Valli Williams

Survivor

Actually I’m a survivor and this is a tribute.

In Jan 2020 my father was having surgery scheduled in March to fix the infection in his foot from a previous surgery. (Sepsis and Surgery) He went into the hospital Feb 9,2020 and the last time I saw him there was Feb 14, 2020, when he told me what song to sing at his funeral (he loved to hear me sing) and told me he wasn’t going to make it out of the hospital.

The infection traveled to his blood and gave him heart failure and eventually kidney failure. He ended up on oxygen as his lungs filled up with fluid. He decided to come home to die on hospice but gave me the honor to be his primary caretaker for the last 5 days of his life. I have never been able to openly express the love for my dad the way I was able to those last 5 days and he reciprocated which I still hold dear to me. I finally heard, I love you.

As he transitioned to his heavenly home, I saw the process of death and spiritual cleansing take place. He passed April 26,2020.

On Dec 26 of 2021, I became Ill with Covid. (Sepsis and COVID-19) It was severe, but I fought it from home for 3 weeks. I was pale and frail. Jan 9, 2022 I started feeling better a tad and felt a lump on my rear end. It grew for a few days painfully and I had a hard time walking, not realizing, I started losing my mental awareness and wasn’t thinking clearly. Jan 11 and 12, I slept all day, sweats, shivers, fever, pain, eventually I drove myself to the hospital only to find I had a mass infection inside to the bone and needed emergency surgery, the Covid cocktail as I was still positive, and tons of meds to cleanse my system. (Sepsis and Bacterial Infections)

I stayed 4 days. I don’t remember much other than the hospital took great care of me and understood my fear and PTSD from losing my dad recently to sepsis. Before surgery I had accepted death. I prayed for comfort and peace and that God look over my children and husband. Thankfully, my body was able to fight. It was 8 weeks of solid physical recovery and I’m still managing the mental side of sepsis. Right now, I have arthritis, probably some depression but I also have a new found appreciation for life. A red robin came to my bedroom window and would perch on the windowsill as I laid in recovery. I like to think it was a reminder from my dad. Letting me know he understood and was watching and caring and that he still loved me.

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