Julie B.

I’m comfortable now sharing my experience. I fell on the ice 3 years ago and got a concussion and arm wound. I cleaned up my head and arm wound and continued my daily routine of working. Within a few days I felt like I had the flu and called off work. That weekend, my family told me that I had severe pain and draining from my arm wound.

That Monday, my adult children carried me down the stairs to the car to go to the hospital. My memory of this is unclear. I spent several hours at the hospital they took me to and was sent by ambulance to a level 1 trauma hospital. I was in ICU for severe necrotizing fasciitis and sepsis. (Sepsis and Necrotizing Fasciitis) I was fortunate to survive and had several surgeries on my arm and months of rehabilitation to use it effectively again.

I missed several months of work and it was challenging to return. It’s taken a long time to recover full use of my arm and my mobility since the infection spread to my leg and I had surgery on my knee as well. I’ve hesitated to share my story since then because I had a terrible hospital experience. I am grateful to be alive and still have my arm. My recovery was slow and painful and I felt shamed by rehab and SNF staff.