Nathan H.

I was a young teenager around 19 at the time, 22 now. I was using e cigarettes for weed and nicotine. I was smoking them for around 2 weeks mostly for back pain so I could sleep. How I wish I could go back in time and change that. I remember feeling somewhat nauseous and fatigued on the night of July 29th if I remember right.

The weirdest part is I can never remember waking up until I was in the ICU. But i was told I starting vomiting later the next day and having a mild fever. The next day I had a bad cough, worsening fever, complained of chest pain, and faster breathing/ heart rate. Ended up going to work. From what I was told sent home halfway through the day. Was taken to urgent care to find out I have O2 saturation of around 60-70 % and tachycardic.

Ambulance was called to the urgent care. Starting having swollen feet and hands according to my family. X-rays confirmed both of my lungs were filled with fluid. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) Was put on oxygen and it wasn’t enough only keeping me at 75-80 was eventually ventilated as things worsened. Was confirmed to have acute kidney injury very close to completely failing, a GFR of around 20. (Sepsis and Kidney Failure) Was pulled off the tubes after 12 days. Spent 2-3 weeks in the hospital recovering, learning how to walk again and gaining some strength back.

I was left with PTSD real bad the first 3-5 months, constant nightmares of flashbacks and waking up in sweat. (Sepsis and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) Have been suffering from long term chronic pain and fatigue now and presumably doctors think it’s fibromyalgia from the sepsis. I hope people can take infections that feel bad a tad more serious. Take that extra hour of your day to go get checked out and make sure your lungs and everything are fine and it’s not an extreme infection. Your body is important. Always try your best to take care of it. The long term consequences that you can face are not easy to deal with. I’m lucky enough and blessed to have had amazing doctors and didn’t suffer any lung damage or lung scarring and my kidneys recovered fully. No injuries to brain.