Sierra Keane

Survivor

My battle for life started out with an average, ordinary sore throat. I felt sick but nothing unusual. I went to work and started shaking uncontrollably. After work I drove myself to the nearest hospital. They tested me for strep throat, gave me a prescription for hydros and sent me on my way.

After a few days of laying in bed all day/night drinking about 10 bottles of water a day and eating ibuprofen like candy, I became very disoriented. I would stumble to the bathroom like I drunk, take showers sitting down, I had no idea what time of day it was or day of the week. I would lay in bed, shaking like crazy, and soak my sheets with sweat. I knew something was seriously wrong. I had my roommate drive me to the hospital, where I was admitted immediately. They said I had low blood platelets and my white blood cell count was off. After a few days of seeing different specialists and no one knowing what was wrong, I was admitted to the ICU.

Everything just seemed to be going wrong. I had to have a catheter, my organs were shutting down, and tests were showing black holes on my lungs. After having to have a picc line for all the fluids, I got a blood clot in my arm. I was in the worst pain in my life and I literally felt like I was dying. I knew that it was serious when a doctor came in with a space looking suit to protect himself, and the next person came in to ask if I wanted a priest to come in and pray over me. I refused to let myself give up that easy.

After they diagnosed me with sepsis and were able to help treat it, I gradually got better. I had oxygen to help me breathe, and would periodically do breathing tests to help my lungs. I had a therapist help me walk around the hospital. When I was leaving the hospital, the nurse that was with me the whole time had tears of joy. She said, “It was amazing to see you when you first came in and how much you progressed in just under a week. We honestly weren’t sure if you were going to make it, and are so proud of you.” Those words alone made me cry. After getting out of the hospital I had to give myself a shot in the stomach everyday to help treat my blood clot.

Life after sepsis was hard, I had to get blood work done every Friday. They knew me by name at the Internal Medicine office. I had to take incompletes for my whole semester of college due to missing class. I am tired every minute of everyday of my life now. But I will be forever thankful of the life I could of no longer had. I am thankful that I’m able to see my niece and nephew grow up, and thank God that he gave me the strength to continue on.

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