Love. Always.

October 21, 2018 1:21 PM

Gary Andrews is a cartoonist who lost his wife Joy to sepsis. He has continued his doodle a day during that time.

He is also on Twitter as #GaryScribbler.

posted by Martha My Dear Prudence (16 comments total)

That was almost more than I could deal with.
posted by Segundus at 1:51 PM on October 21, 2018

That was lovely and very sad.
Thanks for sharing it.
posted by chapps at 1:59 PM on October 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

Got halfway through. I will come back to this when I have a bit more strength.
posted by Catbunny at 4:46 PM on October 21, 2018

Signs and symptoms of Sepsis. A friend on Facebook survived her ordeal with sepsis but she posts pretty frequently about it. I think it was incredibly harrowing and she has some ongoing trauma from the experience. It wouldn't surprise me if women were under-diagnosed/treated in this area. It does seem particularly difficult to properly diagnose. His "doodles" are heart-rending.
posted by amanda at 5:28 PM on October 21, 2018 [4 favorites]

On the Friday at 03:15 she died from multiple organ failure caused by sepsis. Gary, in the departure lounge in Vancouver waiting for an emergency flight home, was told when he landed back in the UK.

There was so much sadness in the images, and so much love. The kids kept bringing in rays of light - it's hard for most grown-ups to talk about death and dying, but kids don't have that filter yet and say what needs to be said.

The fact that he was waiting in the airport and in the air, hopeful for hours and hours that she would survive and that he'd get a chance to speak to her again and to land and find that she didn't and he couldn't struck me as incredibly heartbreaking. Anger is a step in the grieving process and I'm sure he had rage at anything and anyone that took those hours away from him.
posted by bendy at 6:14 PM on October 21, 2018 [1 favorite]

Got halfway through. I will come back to this when I have a bit more strength.

I'll come back to this when my kids are eighteen.
posted by 256 at 6:19 PM on October 21, 2018 [3 favorites]

Thank you for posting.
Damnit. Death sucks.
posted by eirias at 6:22 PM on October 21, 2018

We almost lost a family member to sepsis. She was also a healthy person in her 40s. My heart goes out to Gary and his family.
posted by tuesdayschild at 6:39 PM on October 21, 2018

This is weeping-in-public-transport level beautiful and sad.
posted by Nieshka at 10:21 PM on October 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

#sepsissurvivors support groups have sprung up here and discussing the longer term physical, mental & social impacts is so helpful. But more bereavement support is clearly neeeded for families left behind.
posted by Wilder at 11:37 PM on October 21, 2018

As a cartoonist who's done various sketch a day projects, this one is really great. I love his art style, and that he's using this to process trauma is such a good use of the medium. Thanks for posting!
posted by bile and syntax at 5:54 AM on October 22, 2018

I nearly died from sepsis caused by pneumonia in 2014. The doctors told my husband that if we had waited a few more hours before going to the ER, it would have been too late. As it was, I was in the hospital for 4 days and was given 7 different antibiotics. And they only send you home once you're out of the woods because of the risk of staph and other infections. It's not like I was magically better after 4 days. Took me a couple of weeks before I was eating even slightly regularly, and I basically slept most of the time. It took probably a year before I felt back to normal.

My heart goes out to Gary's family and everyone who has lost someone, no matter the cause.
posted by cooker girl at 6:41 AM on October 22, 2018 [4 favorites]

I saw the animated version of this. It is beautiful and absolutely heartbreaking.
posted by tallmiddleagedgeek at 7:04 AM on October 22, 2018

I had strep throat three times in the spring and my travel companion was pretty worried about me traveling and possibly getting it again. I texted him, ‘I trust my medical team. I promise not to get sepsis while we’re in Europe.’

At 36 I got c diff instead and spent 8 days in a hospital in a foreign country, and sepsis was one of the things the hospital worked on ruling out while waiting for an isolation room for me.

My travel companion handled it all extremely poorly and my partner at home was quietly freaking out. Today I’m traveling back to Europe and guys, I’m terrified that I’m going to be very ill again and give my partner another skill. These sketches came across my radar earlier and I also couldn’t get through them. Maybe when I’m back home again.
posted by bilabial at 7:54 AM on October 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Safe travels, bilabial. I remember your last ordeal and hope you have a much much improved experience this time.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:34 AM on October 22, 2018

Here is the animated version. Yeah, it's even sadder. Joy wrote and performed the music.
posted by kimberussell at 2:06 PM on October 22, 2018 [2 favorites]