Ashley Gallegos

My name is Ashley, and I am a sepsis survivor. In September of 2013 I was sick on and off for about two months. Symptoms weren’t always present so I assumed it was stress and ignored it. While preparing for a family member’s wedding out of town (I was maid of honor), I came down with serious “flu symptoms.” I was having uncontrollable shakes and a high temperature. I could barely stand and my body was very weak.

I pushed through the wedding with very little memory of the event. By the next morning I had a temperature of 106 and was in cold sweats and vomiting profusely. I went to the area’s Urgent Care and was told by the doctor that it “may be meningitis,” and to wait through the weekend to get a blood test by my regular physician. On an inkling, I went to my hospital’s ER. Immediately after speaking with the ER nurse, it was suggested I take a series of blood tests. Almost immediately I was issued a bed and told a room was being prepared. No doctor or nurse said the word SEPSIS but just told me that I had a serious infection.

The next few days in the ICU were the most terrifying and excruciating thing I’ve ever been through. My blood was taken every hour and a half, and I had multiple bags of antibiotics hooked up to a IV. I was being pumped with so much that my lungs started to expand and I couldn’t breathe on my own. My body was completely swollen and I was completely immobile for a week.

The doctors didn’t make me aware of my diagnosis or what sepsis meant. They just reiterated that my first few days there were absolutely crucial in trying to get out the infection. They said that if I had waited one more day I would have died in my sleep.

After my release, it was very hard to adapt back in to things with having gone through a serious illness. But I am thankful it was caught in time, and very thankful that the nurses were aware of sepsis symptoms and went through the steps to make sure of an accurate diagnosis and treatment.