Jason Hudgins

Hello,
My name is Jason Hudgins and I am a sepsis survivor. It all started on October 1st with a pain in my right shoulder which progressively got worse as the day went on. I hadn’t done anything to hurt my shoulder that day or days that led up to when the pain started. At 10pm my wife was taking me to the ER at our local hospital.

At the hospital, they took x-rays and gave me pain medicine. The pain killers worked somewhat and the x-rays didn’t show anything torn etc., just some arthritis and a little inflammation. The hospital was leaning towards a pulled muscle or something with the joint in the shoulder and recommended I see my orthopedic specialist the next day.

The next day I met with my ortho doctor. He reviewed my x-rays and said basically what the hospital had said. Nothing broken or torn. He had me wear a sling and prescribed pain meds. He also prescribed meds for “gout” just in case. The next two days were better but the pain never went away. I was back at the doctor on Wednesday and I had a MRI done on my shoulder. The next day (Thursday noon time) we were at the doctor’s to review the MRI. It showed a small amount of fluid in my shoulder. The doctor aspirated what little fluid was in my shoulder. By this time I was feeling extremely worn down. While I was in the doctor’s office, things started going down hill fast. My temperature was at 99, nothing I was saying was making sense. The doctor and my wife were asking me questions but nothing I was saying made since.

Knowing something wasn’t right, my ortho doctor sent me to the hospital ER immediately. Fast forward an hour or so and I was in ICU. My blood work taken in the ER wasn’t “septic” at this time, so all we knew was something in my shoulder was making me very sick. In ICU they had me on some very potent pain killer so needless to say I was out of it.

The next day (Friday) my ortho doctor had me get another MRI done to see if the status had changed in my shoulder. Prior to me having this MRI, my wife noticed my neck was swollen and that my shoulder was red and the redness had spread down nearing my chest. After my MRI and during surgery prep, blood work was done and the results weren’t in my favor. The results showed acute liver and renal failure. I was taken to surgery ASAP so the infection could be cleaned out of my shoulder.

This is where my condition took a near death turn. While I was in surgery, my heart rate went way down, my temperature tanked and my breathing was labored. I was going into “septic shock.” For a while after surgery my condition was “touch and go” while the medical staff worked to stabilize me.

The diagnosis was MSSA (Methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus). For the next 7 days in ICU I was on a antibiotic regimen to try and kill the infection that was in my body. It worked and on the eighth day I went home. While at home I continued on a once a day antibiotic regimen for six weeks.
With having had sepsis, my body always felt tired, my breathing was weak and on occasion my stomach would be upset. My last dose of antibiotics was Friday the 17th. I am starting to feel like myself now. Still get tired fast but I am finding I can do more each passing day.

This is my story and I thank God every day that I am still here to share my story.