Brittney Hildebrand

Survivor

It started with the first trip to the ER. Kidney stones had become a normal experience yet, as a 23-year-old, each doctor told me sorry, change your diet, drink water, I can’t help you. I left the ER and went home with pain meds and a pill to try to open my tract to allow the stone to pass. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones)

A few days later I began to feel pinching sensations while voiding urine, and burning. Thinking it was just a UTI (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) I went to my local Walgreens and bough medication to numb the pain. The sensation and burning did not subside. Next was the lower back kidney pain again. I thought the kidney stone was ready to pass, however this was not the case.

A Sunday night at work began with a headache. I then got chills and knew I had a fever. I thought it was just a bug and I would just ride it out. A few friends of mine gave me Tylenol later that night and told me I would be alright; 4 am came and I was tossing and turning, the body pain was unbearable and I had started to become emotional. I tried to take a hot bath and get as comfortable as possible; 8 am came and I had to see a doctor. I wanted to go to urgent care but no one was open yet. I decided I had to go to the ER yet again (even though they had JUST saw me) I felt embarrassed and like this was the boy who cried wolf.

As soon as I got the ER I had told them I was just here days ago with kidney stones. My fever was 103 and my heart rate was around 150 bpm. I had began to cry and could not get comfortable. They ran urine and blood tests. The doctor kept saying we may need to keep you here, you are a very sick girl. They would not tell me what was going on.

Finally the doctor said he wanted just one more blood test for he wanted to search for sepsis. I called my dad and told him they were concerned for sepsis. (We had just lost my sister’s best friend to sepsis a few months ago) A different doctor in a white lab coat came in and took me by the hand and told me that I was septic and they needed to get me on antibiotics quickly and I needed to stay here. He once again said, you are a very sick girl.

I was miserable, confused, scared and alone. My dad was all the way in Denver and I was in Hudson WI. Two days passed and I was still in the hospital. My fever would not break. I could not eat, sleep, or have a bowel movement. I was sweating and in pain. The nausea began and I became weak. At 2 am the nurses came in to check my vitals. I began to cough and experience chest pain in my right lung. My oxygen dropped to the 70s. They took me for a CT scan to see if I had a blood clot. The CT showed a collapsed lung and they aggressively gave me breathing treatments in order to prevent pneumonia.

My magnesium and potassium levels dropped multiple times and I had fluids pumping into both arms. I was miserable. Day 5 had come and I was getting impatient. My fever was still spiking. The doctor gave me a laxative and told me I needed to move my bowels to keep things in line. Finally a bowel movement. Things started to look up. My oxygen had worked it’s way back up by day 6. Still they wanted me to stay another day. Day 7, I experienced a blood clot on my right arm and my arm was painful, red, and I could barely bend it.

They told me it was fine and would work itself out within a week or two.

Ultimately I suffered a UTI, a kidney infection, (I passed multiple stones while in the hospital) sepsis, a collapse lung, and a blood clot.

I am 10 days out from the hospital stay and I am extremely tired. I still experience chills/sweats. My diet is completely ruined and it is a task to try to have bowel movements. Work is a task. Everything makes me tired. My muscles and joints are always sore. I can’t seem to stretch enough. I am constantly pulling muscles.

I try to act like this never happened because I’m trying to keep a positive attitude. But why can’t my body move on like my mind wants to?

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