Olivia Lodi

I had had a chest port for about a year for IV fluids, when I suddenly got sick in March of 2025 and couldn’t keep my blood pressure up.(Invasive Devices and Sepsis) I went to the ER just being in so much pain, and even they couldn’t get my BP above 80 systolic. I was told I’m being admitted for septic shock. I don’t remember the first two days, besides screaming out in pain asking for more meds. They found Staphylococcus all in my blood stream and found the source of it to be an infected chest port that they removed. After 5 days I was sent home on IV antibiotics through a PICC line, that I administered every 8 hours for a month.

4 months later, I was getting fed up with trying to get IVs for weekly fluids and getting stuck by a needle 4-5 times just for one bag of fluids. Both me and the infectious disease doctor agreed to do another chest port. By the time it was put in, it was infected. I could tell. Two weeks later, I was in the ER again with septic shock. They found the same staphylococcus in my blood for a second time, due to a second infected chest port. I had another surgery to remove it, and went home with a PICC line and antibiotics for another 6 weeks.

Trying to recover from sepsis has been a nightmare at times and has landed me in a wheelchair. It’s made my POTS (heart) condition worse, it’s made me struggle to walk because I can’t find balance, and I’m always exhausted. I just can’t believe I’ve survived sepsis, not once, but twice!