Eleanore Aubusson

I am a health worker in my early 40s who works in a hospital setting with patients. It all started out as a painful sore throat while I was sitting behind my desk in the early morning. Then later, around 11 am, I went to see the family physician who prescribed an NSAID assuming it to be a simple and self limited viral infection since I didn’t have any fever at that time. So, I postponed taking the NSAID until I finished work at 5 pm, thinking that it is a simple ailment.

At around 2 pm, I started going frequently to the bathroom. It was in the hot August month but that air conditioning was “on” all the time. Then, at 3pm, I started to shiver, hyperventilate, and my heart started to hurt a lot. I even lost consciousness for a while. Everyone was busy around handling patients and didn’t notice what was happening to me. When I woke up, I felt my right leg getting heavier and it was hard for me to walk. I couldn’t stay in my office and had to go outside because I was unable to breathe. I was still dizzy, hyperventilating, suffocating, with gradual severe abdominal and organs pains, feeling as if a bacteria was moving around my body in masses trying to eat me up alive. I tried to go to the Emergency Room slowly all by myself.

When I arrived, I was immediately triaged, put on a wheel chair, and I was barely able to talk or talk. At the ER they told me that I have a fever of 39 degrees C, my heart rate was 140, and they put an oxygen face mask on me. I asked them to take a urine sample for culture since I was feeling that the bacteria had now reached my urinary tract. They did take a urine analysis test, which indicated an infection but unfortunately a urine culture was not performed. So, I didn’t know what type of bacteria I had contracted. (Sepsis and a Urinary Tract Infection) Anyhow, the infectious specialist gave me immediately, 1 gram of panadol P.O. to lower my temperature. It took almost an hour for me to feel better.Then I was discharged on Augmentin P.O. (pills) Augmentin, was the drug of choice, but it was slow acting (good but slow), because I took around 3 weeks for it to rid me completely from this nasty infection.

On day 4 of the antibiotic, I felt that the bacteria was struggling, suffocating and dying, then went to the lungs where it induced some emphysema over 3 days, then, everything disappeared. I knew later on that I was having an early stage sepsis and didn’t know before that the bacteria can kill a normal individual or induce a stroke in just a few hours. So, prompt intervention is the key. And, never underestimate the powers of a bacteria.