Elly V.

I had just given birth to our perfect and precious son. I had a wonderful birth and was so happy to finally meet our little blessing and begin the journey of parenthood with my husband. I remember in preparation to leave the hospital I did not feel well. I noticed I kept needing to walk hunched over because of some pain I was having. As a woman who had just experienced childbirth for the first time, I had no idea what feelings were normal or abnormal. I kept telling myself that women give birth all the time – this must be normal.

We finally got home and started to settle. It took everything out of me to stand, walk or even hold our precious baby. All I wanted to do was lay down and sleep. The pain progressed the next day and then by the following day I started having trouble breathing. God was always a few steps ahead, preparing a way and carrying my little family in his hands. We finally decided I needed to go back to the hospital and by this time, I needed to go by ambulance. I was immediately admitted into the ER. I thought I would be going home and back to my baby that night. I had no idea how sick I really was.

The medical team quickly determined I had a blood infection and I was in septic shock. Within hours I was admitted to the ICU. I had multiple blood transfusions, constant scans, daily blood draws and a PICC line. As I was treated for septic shock, I also experienced toxic shock syndrome because of the high levels of toxins in my body. (Sepsis and Toxic Shock Syndrome) I was in the ICU and hospital for 14 days. I nearly lost my life, but God saved my life so I could continue being a mom, a wife, daughter, sister and friend. I am a sepsis survivor and I share my story as a testimony to the Lord’s faithfulness and protection and to raise awareness so no other mom experiences the trauma of sepsis.