Pam Robinson

This entire episode is still so hard to believe. I will tell my story to the best of my knowledge. I can remember very little about my time in the hospital. I will start in March, 2016, I had open heart surgery to replace my metal artificial aortic valve. The surgery was difficult due to some unforeseen complications. (Sepsis and Surgery) I recovered well and felt good, this was my third open heart surgery.

Several days after my surgery they removed my chest tubes, that procedure went well. After everyone but the nurse had left, I went into cardiac arrest. She called a code and did check compressions. When I woke up, I was back on the ventilator, which I only had to stay on for 24 hours. They do not know what caused the cardiac arrest. About a week later, I was able to be discharged. I had a home health nurse that visited several times a week and was soon back on my feet. When I went back to my cardiac surgeon after several weeks, I was doing well.

Several more weeks went by and I noticed I was getting progressively short of breath. My sister-in-law was visiting one weekend and she noticed the shortness of breath and suggested a visit to the ER. I was really feeling bad so I agreed. When we got to the ER my temp was 102 and my BP was low. Due to my medical history and SOB, I was admitted to the hospital. They treated me with antibiotics, fluids and thought I was having a bout of CHF. I was in the hospital for a week. On the day I was supposed to go home I became very nauseated, so the nurse said I would have to stay another night. The next thing I remember is waking up on a ventilator. My husband, family and doctors told me later that I had gone into cardiac arrest. All of my major organs were failing and my husband was told to call in all the family because I would not make it through the night. Through God’s grace, I survived. I was on the ventilator for 3 1/2 weeks. I was in the in the hospital for a total of 40 days. I could not walk or feed myself. I had some physical therapy in the hospital but at the time I went home, I still could not walk or even go to the bathroom on my own. My insurance company would not pay for additional days and also would not pay for rehab in a rehab in a facility. So I went home in a wheelchair totally dependent on my husband and family. I did have a home health nurse that came by 3 times a week to check my vitals and do rehab. Most of the progress I made was on my own.

My kidneys did not quite recover. I started dialysis in the hospital and when I was discharged I went to an outpatient facility for dialysis 3 times a week. Thank goodness I only had to do this for 3 weeks. This all started in June 2016. I am walking fine. Some days I wake up feeling like my old self, others I wake up hurting all over and don’t want to get out of bed. My skin peeled off from my head to my toes. I am losing my hair and my emotions are all over the place. (Sepsis and Post-Sepsis Syndrome) I was recently hospitalized for a viral infection. The surprising thing was my temp was 95.6! Keep a watch on your temp and BP. My internist is to the point that he does not know what to do with me. We do not have anyone in the area that specializes is sepsis aftercare. No one understands why I still feel bad. They think its been 6 months you should be feeling better. I don’t understand what happened. The doctors said they could not find the cause of the sepsis, which terrifies me. If any doctors read my story, please have patience with your sepsis survivors. They may have survived the disease, but they are still suffering. I am very thankful to be alive! I am also so scared every day about being in that situation again. Thank you for listening!