Louis B.

My name is Louis. I am a 38-year- old husband and father. I woke up one morning last fall with what I assumed was the flu as I had all the trademark symptoms except the respiratory issues, and I had also noticed a severe urge to urinate frequently and pain in my lower groin area. I made the trek to work barely and made it about 3 hours before I couldn’t bear it and had to leave. I went to my doctor and found I had an almost 103 degree fever and rapid heartbeat.

A flu swab came up negative and I was sent home on a Motrin/Tylenol regimen and a flu-like illness diagnosis. Fast forward to 2:30 AM, I woke up to use the bathroom, with 10 seconds of laying down, I was freezing and began violently shaking and dry heaving to the point I couldn’t talk. My wife took me to the ER where they immediately saw the markers and began protocol for sepsis right away. Cultures were taken and it was e-coli bacteria from a UTI that began traveling to my kidneys. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) All told I was given close to 10 bags of fluids, countless meds and ice packs for fever and an IV drip daily of Levaquin during 4-day hospital stay. I was sent home with another 10 days of antibiotics. The nurses and doctors and Kennedy Hospital in Stratford, NJ, were wonderful and no doubt got me through the worst experience of my life flawlessly. I also need to thank my wife who didn’t sit on my doctor’s diagnosis and got me to the hospital right away.