Lynn Riggs

My name is Lynn and my life changed forever on July 4, 2009, when I was rushed to the hospital by my husband. Two days earlier I had an outpatient procedure that went horribly wrong. During the procedure, a through and through hole was made in my small intestines, allowing my body to slowly poison itself. (Sepsis and Surgery) I remember very little after arriving at the ER until waking up in ICU several weeks later, unable to breathe on my own. I did not know where I was or what happened. I couldn’t ask questions, or understand why my hands were restrained and what was in my mouth. I was so scared.

After being moved from ICU to a step-down unit, I discovered I was hooked up to a wound-vac. I had a large open area in my abdomen with some odd attachment. I was moved from one area of the hospital to the next as my condition improved, until I learned I would need to go through rehabilitation before going home. I had no idea why I need rehabilitation, my body was on the mend but my mind was so confused. I was hospitalized for a month before returning home, still with an open wound that I was too scared to look at during dressing changes. I experienced infections and an incisional hernia but eventually my wound healed.

I finally returned to work in late September, missing the entire summer. Little did I realize that I survived septic shock, kidney failure, blots clots passing to my lungs, and nearly never seeing my family again. I consider myself lucky to have survived the medical diagnosis of sepsis but I continue to struggle with the mental leftovers of the experience.