Caitlin Roeske

Towards the end of my senior year of college, I developed a high fever, chills and cough. I felt super tired all the time and would have bad night sweats. I originally went to my on campus student health clinic, was diagnosed with a cold and given cough medicine. Over that weekend, I pushed through but was getting worse to the point I was mentally disoriented when my friends would talk to me and couldn’t eat or speak without coughing. I

knew something was wrong so I went to the Urgent Care 7 days after I originally got sick. I was diagnosed with pneumonia and given antibiotics. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I was relieved I finally had treatment. Unfortunately , I started the antibiotics too late and later that day my resting heart rate spiked to 100. I was a dancer with a recital coming up so I went to practice the day after I started antibiotics as I was feeling better. I was having trouble breathing or finishing the routines at practice. I ended up passing out after running through a routine.

I was rushed to the ER with a heart rate of 120 and a respiratory rate of 28. I was diagnosed with sepsis and hospitalized for 4 days. I always think going to practice that night saved my life as the sepsis was caught right away and I would have probably gotten worse if I didn’t get treatment. It has been 2 months and I still have trouble with dancing or walking long distances.