Chad Varney

I was working as a carpentry foreman and my safety device failed causing me to fall 18’ and I landed on my feet on a clients driveway. I shattered my left calcaneus [heel] and the bone was nearly protruding through the skin. The ER waited 2 days before proceeding with a ORIF [surgery for open reduction and internal fixation of the bone] but at that point some of my skin had already died. The next 5 months I watched the necrosis slowly eat away all of the soft tissue of my heel to the point I could see the bone and screws holding it together.

It seems like every month a new bacteria would be present on the cultures. 7 months following the injury my wound was finally however I was experiencing infection-like symptoms. My doctors ignored my complaints and accused me of drug seeking as the appearance of the wound never looked better. My heart rate increased rapidly and my respiratory rate was steadily in the high 30s to low 40s for a week. I went to the ER against my surgeons wishes. The ER contacted him on arrival and he told them nothing was wrong with me and I just wanted pain medication. I had used more pain meds than directed the previous week as my complaints were ignored.

Labs were taken and I was discharged home and was told I had nothing wrong with me. I thought I was dying and had nothing wrong idea what was happening. I fell asleep and didn’t wake up for 23 hours. When I woke up I had a message on my phone telling me to return to the ER at my earliest convenience as I had been discharged with sepsis. I spent the next 5 days in the ICU in respiratory failure and another 10 days in the hospital until my labs showed signs of improvement. An emergency I &D [incision and drainage] was done to clean out the pus pockets my wound closed in and a PICC line was placed in my arm.

At home I was taught how to administer 20ccs of Ancef antibiotics, and 4 other 10cc syringes of medications and saline solution. I had to do this 3x per week lasting nearly 8 months as my body was not responding to the treatment. My urine had turned black and doctors were advising me that I should start trying to accept that I may not make it. My fiancée had just given birth to our daughter 3 months after my injury and I was not going to leave my little girl without a father. I believed that the instrumentation in my foot was compromised and that was causing my bodies lack of response. He refused to remove the screws as the infections had delayed my bones from fusing back together so it was too risky to take the screws out.

I made the choice I was going to take the risk and I signed off on a liability waiver and proceeded with surgery. 2 weeks post op my PICC line was removed as my lab work showed I had cleared the infection. I was put on oral antibiotics for 6 weeks and my labs returned to normal. I fought for almost 10 months and I survived! I listened to my body and I’m alive because of it. The human body is so amazing and it will let you know the answers if you just listen. Sometimes you have to ignore doctors and take control. I am now 42 years old and my little girl is 3, and she is going to have me around for a very long time! Don’t ever let anyone tell you to accept death and let go. If there is still a breath in your lungs, and you want to fight, then you fight and you survive!