Nothing in the above scenario even closely resembles the typical days I experienced when I was fighting a severe case of sepsis. In fact, nothing above for the next 3 months was even possible to consider due to my clouded mental and physical state. I will limit painful recollections below of what my daily life was to an overview, and elaborate on only one or two conditions. These played a dominant role in my daily regimen and may surprise readers at how common sepsis ailments appear.
Ever-increasing painful headaches, which I never experienced while healthy, attacked my whole body, and grew in intensity and quantity daily during my first weeks in the hospital. Medications escalated from Tylenol to Tylenol 3 with codeine to morphine and soon appeared in my I-V lines. The pain which accompanied them put reading, viewing, or simply sitting and thinking about my activities out of reach.
Nurses alarmed at my worsening fever and red face explained that these were symptoms of blood pressure problems. At this point, I hadn’t yet been officially diagnosed with sepsis, and found it very difficult to realize just how seriously sick I was becoming. For most of my 1st week in the hospital I endured daily blood pressure swings from normal to extremely high, back to nromal. Accompanying these ailments were warnings in the form of periodic chills, cold, woozy stomach, reactions from medications, and related problems too lengthy to mention here, caused from infections in recent hospital procedures. Colonoscopies were not my friend when I began to sweat through all clothing and bedding.
As days went by, a good indication of the severity of my problems was the increased visits of many hospital staff, specialists, and a growing number of tests and measures. Waiting for my diagnosis took more than 5 days as cultures grew and were identified. I was not reassured about my mix of red and white blood cells, or finding that my contaminated infections were moving to other organs. I was not prepared to hear that my chances of leaving the hospital alive were 50-50, or that only 2 drugs were available to keep me alive but the one I selected, gentamicin, would permanently damage my hearing, affect my sleep, and commit me to a daily regimen of dizziness, motion sickness, loss of balance, and other disabilities. Not a pretty solution for one who previously relished long walks and hikes including 4 marathons, bicycle tours in the warm sun, refereeing, coaching and playing beer-league soccer, as well as days at the computer researching and writing projects. Fortunately, I could still appreciate, if not completely to the same extent, books, concerts and plays. New hearing aids also allowed me to connect to Gunsmoke!
It took me more than a week before I could clearly see a wall in my room. I soon learned the value of devouring as much water as I could each day; Increased hydration gave me the strength to walk without gripping a wall for support. Walking distances increased from my property line to a block, to up and down my street. Balance and dizziness improved, but still remain problems which I approached through sessions with my physiotherapist. I have adopted a new best friend: a walking cane from time to time has replaced my hospital IV pole, affectionately christened some time ago, by Kimberly, as “my silver stallion”.
Nine years have now passed since my bout with sepsis. Many side effects continue. Sepsis can be a deadly disease, which I initially regretted having to go through. However, I’ve tried to compensate, move on, and give thanks to the expertise of medical staff whom I trusted to add me to the survivor list. You have made it possible for me to get up tomorrow at 6 A.M., go for a one hour walk, and then dive in to another of James Patterson’s thrillers!