My Brush With Sepsis

This almost feels like a public service announcement, but it’s something we should all be aware of. I had no idea how dangerous this can be and how easy it is to pick up. Once this article was posted I’m already hearing from friends who lost someone they knew to it. Sepsis is basically blood poisoning and here’s my story …

I recently had an elective biopsy. Slightly elevated PSA on the rise, so why not get a baseline, right? However, from that I contracted sepsis. Apparently this can happen in about 10% of the cases.

The first day after the biopsy I was fine, then my temp slowly went up to 102.3. I didn’t make the connection. I thought I just had the flu … again. That was a big mistake.

Two nights later I was running a 104.5 temp and throwing up profusely. My hands and entire body was shaking so hard I literally couldn’t even place the thermometer in my mouth. I was so sick I asked Rhonda to call the ambulance, and I’m not the “call the ambulance” type. I don’t know what would have happened if Rhonda and Jason weren’t there to take charge. I was totally out of it and not thinking clearly. I still don’t remember everything that happened that night.

The Lucas paramedics were there in about 10 minutes and were fantastic. There must have been six of them and they were very thorough. They stabilized me pretty quickly. They told Rhonda they thought it might be sepsis the way it came on.

I was transported to Medical City McKinney and those guys were awesome too. They were all over me checking all my signs and monitoring me very closely. Up to that point I still didn’t think it was that big a deal. I’d just take some pills and I’m out the door again.

I spent 5 days in the hospital with an IV. They found out after the cultures came back that my body was resistant to that particular strain. Now I’m on a more potent antibiotic.

I’m finally home and the danger has greatly lessened, but still have 14 more days of self applied IV injections through a tube running inside an artery in my arm. This was a real eye opener for me and hope anyone reading this will remember this story if they have a temperature spike after some type of wound or infection.

Sepsis can result from something as innocent as a scratch on the playground. It can happen to anyone at any age. It can be fatal and happens so quickly, if you aren’t proactive on it right away, your organs can shut down.

Here’s a good, quick read on it