Audrey Lasky

Survivor

Valentine’s Day 1996 was very nearly the last day of my then 34-year-old life. As a happy and healthy wife and mother of a little eight-year-old son, I never would have imagined that a headache and a fever would result in such a close encounter with the unthinkable. Valentine’s Day 1996 was the day septic shock became part of my vocabulary.

In the wee hours of the morning, I woke up in excruciating pain and my skin was turning purple. My legs had swelled to three times their normal size. My husband rushed me to the emergency room at which time my nightmare officially began. I already met the criteria for septic shock with multiple organ system failure well underway. My husband was told I likely had 24 to 48 hours left and to summon our immediate family.

I succumbed to systemic inflammatory response syndrome, acute respiratory distress syndrome. I was put on a respirator. I suffered acute renal failure, acute liver failure, complete gastrointestinal failure, congestive heart failure, pulmonary edema and more. There was no evidence of any infection of any kind. My doctors believed some airborne viral infection was the culprit, however to this day no one knows what it was, how it happened or why.

I spent 29 days in the intensive care unit. What is clear is that my physician and the medical team I was fortunate enough to come face-to-face with on that Valentine’s Day in 1996, recognized septic shock for what it was. They did everything in their power when my life hung in the balance so that my eight-year-old son, now 26, could have his mother right there with him as he and his bride recite their wedding vows. I am happy to say that I will have that chance two months from now on September 6, 2014.

It is crucial to educate everyone about sepsis and septic shock, including the public and the entire medical community, especially those on the front lines so that every patient has every chance to survive and have the best possible outcome – LIFE!

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