Joey Buchholz

My big brother Joey, 46, had a heart attack July 21, 2022. It was a terrifying experience for our family, but miraculously, he survived. He had a stent placed in an artery, but during a follow-up stent procedure two days later, one of the stents caused a tear in another artery, leading to total occlusion.

His chest pain subsided overnight, but other symptoms started to surface, such as pain at the IV sites, recurring fevers, an elevated white blood cell count, dehydration, weakness, decreased urine output, palpitations during sleep, and an elevated resting heart rate (most of this we weren’t aware of until after reading the medical records). On the day he was released from the hospital, he still had symptoms, his fever started to resurface, and his weakness had increased significantly. Despite this, his medical team attributed some of the symptoms to the artery occlusion and dismissed others, sending him home with orders to hydrate and eat.

Sadly, the morning after his discharge, he was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor, and was rushed back to the hospital. EMS noted that pus was coming out of the IV sites he had previously complained about. It was later discovered that he had contracted a staph infection from the previous procedure, which led to septic shock. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infection, Sepsis and Septic Shock) The infection caused an embolic shower, which affected his entire brain, except his ability to breathe. His body eventually shut down, and he passed away three days later.

Losing Joey has been an immense tragedy for our family. He was not only my only sibling, but also my hero and best friend. My soul connection. We were unaware of sepsis and the dangers associated with it before this experience. We had no idea it was even a thing to be aware of, and we believe that education and awareness could have helped us ask more questions at the very least. We trusted the direction we were given.

There is no bringing him back but we are committed to raising awareness of this very common yet barely talked about issue, in a way that is informative without causing chaos. We appreciate organizations like this one that work to increase understanding and prevent such tragedies from happening to others with continued education and awareness. Thank you for all you do and for the lives you are committed to saving. We appreciate you and your work deeply.

Source: Jill Buchholz- sister