Laurie Malveira

My horror began on February 1, 2010. I felt a bit ill, and thought perhaps I was coming down with the flu; I had a horrible achy leg, and just felt fluish. I have kids, so figured I had better get to ER to get checked for flu, rather than risk spreading it to the family.

The ER docs checked for flu and said it was negative. They got a bit concerned with achy leg and proceeded to check for – and find – a large DVT (deep vein thrombosis) in my right calf. They decided to admit me for the DVT but were still a bit stumped on my other symptoms. While waiting for admission, I spiked a fever of 103.3. I started going into full tachycardia and they rushed me up to a room. They administered Tyelenol and right away fever subsided. They said, “You must have some sort of infection.” Two days later, I awoke to being covered in ice bags and ice blankets, and being rushed to ICU. I had crashed after spiking a fever of 106.2! I had my first experience with sepsis.

I don’t personally remember much after this as I was hallucinating badly and kept crashing. On my final blood pressure crash, they put in a central line and decided to send me to a larger hospital in Boston, Mass., for serious life saving measures. I spent 6.5 days in a coma. My family was told that I would not live and if I did, I’d probably never be the same.

I had complete organ failure, needed platelet transfusions, and had several issues like compartmental syndrome in my calf, which tripled in size. I developed an open ulcer with no explanation, even after biopsy. I then developed C-Diff on top of it all and pneumonia too. I did SURVIVE. But, I will tell you this. I don’t think that the human body knows exactly what to do after surviving something of this magnitude.

I am so grateful to my teams of ICU docs who saved me, except my body was left to deal with it and I’m not quite sure it knows how. I wish that the world was better educated in septic shock, sepsis, and the after effects of them. My life has hit a total stop. My quality of life is below ZERO. I have a laundry list of symptoms that I suffer from daily and no doctors know what to do with me.

I have seen many specialists, and have stumped them all. My CBC, and differential [blood tests] are always off the charts crazy. I always have a very high white [blood cell] count. I suffer from non-stop chronic pain. My legs, hands, arms, etc., hurt like you couldn’t imagine. I suffer from severe neurological issues, which some say are due to lesions on the brain that I developed after the septic shock, and some say I have brain damage from the fever of 106.2 and the sepsis combined.

It’s been a long road. I compare living this way to living in a “zombie state.” (Sepsis and Post-Sepsis Syndrome) I don’t get out. I have heart issues, blood pressure issues, bowel issues, and many more. The list goes on and on. However, because there is no actual “name” for this after syndrome, doctors do not know how to label it or treat it. They are frustrated and confused. There needs to be a name for this.

Call it post septic shock syndrome, or whatever you like, but it’s worse than the sickness itself. I survived near fatal septic shock! I am a survivor of few. BUT, I am living with the after affects and it’s slowly killing me. I no longer feel like a woman, a mother, a wife. I need help and there aren’t many to turn to. I thank God every day for finding the small groups of survivors I have been able to connect with. Without them, I honestly don’t know where I would be. This is a fight, and a fight you question yourself about is it worth it? How long can I live like this? And more. Thank you for giving me a place to tell my story. It could go on for hours, but the general gist is this: something must be done.