Crissina Young

The later half of 2018 was very difficult for myself and my family. It seemed as though I was constantly ill. I was always tired or not feeling well; I could barely make it through a 9-hour work day and my urine smelled horrid and was very cloudy. I had no pain and the symptoms typically went away if I would drink a lot of water. This led me to believe I was just dehydrated and overwhelmed by the stresses that were going on. My marriage was falling apart and we had just bought our home so I wasn’t as concerned about my health as I should have been.

I went to see our family doctor in October and she diagnosed a UTI and gave me antibiotics and all seemed well; but it was short lived. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) January 3rd of 2019 my back started hurting and my previous symptoms had been back for about 3 weeks. I called my doctor and made an appointment but didn’t mention the back pain because it wasn’t out of the ordinary. Having 2 herniated disks sometimes cause back pain so I wasn’t overly concerned. Hind sight is 20/20, right. On January 6th my husband couldn’t stand seeing me in the pain I was in and I had developed a fever of 102.7, so he dragged me to the hospital. What happened next was the furthest thing from my mind. I thought I had a simple kidney infection and i would be given some more antibiotics and sent on my way. The doctor came in and ordered blood work and a urine sample. Usually it would take forever to get the results back but he was back fairly quickly to order a CT scan; which I was rushed to. Again it didn’t take long for the results.

I live in a small southern town so talking to this older southern doctor was no problem for me. He looked me straight in the face and said “darlin’ we are not equipped to take care of you at this hospital. I’m gonna have an ambulance take ya over to Springfield as soon as I hear back from em.” Ok now I was worried. The doctor said I had some kidney stones that needed to be taken care of by a specialist. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones) He came back not 30 minutes later to inform me that I was being transported by helicopter because I was critical. I don’t remember too much after that. Sepsis was never mentioned so I was confused but so weak that I couldn’t even open my eyes.

When I arrived at the hospital, I was rushed to ICU, hooked up to everything and just waited for answers. A hour or so later a urologist came in to tell me what was going on. When the words septic shock came out of his mouth my heart dropped. I was terrified, my father had died from septic shock so I knew the pain we were all about to go through. The nurses and doctor assured us that they would do everything they could. Right before the doctor took me back to place a stent in my kidney, a lady came in asking me to sign a living will and power of attorney and asked me if I wanted a DNR order I place. I couldn’t even cry, I think I accepted death already.

Waking up in the recovery room was a surprise but I knew I wasn’t out of the woods yet. The doctor came in to tell me that everything went well and if I had waited one more day we never would have met. I was so scared and then he said “I’m so happy to have met you.” That was the first time I felt comforted by the hospital staff. I spent the next 4 days in ICU with a catheter and IVs every where. When the nurse came to change my fluids to another medication, it flooded my heart and I nearly had a stroke and my blood pressure was still incredibly low. When my blood pressure had finally come up, I was moved to a regular room and spent 5 more days there.

Since coming home I have developed a UTI again, I have lost my job and with the stent still in place I am very limited on what I can do without being in pain. I didn’t know how lucky I was until I went for a follow up with my regular doctor. She was nearly crying from happiness that I had survived. She explained to me my diagnosis of septic shock with acute kidney failure. She mentioned many time how lucky I was to be alive and that when the urologist placed the stent to drain my kidney there was nothing but blood and puss. I have now developed this extreme fear and depression. I am having such a hard time coping with everything as I have no friends and my husband is stressed out too much. I know I’m still at risk and believe I may by developing some cognitive issues. I am glad to have made it through something like this but sad that I still face other issues.

Thank you for listening,
Crissina Young

Source: Crissina Young