It was a troubling time for us, we had just lost Pamela’s paternal grandmother, Biddy (Martha Washington Balmer). Pamela wasn’t really feeling well, but we figured that she could rest while the children and I drove to Virginia. Pamela was without an appetite and it concerned me very much, but she encouraged me to press on to her Dad’s home in Suffolk. Well we made it there in record time. We arrived and hit the ground running. I paid close attention to Pamela, her intake and outputs as we stopped along the way.
Upon our arrival, we grounded our bags and off to the funeral home we went. We all knew that it would be a sad, but viewing her body was enough, the center of the family had gone. Pamela started complaining about nausea, I immediately thought that she hadn’t eaten or drank much on the way there and would continue to resist eating for the duration of our stay. Biddy’s funeral was going to start in the morning at about 10 am.
The Onset
Pamela had awakened that morning and was still feeling nauseous. I suggested she take a plastic bag in case she felt ill during the service. Low and behold, she felt sick, almost uncontrollably nauseous. She had not picked up the small plastic bags I thought she would, but pulled from her purse, a Hefty trash bag and let it flow she then felt that she needed to clean herself up, she went to the lavatory with her eldest daughter in tow, and her half-filled “Hefty bag.”
She returned from the bathroom looking much better than she had all day. We went to the cemetery and buried Biddy and returned to the house. Pamela went immediately upstairs to change her clothes and to freshen herself up. After a prolonged period of time I went to check up on her. When I got to our suite, she did not look good and had no energy. So, I got her up and off to the hospital, upon arrival, I grabbed a wheelchair and got her connected to a nurse. I returned to the car and parked it. Upon my return, a nurse told me that she may not have made it to triage had I not put her in the wheelchair. Pamela’s blood pressure was 25/12 and her heart rate was 177.
Medical Miracle
They started running IV’s and took her straight to ICU and they started doing everything to try and save her life, explaining that she had sepsis and wanted to start getting family up to see her because she was not expected to survive the night. Her father got very upset considering that he just buried his mother the day before. He gathered our 5 kids to the hospital, so they could see their mother. After 6 days of being unconscious Pamela’s eyes opened and she had no idea where she was or what happened to her. Once stable Pam was moved to a regular room where the 3 doctors who worked on her in ICU saw her daily and told her she was a medical miracle.
After another week in the hospital we were being discharged, we took a slow drive home after coordinating her care once we returned to Savannah. ~ Stephen E. Murphy
Pamela’s Account
When we started our journey to Virginia I wasn’t feeling well but I attributed it to me grieving, I never thought I had an infection. Nonetheless one that had turned septic. My grandmother passing and getting sick was such a coincidence.
For the 6 days I was unconscious I was able to hear all the conversations around me, I just couldn’t respond. I asked my children and my husband did they say this or that and they were amazed that I heard the conversations word for word.
My husband told the doctors that just because she’s not talking to you it doesn’t mean she is not talking to God. When they are done conversing she will wake up and I did. ~ Pamela Balmer Murphy
This was written by
Stephen E. Murphy & Pamela Balmer Murphy