James Schmidt

My name is James. I am a 53 year old male who lives in Minneapolis, MN. On May 10th of 2021 I woke up and was getting ready to go to the clinic I work at when I started experiencing some abdominal discomfort. Within a half hour I was doubled up in the fetal position in the worst pain ever. EMT to the hospital where I was informed I had a perforated bowel w/ fecal peritonitis. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel) Went into emergency surgery as well as septic shock and barely survived.

Woke up with a colostomy bag and was in the hospital for a month on a NG tube. I could barely walk or breath during that time and could often only just lay there, sometimes hallucinating. I had a second major surgery also within the first week due to a nicked bladder during the surgery which led to leaking urine. I was released, and back in the hospital 3 days later for a week or two with hemorrhagic shock from internal bleeding. Was readmitted again about a week later with gram negative sepsis. During that time I caught c diff twice, pulmonary embolism, pleural effusion which liters of fluid was drained from my lungs, I lost 30 pounds (and I am thin to begin with), had an infected surgical wound which required a wound vac and a year plus to eventually heal. It took months to begin walking again without assistance, and was out of work for 7 months.

I have had multiple surgeries since, and do experience some health side effects from all the trauma as well as being diagnosed with depression and clinical PTSD. I am very fortunate and grateful to still be alive, and doing as well as I have been. I had the colostomy bag reversed fifteen months after the emergency surgery. Most recent surgery was this last summer in which I had a very large abdominal hernia repair from the incisional site. All of this happened after being diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2020 which I am currently in remission. I am forever grateful to the medical staff for literally saving my life, as well as my family, friends, and co workers who supported me during such a critical experience.

I have returned to work full time within the HIV prevention and harm reduction field with a target population of unhoused drug users. I have been working on education around sepsis towards this population whom are very high risk. I appreciate and am very grateful I discovered Sepsis Alliance, and I thank you for helping me process what it is like to have gone through such a debilitating experience, as well as to be a sepsis survivor.