Samantha Bullock

February 8, 2013 I was 8 days out from having an emergency cervical cerclage to help save my baby. I went to sleep fine. I was approximately 17 weeks pregnant so I thought my tiredness and sickness was pregnancy related. (Sepsis and Pregnancy & Childbirth) I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever, I assumed I had the flu. My daughter and mom had it but I stayed away because I was pregnant.

I felt like I was freezing to death. By the time we made it to the gas station about 15 minutes away I developed a cough. About 20 minutes away from the hospital where my OBGYN doctor was, my cough was worse. They had to do a lot of tests. Wasn’t the flu like we assumed. The staff at the emergency room said they needed to do an ultrasound on my baby and my kidneys. I was confused, my kidneys I thought. My kidneys had done shut down, my lungs were filling up with fluid, I found out my baby didn’t have a heartbeat, and I was in labor. At this point I was getting confused from being so sick, the pain I was in, and the shock of losing my son.

I delivered my son on February 9, 2013 and had to have emergency surgery. I wasn’t improving on February 11, 2013 the doctors told my mom to call the family in there wasn’t anything left they could do for me. I was in a medical induced coma for 9-10 days. I was in a ventilator, even had to be placed in a roto bed. My lungs shut down 3 or 4 times. My kidneys and liver shut down. I had heart failure needed a heart pump to help my heart pump right but I couldn’t handle the surgery. After 14 days in ICU I was moved out to a regular room for 5 days. I spent a total of 19 days in the hospital my biggest complaint I had was right hip pain and I couldn’t hear out of my right ear.

I was home for one week and was admitted again for pneumonia. (Sepsis and Pneumonia) It has been 8 years I have struggled with depression, anxiety, tachycardia (which I needed a heart ablation for to help keep a more normal resting heart rate), I have had two hip surgeries to help with pain, I get sick easier I catch little things like strep throat a lot. I have some liver issues now my liver enzymes stay elevated had to have a liver biopsy which showed a fatty liver, my hearing in my right ear still isn’t right. I have mild hearing loss. I did experience hair loss after septic shock, my taste is off nothing tastes the same, I struggle with being tired and unable to sleep. (Sepsis and Septic Shock)  After 8 years I am happy to say I am doing better I am more my old self. I no longer take depression and anxiety medications.