Lynda Whiteway1
1 Consumer Advocate
My journey with sepsis began in February 2010, when I presented to a public hospital with a high temperature and extreme spinal and leg pain. I couldn’t put my left leg to the ground. I was misdiagnosed and sent home. My husband wasn’t happy and insisted that we visit my general practitioner (GP) straight away. The GP prescribed antibiotics and advised if there was no improvement in 24 hours to return immediately. The next day he admitted me to a private hospital. I spent 1 month there on intravenous (IV) antibiotics. After discharge, I took massive doses of oral antibiotics for 18 months. Years later, I still suffer from Post Sepsis Syndrome.
I am the Consumer Representative on the Global Steering Committee of the Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive (SNAP) Platform Trial I have made a significant contribution to this 5-year trial by reviewing website material; helping to establish the Australian Community Reference Group; improving patient information literature; and my lived experience of post-sepsis syndrome (PSS) led the chief researchers to consider a further trial on PSS.
Biography
With lived experience of sepsis, Lyn has been a key consumer representative for a range of projects. She is a health consumer advisor, representative and community board member with over 20 years of experience and has recently co-authored a paper examining experienced-based-co-design (EBCD) to improve care planning for older adults with multimorbidity.
She currently represents consumers on the SNAP Global Trial Steering Committee and is Co-Chair of the SNAP Consumer Advisory Group. She was awarded a SPHERE (Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise) scholarship to be Consumer Lead on a systematic review of quantitative studies to identify and critically evaluate person-centred care interventions for people with rheumatoid arthritis.