Gen Derrick

I had felt sick for several months, on and off. I ached all over, felt warm and had profusely sweating day and night. I was dizzy and became confused when I had to do something, like counting. I went to the doctor several times and was told it was a virus. They said it just had to work itself out. So I would drink a lot of fluids, get a lot of sleep and feel better for a while. Days turned into weeks and months. I was not well. I always wanted to lay on our leather couch because it was nice and cool.

It came to the point that I just wanted to sleep, laying on my cool couch nearly all day and night. My partner called for a wellness check. A local ambulance company came by to take my vitals, etc. My blood sugar was 350 and my blood pressure was low. They suggested going to the emergency department. They took me to the hospital.

In the ED, I had a CT, MRI, blood and urine workups. One of my blood tests, in particular, was very distressing. It was a c-reactive protein test. The test showed it was 234 and a normal reading would be 0-5. My white blood count was high too. The doctors in the ED did not tell me or my partner what was wrong. The doctor that admitted me just said, “Let’s get you admitted to the hospital. Everything will be alright.” I had never had a doctor give me reassurance that I was going to be okay, so I became a little nervous.

I was admitted. I was given an IV, with 2 broad spectrum antibiotics. I was trying to figure out what my diagnosis was but no one was telling me. My partner only knew that my blood work was “concerning.”

I went to sleep and woke up hallucinating. In my mind I was in a black, dark room. It had black streamers hanging from the ceiling with big spiders crawling all around. I was terrified. It wasn’t like I had a bad dream. It was more. I tried calling the nurse with the call light, but it wasn’t working. I tried the phone that they had in my room, on my tray, it wasn’t working. I finally had to yell, “help”, so a nurse would come into my room. It turned out that the phone was unplugged from the wall as well as the nurse button, the call light. A nurse came into my room and got me settled down. I refused to look at the ceiling, the nightmare had terrified me.

I finally had enough energy and a clear head, I looked at my electronic medical record on my cell phone. I was able to look at the doctor’s notes from the ED and test results. In one quick glance, I realized that I was in Critical Care. I saw my test results and was shocked. That is when I saw the diagnosis, “sepsis.” I was not sure what that even meant. I did some research and learned all about it.

I actually was feeling much better. All of my tests, except the blood work, was normal. Each day I felt better. Finally on the fourth day, I was discharged. Even though my c-reactive protein test was not in the normal limits, it was going down and my blood pressure had returned to within normal limits. I had seen the infectious disease physician in the hospital. He told me that he did not know where the infection was but since I had some dental work done recently, he thought the sepsis could be from that. I saw him two more times, on an outpatient basis, and just like that, the whole ordeal was over. (Sepsis and Dental Health)

I had to have more dental work done and that terrified me. Each little ache or sweating episode, I was convinced it had come back. I went to the ED, they did blood work, and it was normal.  It has been nearly 3 months since my hospital stay, and I am better.
I am thankful that the 2 broad spectrum antibiotics, took care of my infection. I will stay vigilant regarding my health. I learned that I almost died. I am grateful for this website too. It is somewhere I could come and educate myself and be comforted that other people had sepsis, and survived.