Less than two short weeks ago, I headed to NYC to be with Jen when she had her first wedding gown fitting. We had to postpone the fitting appointment because I could not get into the shower to ready myself for the appointment. Instead, later that day, Jen and James took me to the ER at a local hospital (St. Luke's - Roosevelt Hospital) - I was admitted to ICU early the next morning and got to be "pampered" for a day and a half. Sponge baths, foley catheter, bed pan, IVs in both arms, IV in my neck, NINE bags of fluids, countless antibiotic drips...it was just delightful.
The diagnosis? Sepsis - a potentially life-threatening condition, in which your immune system's reaction to an infection may injure body tissues far from the original infection. As sepsis progresses, it begins to affect organ function and eventually can lead to septic shock — a sometimes fatal drop in blood pressure. Early treatment, usually with large amounts of intravenous fluids and antibiotics, improves chances for survival.
On my second full day, I was moved to a room on the Medical floor and got to enjoy the hospitality for another couple of days - hospital food, crazy patients who try to knife themselves and others, roommates who sleep with ALL the lights/TVs on, all-night IV drips that prevent a person from getting more than 15 minutes sleep at a time, and groups of doctors who roam from room to room checking on the progress of their patients.
I presented an interesting case. Was my sepsis due to an allergic reaction to Bactrim, an antibiotic prescribed by my Colorado doctor? The Infectious Disease doctors did not think so. My entire body turned beet red when I checked into the ER, and stayed that way until the day of my release. There was no itching - just an intense looking "sunburn." Along with that, I had nausea, acid reflux, and no appetite. The doctors seemed to think that my sinus infection, made worse by a stomach flu virus, caused my body to crash. My blood pressure dropped dangerously low - 80/45 and I was fed those 9 bags of fluids along with lots and lots of antibiotics.
I got released after four days of hospitalization, spent a few days on Jen and James' couch to build up my strength, got to attend the wedding gown fitting (Jen is going to be a BEAUTIFUL bride), and then managed to grab the jumpseat on a flight back to Colorado on Saturday.
Why did this happen? How can I prevent it in the future? I have no answers. Kind of scary, huh? I have heard, however, from three others who have had allergic reactions to drugs in the past, and they all had the same sunburn-type rash that I did! Also, I had blood drawn yesterday and all the tests came back normal, including my liver function test. That is GOOD NEWS. My doctor still wants to do a CAT scan of my liver/spleen based on the recommendations of the doctors in NYC, but it appears that all else is good. I just need to finish recovering my strength...and I'll be as good as new!
