Karen Flattum

Survivor

During gallbladder surgery, the surgeon nicked the bile duct and bile and gallstones spilled into my body cavity. (Sepsis and Surgery) I became very sick with a extremely fast heart rate, difficulty breathing, disorientation and several other medical issues. My doctors never told me that I had sepsis. They would make the comment that they were still taking tests to find out why I had gotten so sick.

I told my husband that I felt as if I was going to die and that I had never felt so sick. I did not know I had sepsis until I was released from the hospital but had to return twice a day for ten days to have an infusion. At the start of this treatment I was told I was getting a strong medicine to treat sepsis, that is the first I was told that I had sepsis. I lost all my hair, lost a lot of weight and was generally very weak. I had to give myself injections of medicine at home for several days after I was done with the infusions. It was a terrible ordeal.

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