Rob Hoge

One fine day in June, I was attending to some unruly thorn bushes in my backyard when I was pricked in the knuckle. I didn’t pay it any mind until 24 hours later when my hand grew to the size of a baseball glove and I’m being rushed to the ER. I had contracted a Grade A Streptococcal infection that ultimately turned septic. My temperature spiked to 104, while my blood pressure tanked. The fine doctors at Kaiser induced a comma and pumped me full of fluids and antibiotics. I woke up two and half days later having just missed a ticket to paradise. I spent five days in ICU and four more in recovery. The residual effect of sepsis left me anemic and wasted with fatigue. I was home from the hospital five weeks before getting my mind and body fully wrapped around the healing process. I was thickheaded about surrendering to the severity of sepsis, having suffered unnerving setbacks, including a return trip to the ER from spending too much time in the sun.

Yesterday marked my three-month anniversary home from the hospital. After a steady diet of humble pie, iron rich food, two naps a day, hand therapy, and TLC from my wife and friends, I am feeling 75% back to my old self. Unfortunately, l don’t have the stamina I once relied on. I want to return to work, but am afraid I’ll fall flat on my face after the first stressful week.

The search for a cure continues. I was recently examined by a Chinese Acupuncturist. No needles yet, but I have begun a regimen of herbal medicine. I am hoping that this eastern influence will speed my full recovery. We’ll see.

However, I am convinced that “time” is the real healer for sepsis survivors.

Please share your healing program! Hang in there!