Lisa Shear

I had routine surgery on December 27th, and felt fine after the surgery. That night I was coughing and I felt bad, but my husband had a cold so I did not think twice about. On the 28th I woke up aching and running a fever. By that evening, my fever spiked to 105. (Sepsis and Surgery)

My husband rushed me to the ER, where they immediately put me on a ventilator. I have no memory of anything for 6 days. The rest of this story is what I have been told by my husband.

The doctors told him I had double pneumonia and sepsis. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) I was put into a medically induced coma for 6 days while I was in ICU. When I came out of everything, I was told I aspirated under anesthesia and that is what caused the pneumonia and sepsis. I was in the hospital for 9 days. My new husband (we were married August 2013) and I celebrated New Year’s Eve in the ICU – his wife in a coma and on a ventilator. I am still having nightmares about drowning and recently had to have steroid-induced cataract surgery in both eyes. I developed c-diff from all the antibiotics, but I am here and thankful for it!

I am a survivor!