Madison Greathouse

May 2023 I woke up from a nap with the worst abdominal pain I had ever experienced. After a few hours I went to the emergency room where I was diagnosed with a 6mm kidney stone at 20 years old, and was sent home with a referral to a urologist. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones)

I had an appointment with my urologist on Monday and was scheduled for my procedure on Thursday to get the stone removed. The next few days I don’t remember much. I would wake up in the middle of the night with shaking screaming episodes that I couldn’t control. I had so much mental fog and had no idea what was happening. I couldn’t walk and I was in constant pain. My mom called my urologist Wednesday morning and he told her to immediately bring me to the emergency room.

Upon arrival I had a 104 fever and was diagnosed with a kidney infection and sepsis because my kidney stone had gotten stuck in my ureter so no urine was able to pass. I was then taken into surgery where I was given a stent for my urine to pass until I was stable enough for the stone removal. I was in the hospital for 6 days, and also got pneumonia. I was constantly told by every different nurse or doctor I had that I was the youngest patient they’ve ever treated with kidney stones and sepsis.They’d always make comments like “why are you so sick you’re so young”.

I was released from the hospital and a few days later I got surgery to take my stent and my stone out. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about this experience and how grateful I am to be alive. The ER doctors told my mom that if we would have waited one more day to bring me into the emergency room I more than likely would have died. My story is such an important one to be shared in my opinions so others are able to recognize the warning signs of sepsis and learn from my mistakes of waiting so long before going back to the hospital. I had never heard sepsis neither did my mom. We just assumed my symptoms were side effects of the kidney stone.