Samantha Nicoll

On December 23, 2014, I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. He is my third child. I gave birth to him around 2 o’clock in the morning. By 10 o’clock the next morning I was experiencing tachycardia. I approached my tachycardia with the medical staff and I was told it was probably postpartum anxiety I was experiencing.

The tachycardia continued throughout the day and I continue to alert the staff of my concerns. They did conduct a few tests, which showed that although I had the tachycardia, my heart was normal. By the evening of 23 December, I was getting more sick. I had developed stomach pain and my blood pressure was getting extremely low. At this point my blood pressure was running 80/40. The hospital did conduct a few more tests, but really had no explanation for why this was happening.

I was sent back and forth from hospital to hospital while they conducted tests on my heart. I was discharged on 24 December and went home to celebrate Christmas with my three children. I do not even remember Christmas Day. I remember telling my best friend I think I am dying. In addition, I couldn’t stop telling everyone how much pain my stomach was in and how I could not get rid of the fever that I had.

On December 26 my newborn son had an appointment at the pediatrician. Upon walking into the office, I was greeted by a nurse who is friendly with our family. She took one look at me and said, Samantha what is wrong with you. At this point I had swelling in my hands and feet in my shoes were not even fit on. I still had the tachycardia, my blood pressure was still low and I was very lightheaded. I got up to use the restroom and fell to the floor. At this point, the staff in the pediatrician’s office started to take care of me and they called the paramedics to come and take me to the hospital.

The hospital they sent me to told them I needed to go back to the hospital where I delivered because this was an issue related to the delivery. My husband was irate at this point and had me sent to a major medical center in our area.

When I got to this medical center, they realized the severity of the situation and I was being examined by doctors from trauma, internal, medicine and infectious disease. They did an internal exam and realized that my uterus was necrotic. They discovered that at some point, I had developed a strep infection that led to toxic shock, severe sepsis and hemorrhagic shock. (Sepsis and Pregnancy & Childbirth)

The infectious disease doctor took my husband aside and explained to him that I was working on expired time. At this point, I believe they gave me less than a 10% chance to live. My trauma doctor, who is amazing, stood by my side for more than 36 hours while I was receiving surgery after surgery to save my life. I needed to have a complete hysterectomy and, due to the infection and life-saving measures, my arms developed compartment syndrome.

I received dialysis due to my kidneys starting to shut down and also received several blood transfusions. In the matter of 48 hours, I had between 15 and 20 surgeries. My body was covered in blisters and I spent 10 days unconscious in the ICU. I have lost all use of my left hand. There was some talk about amputation but that has not happened to date. I had peeling all over my hands and feet and 1/3 of my hair.

I had to learn how to walk again and I’m still fighting eight months later. My right arm was not as bad as my left, however, I still do not have a feeling in half of my hand and three of my fingers. I have scars all over my body. My left leg developed an infection just after I had been discharged from the hospital. I developed a lymphatitis in my leg, which is similar to a weeping cellulitis. My leg was swollen, difficult to walk on, and took months to heal. I still walk with a limp and have trouble with my left leg. I don’t even think I could begin to explain the amount of trauma that my body has been through. Getting up in the morning continues to be a struggle. I didn’t even know that something so horrific could exist.

I am forever indebted to the medical team that saved my life. They understood the seriousness of what I was going through. They understood sepsis. It’s sad to me that I was experiencing so many of the classic symptoms of sepsis and no one ever knew. I had tachycardia, stomach pain, low-grade fever, and severe low blood pressure. All which I have learned our classic symptoms. My hope is that I can become instrumental in helping to raise awareness for sepsis. My son was very lucky. He had the strep A infection on the outside of his body and he was treated with antibiotics. My other two children are still getting used to their new life with a different kind of mom. I fight hard every day for my three boys and my husband. I will continue to fight and I will continue to raise awareness about sepsis.