very red last I saw him. I reckon maybe high blood pressure or some form of inflammation with him.

Sorry I don't know anything else.

I don't think chemo was started. It going into surgery and then sepsis was found.

I am just in shock this morning how it's all hush hush and swept under the carpet and even the seriousness of sepsis and ICU. I know we can't do anything and he's not allowed any visitors but still. Why keep this silent. Surely it would be better to talk about it and if any turn happens for the worse you are kinda likely a little bit prepared for it. Instead of ignoring it all.

I don't think my mother truly understands what's happening or can truly comprehend the situation. She seems to think an ICU placement is just a little bit of nothing.

Perhaps you could try phoning the hospital and asking. Say he is your uncle and is there anything they can tell you about his condition, because you'd like to be able to visit him if possible. You might get something out of them.

I wasn't very close to him to be honest but still I don't want to see him unwell either. If he was to take a bad turn, I am in a country where funerals take place within 2/3 days of death. There's no time or planning for anything.

I wasn't even told. I was told second hand information by someone else but it's all hush hush within my mother's family.

I won't be phoning the hospital and pretending I want a visit. They likely won't let anyone in anyways.

Apparantly my mother knew since Xmas about his cancer and she found out from a different sibling of hers and she was asked not to say anything because they didn't know what way it will go.

I mean make that make some sense? So it could go either way and it was all just hush hush hush. Now he's lying in ICU for weeks and it's still quiet and swept under the carpet. With no understanding of the serious nature of icu.

I don't understand my mother. Her brother is in ICU apparantly and she has never once showed any concerns or picked up the phone to phone the rest of her family to check on his condition and prognosis. They are not estranged. I have no idea how my uncle is.