Stacie S.

I left work on January 31, 2013 with a kidney stone. (Sepsis and Kidney Stones) I had kidney stones before and they usually passed fairly quickly. The next day I was in terrible pain and started vomiting, which was not unusual from the pain, so I didn’t think anything was wrong.

Later in the day, my partner insisted on taking my temperature- it was 105. She called the ambulance. When I arrived at the hospital my blood pressure was very low and I was crashing. They took me to the operating room and inserted a tube in my back to my kidney. The kidney stone had caused a blockage and I had a raging infection. I was in ICU and on a ventilator for 5 days. My kidneys shut down and they thought I had a heart attack. I am a diabetic and my blood sugar was over 700. (Sepsis and Diabetes) I spent an additional 4 days in the hospital.

Throughout 2013, I was hospitalized 2 more times and had sepsis again. I was on IV antibiotics for 4 weeks after a procedure to remove the kidney stone caused another bad infection. Since 2013, I’ve had sepsis 3 more times and been in and out of the hospital. I have neuropathy in my toes, anxiety and difficulty sleeping. I’m very thankful that I survived.