Carson Bennie

Carson aka “Sauce” was born on June 1, 2007. He was healthy, with no pregnancy or birth complications.

Approximately two weeks later, on Father’s Day 2007, Carson’s belly button appeared to be somewhat infected where his umbilical cord came off. We called his doctor’s office and they advised us to use a topical ointment and to come to the office if the infection got worse. That evening, we noticed that Carson was making a “grunting” sound and because he was only two weeks old, we thought his formula was giving him an upset stomach. As the evening went on, he continued to grunt and then developed a low grade fever. By 1:00am, I decided to take him to urgent care. Due to his age and the fever, the doctor determined it would be best for Carson to be evaluated at a hospital specializing in pediatric medicine.

We were transported to William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI and Carson was admitted to the pediatric floor. The following morning, his nurse came in for rounds and briefly left his room. The next thing I recall was like a scene from a movie; a team of nurses and doctors rushed in and took his tiny crib/bed and began running down the hall to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). It was then that we were told that Carson was in septic shock. Our minds raced as we watched this team work to save our “healthy” baby boy’s life.

Septic shock was a term that we had never heard and as the nurse explained to us what septic shock means, we sat in stunned silence, hearing her words, but not really understanding the magnitude of what this diagnosis meant or that our son was now in a fight for his life.

Carson spent six days in the PICU, where they gave him four antibiotics through an I.V. in his tiny arm. We consulted with an infectious disease doctor and a surgeon who explained that if these antibiotics did not work, exploratory surgery would need to be done. Fortunately, the IV antibiotics worked and on day 6 he was discharged back to the pediatric floor and discharged one day later.

We are eternally grateful to the staff at William Beaumont Hospital for recognizing the signs and taking swift action to save Carson. He is extremely fortunate that he did not suffer any lasting effects or residual problems related to his battle with sepsis.

“Sepsis Super Hero Sauce” is now a happy, healthy, smart, funny, loving, athletic ten year old that brings joy to all who know him.

Source: Patti Bennie - Mom