Jennifer Hins

I was born with a rare disease that causes bone deformities, chronic pain and frequent broken bones. To be proactive in treating my disease I moved to a warmer climate, and started with a new pain management doctor who recommended an implanted pain pump. Six weeks to the day it was implanted in my back, I woke up in a large amount of pain. I went to the ER of the hospital I worked as a nurse at and was transferred to a larger hospital with neurosurgery.

My pain pump was removed because it was infected with 4+ staph and I was septic. (Sepsis and Invasive Devices) I went through 6 peripheral IVs, 2 midline IVs and a PICC line because my veins kept collapsing. I don’t remember several days of my week hospitalization, but my doctors tell me how lucky I was that it was caught early. I came home with a wound vac and 2 large wounds on my back. I have trouble with fatigue, memory lapses, loss of appetite and muscle pain and spasms. I am one of the lucky ones though, I am alive. As a 20 year nurse, I figured I had an infection but I never thought sepsis would happen to me.