Melanie Mendez

My story begins in late April 2013. I was suffering from serious back pain. I went to my doctor’s office. They ran some tests and gave me pain medication, and sent me on my way.

May 1st, my husband woke up to loud bangs. He found me having a seizure in the living room (he said “it looked like I was wrestling with the coffee table”). He got me on the couch. I was awake but not responding. 911 was called and EMTs arrived.

My blood pressure was stroke levels, and my temperature was over 106. They took me away, as fast as they could. For a week, the doctors were confused as to what was wrong with me. They told my husband I would not live if I wasn’t transferred to this one particular doctor. He signed the form expressing that he understood that I may die on the way. The new doctor figured it out. I had a U.T.I. (Sepsis and Urinary Tract Infections) that I had no symptoms of, and it caused sepsis. The sepsis turned to septic shock, and my kidneys, and lungs shut down. I was on dialysis, and had died a couple times.

On May 15th I woke up. There were tubes everywhere. I didn’t know where I was or what had happened. I couldn’t walk. My muscles had deteriorated while in the induced coma. It took me an hour and a half to brush my hair the first time. I had to learn everything all over again.

It is now May of 2015 and my body is still not the same, but I am functional. I have anxiety, which at times is not controllable. I forget things, and now wear glasses. Though progress is slow, I know that I am happy to be here and alive, than what the alternative would be. I am now a Sepsis Ambassador and I hope to continue to be one. I pray for anyone who has to experience any part of sepsis.