While most were out celebrating, I rang in 2022 in an ICU, alone, and on a vent. My sepsis journey started in 2020 when I contracted COVID-19. Following my infection I developed gastroparesis(GP). By the beginning of 2021, I was using a feeding tube for all my nutritional needs. In November of 2021, my physicians decided that the tube wasn't enough and put a central line in my chest to start TPN. I have no memory of the week before New Year’s, but I've learned from my family that my behavior was extremely off. I wasn't making any sense when speaking to them and was uncharacteristically aggressive. However, while they were concerned, no one expected any kind of infection because I didn’t have a fever and that was the surefire sign of sepsis - Right? My off behavior hit it's peak on New Year’s Eve when I began hallucinating and passing out. I went into cardiac arrest as we were rolling up to the hospital and was immediately placed on a ventilator. In the ER they stopped and restarted my heart 4 times due to an elevated heart rate of 220. Before transferring me to the ICU, my family was allowed to come in and see me to basically say goodbye. The first 72 hours were very touch and go but luckily I had a great support team and a great will to live. My next memory is 6 days later when I finally left the ICU. According to my family, the tests showed all of my organs were failing and there was a severe MRSA infection in my brain and heart. At the ripe age of 22, I was in heart failure and had to use a walker/wheelchair to get around. It took 4 months to regain the ability to walk independently and 3 months to fix the speech impediment I had developed. Since then I have been septic two more times (not as severely, thankfully), and I’ve had 2 pulmonary embolisms from those infections. Throughout this experience I realized that there is not a lot of education about sepsis out there. There is, however, quite a bit of misinformation. This is why I have been using my own experience with GP and septic shock to educate others and have done interviews with ABC, Fox, and Peoplemagazine.com. I was lucky to survive, but I know many don't. This is why I try every day to remember how grateful I am for a second chance at life.
