Sally's last resort

After a long-standing cough turned into difficulties breathing, Sally Hodgson dialed 911 and was brought to Queensway Carleton Hospital.

“I went downhill fast. I ended up in the ICU with a breathing tube. At that point, I lost consciousness.”

Sally was suffering from a serious lung condition called Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS). Every organ in your body needs oxygen in order to function normally. Your lungs are responsible for filtering oxygen into your bloodstream, which then travels throughout your body and is delivered to your organs. ARDS occurs when damage to your lungs prevents them from working properly. It reduces the amount of oxygen that reaches your bloodstream and deprives your organs of the oxygen they need to function.

In Sally’s case, it resulted in multiple organ failure.

For 11 days, Sally remained unconscious and on life support. Despite advanced measures at QCH, her condition progressed, and she was transferred to the Ottawa Heart Institute to be put on Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – or what some call the ‘last resort.’ This collaboration with the Ottawa Heart Institute has saved many lives over the years.

The ECMO machine took over the role of Sally’s lungs and heart, giving them time to rest and hopefully, heal. It pumped blood outside of her body, filtering out carbon dioxide, and sending oxygen-rich blood back to her organs.

Fortunately, the treatment worked and Sally was finally taken off all life support measures on January 24, 2024.

“When I finally regained consciousness, I found myself at QCH under the amazing care of their ICU team.”

Sally’s husband was by her bedside almost every day. When he couldn’t be, he received routine phone calls from the ICU team informing him of Sally’s progress.

Being able to participate and listen in on ‘rounds’ – a meeting with the ICU interdisciplinary team to discuss complications, progress and care plans – provided Sally and her husband with “incredible confidence.”

“Communication between the doctors and my husband exceeded expectations. I was amazed at how kind, caring, and knowledgeable the ICU team members were.”

Looking back on her critical illness scare, Sally is extremely grateful to have survived. She’s now back to enjoying the things she loved doing and credits the ICU team for it.

“On behalf of myself and my entire family, we thank you and everyone at QCH for the most professional and life saving care. Thank you for the incredible support, talent, and communication.”