Michael Magiera

Updated March 6, 2024.

In 2010, I had a 2-year-old daughter and a new promotion at work. I had often gotten kidney stones due to the heat in Texas and the body armor I wore at work.   No matter how much I drank, I sweated most of it out and my urinary output was low. When the cooler temps would come in the fall, I would sweat less and my urinary output dramatically increased. This would lead to the stones in my kidneys moving and I would painfully pass them. 2010 was no exception. I started having blood in my urine on and off, which I knew was from the kidney stones (Sepsis and Kidney Stones) moving down my urinary tract. If a stone is under 5mm, you generally pass them on your own with pain meds and lots of fluids.

Things suddenly changed one day. I got very sick with flu like symptoms. I assured my wife I would be okay, and she went to work. I got the chills, so I got into the bath. While I was getting out of the bath, I noticed I had lost blood flow to my limbs, my arms from the elbow down were gray. I took an aspirin then asked a neighbor to take me to the ER. I should have called for an ambulance but was a volunteer on the fire department and didn’t want to bother the on duty crew. Dumb decision!

At the ER, my blood pressure was very low. I believe they gave me some IV antibiotics. I do not think they realized I was going into septic shock. They gave me a script for some antibiotics and released me. My wife and I went straight to a pharmacy and had the script filled. I immediately took several days of the antibiotics at once. Between the aspirin and those antibiotics, it saved my limbs.

After making arrangements for our daughter and dogs, my wife took me to a different hospital. I was quickly admitted as they realized I was in septic shock.  Unbeknownst to me, the doctors told my wife to prepare for my death as I was in critical condition. I remember the doctor coming in and asking if I had been with a prostitute or another partner, as they didn’t know the source of the infection and were trying to narrow it down. I assured them I had not been with anyone but my wife, they continued to look. I had already had an abdominal CT scan, but it didn’t reveal anything. Apparently, the CT scan got a few more reviews to look for stones. A sharp-eyed doc found the stone, which was a tiny 2mm stone (I had had much larger stones in the past). That stone was obscured by one of my ribs, making it difficult to see on the CT scan.

With that knowledge, I was sent straight to surgery to remove it. Behind the stone was a liter of puss and infected material. During all of this, I was so sick I honestly wished for death. I had never been so sick and miserable in my life. It is indescribable how horrible of a feeling it was. While I was recovering from the surgery, I saw a story on the news where a teenager had gone to the ER with a UTI, and quickly had her limbs amputated due to septic shock.

The recovery took some time. My body rejected the stent that was put in place to keep my ureter open. This was like having a nonstop kidney stone attack for the two weeks it was in place. I remained in the hospital for pain control and to recover from everything. I quickly stepped down from the ICU to a regular room.

I survived septic shock with my life and limbs and consider myself lucky. I don’t know if going to the urologist sooner when I noticed the blood would have helped since the stone was so small and not causing any other symptoms. I probably should have. I do suffer from post septic shock syndrome. The slightest infection anywhere in my body causes an overreaction from my immune system. I feel miserable until the infection is gone. However, considering what could have happened, I am very fortunate to be able to sit here and type this story out.

Know the signs of septic shock! Seek immediate treatment if you or a someone else shows these signs. Advocate for them at the hospital if it is not being treated as the life threatening event that it is!