Kayla Grubb

In 2011, my daughter, Kayla, who was 20 at the time had out-patient surgery. (Sepsis and Surgery) We brought her home and she seemed to be doing well. About 5 days later, she became very ill. She had a temperature, seemed somewhat disoriented, was vomiting, and had pain. I called the on-call doctor who assured me she was fine and told me to give her a pain pill and nausea medicine. I did so, however, she continued to get worse.

Several hours later, I called them back. The doctor appeared irritated and told me to “put her in a cold shower and give her more medicine.” At that point, my motherly instincts had kicked in and I knew something was very wrong. I ignored the doctor’s advice and took her straight to the ER. Her BP was extremely low, temperature very high and she was extremely lethargic.

The same doctor showed up at the hospital. He opened her wound up and drained out a great deal of infection. He closed her back up and told us we could take her home. I expressed that I would not take my daughter home with her vitals as they were. He agreed to keep her overnight for “observation.” Within 5 hours, they were rushing her back to surgery as she had declined so rapidly. They did not know what was wrong, but admitted her to ICU. By the next day, she now had a team of doctors working to figure out what was wrong. They determined she had a bad infection, but did not know what type. She was put on a wide spectrum of very potent antibiotics along with a plethora of other medications.

Two days later, her breathing was so labored it was stated, “she only has an hour or so unless something changes.” They put Kayla on a ventilator to continue to breathe for her as she could no longer breathe for herself. The culture came back a day later. Kayla had a type of Strep A infection she got in the operating room which had turned into toxic shock and severe sepsis. (Sepsis and Toxic Shock Syndrome) Kayla remained on a ventilator for 2 days and was in ICU a total of 9 days. She made a miraculous turn-around as they expected her to be on a ventilator for longer. We were told she would have to go to a rehab center for several weeks once released, however, she did so well that was negated.

Kayla did have to have home health nurses come in for a couple of months to treat her wound and went to a wound center for the next 3 months. The doctors clearly told us Kayla was a miracle and survived because of her age and the fact she was in good physical condition. We were told had we not gotten Kayla to the hospital as we did, we would have found her deceased the next day. I was so thankful I did not listen to the doctor on the phone or at the hospital or my daughter would not be with us today. She did have an excellent team of doctors once admitted to ICU who most definitely saved her life.

Both of my daughters (twins) work in the medical profession at hospitals and see sepsis frequently. Medical professionals are now much better trained for the signs of sepsis and there is a “Code Sepsis” protocol in place where my twins work. It is vital for the word to get out regarding the signs and seriousness of sepsis. Continued awareness of this deadly disease is vital in saving lives going forward. We are so thankful Kayla’s story is a “survivor” story. Our hearts go out to all families who have experienced this trauma and to those who have lost loved ones to this illness. Blessings to all.

Source: Kathy/Mother