Daniel J.

On 27th August 2021, I made it into surgery for a lithotripsy procedure related to a kidney stone. This was after a hernia repair 11 days earlier. Needless to say, I was in so much pain from my condition, the doctors had me on a lot of pain medication. But that was only the beginning of my nightmare. While in surgery the doctor perforated my ureter. Not knowing this I went straight home afterwards. That was Friday, and each day leading up to Monday, I was in more and more pain. It was unbearable. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones, Sepsis and Surgery)

I went in to the emergency room and was admitted to a hospital bed after 20 hours in the ER. The tests showed, that as a result of the perforation, my abdominal cavity had filled up with blood and urine. 4 days later I was released. I had a Foley catheter and a stint in my ureter over the course of 3 months, to allow the perforation to heal over. I then contracted a UTI. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections)

The pain I was in from all that I was going through masked my UTI and later acute sepsis diagnosis. I went in again to the emergency room and was quickly admitted to the CCU/Wing. I was given a lot of antibiotics through an IV for 8 days. Once the infection was under control, I was sent home with a heavy course of antibiotics. Needless to say over the course of 4 months, I was in the most excruciating pain a person could experience. I wanted to die it was so bad. I was on every type of pain medication the doctors had. Every 3 hours they would need to try 2 different meds to control the pain. The perforation has healed over and the stint and catheter have been removed. The infection seems to be completely gone. But the PTSD from this has me so angry. (Sepsis and PTSD) I wake up sore in my joints and I fatigue easily. It’s been 2 months and I hope I start to feel better soon. I don’t have the extreme pain to deal with and got off all pain medications. The withdraws from the pain meds were very difficult. But I was so over the pain meds that I was looking forward to stopping them. I was told that I came close to having my wish to die. My wife is happy I’m still here.