Dina M.

2019 has been overwhelming. My body was telling me something was wrong. I went to the doctor and expressed my concern that I was experiencing symptoms of a UTI. My doctor ordered labs, but I never received a call nor was anything prescribed to me. My white blood count was a little high but my other cultures came back negative, and that’s where it ended. So I thought. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections)

A few weeks later, I started having back pain. I didn’t think much of it since I’m always on the go and I had been very busy crafting Christmas projects for my family and coworkers, and my sons PTA. I just thought I was exhausted from being on my feet too much. I continued on with my projects for a couple of days until my legs started to feel weird, like I was losing feeling in them and I was having a hard time walking, and my back pain got worse. That morning I asked my husband to take me to the hospital, something was definitely wrong.

I arrive at the hospital barely able to walk and the front desk attendant asks me for my symptoms. Well, I had almost all the symptoms of COVID-19 and that’s what they thought was wrong. The doctor immediately requested a COVID and flu test be administered. The results came back negative and the doctor moved on to labs, he had them draw blood, urine and do an X-ray. He quickly comes back and says I’m being admitted for sepsis and a severe kidney infection.

After that, most of it was a blur as I was experiencing severe chills, fevers of 103 and my blood pressure kept dropping for two days. Once I was stable, the nurse was able to tell me that when I arrived to her, I was in bad shape, but the staff immediately started treating me and from there, I started to recover. I had an emotional breakdown as I spent the entire time hospitalized alone, but the nurse held my hand and comforted me, until I was done crying.

I am still recovering and walking with the assistance of a walker. I still have pain and am experiencing side effects, but I’m blessed and thankful to the hospital staff for their care. Until this happened to me, I was not aware of how serious this is. While unfortunate, I know I am not alone in this fight. Glad I found this group of heroes!