Traci W.

October 2017 was a life-altering month for me. I initially presented with strep throat, but my Urgent Care tests came up negative. I spent the next few days bed-ridden, at home. On day 4 I woke up with an interesting new symptom. Every time I swallowed, I would feel a sharp stabbing pain in my upper back. I refused to eat or drink as it caused so much pain. (Sepsis and Strep Throat)

My husband took me back to UC, who then sent me to the ER. I was brought back immediately, had a full team working on me in the ER, was immediately admitted to the hospital and within an hour, moved to the ICU. Upon admittance, I had a 104 temperature but was no longer sweating, I had extreme blistering of my lips, inside my mouth, and down my esophagus (severe esophogitis), had an extremely high WBC count, and was diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome upon admittance. (Sepsis and Toxic Shock Syndrome) As my strep tests continued to come up as negative, I was placed into isolation, and full protocol was placed to rule out possible contagious medical issues. Three days later, with no answer yet in sight, I became septic. That same evening, I went into septic shock, was no longer urinating, had extreme edema, had neurological issues (would fall over upon standing), and started having decreased heart rate and blood pressure. My body was systematically shutting down.

We had an end-of-life conversation and that night my respiration slowed to around 10 per minute. I was hallucinating, going in and out of consciousness, and was near-death. That evening, despite the multiple false negatives for strep, the doctors chose to put me on antibiotics for strep, as a last-ditch effort to save my life. The next morning, my full body CAT scan showed no more active lesions, my WBC and temperature was back to normal, and I no longer was presenting with TSS, sepsis, or septic shock. I was moved back to standard care for 2 more days, then released with daily at-home nurse support.

I spent over a month out of work recuperating, and went through post sepsis syndrome for over a year. I had zero amputations, no lasting organ damage, and to the naked eye, I look 100% back to normal. I am extremely thankful for our hospital’s TSS and Sepsis Awareness protocols, as there is no doubt I would not be alive today if I wasn’t quickly identified with TSS and put on Sepsis watch. My nurses were absolute angels and took such good care of me. And my home nurse was exceptional. She helped me through the initial months of recovery and helped me learn to give myself grace and understanding. I’ve found many silver linings in this experience. I no longer fear growing old, or dying, for that matter. Time is the ultimate gift, and growing old is not a gift to be taken for granted. Although my health now is forever changed, as I have multiple invisible health issues, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I’m a survivor of toxic shock, sepsis, and septic shock.