Thomas Allen

In March of 2022, I was admitted to the ER. I could not walk. I had never been so weak and sick. I could not pass urine. I had a fever. The triage nurse put me in front of the line because I was so sick. I was soon diagnosed with septic shock. I had a GFR of 7. All of my numbers were way off. I was placed in the ICU and stabilized.

After about three days I was ready for a hospital bed. I was released after 10 days and sent to rehab for 11 days. I couldn’t walk when I was discharged. I finally gained the ability to walk. I didn’t think I was cognitively impaired, but the speech therapist thought I was. I’m now fully functional. I later discovered I have stage IV prostate cancer. It is being held in check with hormone therapy. If I had not had sepsis, I might not have discovered cancer early enough to stop it before it became untreatable. I am grateful for all of the medical staff who helped me.