infection/hospitalization

[irish]

Well this was an interesting Christmas season for me. Had our Christmas about the 15th and the 20th I woke up at 5 AM with terrible chills....hard time getting up to find more blankets. Fell back to sleep and woke up later with nausea, vomiting and GI issues. Reason I am telling you this is cause I had a severe infection that can be fatal about 30 % of the time....good to know the symptoms that can occur.

I felt really lousy and called son and then ambulance. My oxygen level was 80% when ambulance got there. To ER 30 miles away and had all the blood work, scans and cultures. They were thinking I could go home after lunch and I told them that no, I was sick. Hadn't felt this bad since Hong Kong flu when I was 14. My temp soon went up...only to 100.5 which we autoimmune are famous for ie, the low temperature. We autoimmune people often don't appear as ill as we are either.

They admitted me to the progressive area which was one level below ICU. The next day all tests and blood cultures came back for Gram Negative Sepsis. This is a blood infection of gram negative bacteria. I got there early enough as I did not get into big trouble. If people get to hospital too late the infection can cause organ failure and death. My problem was I had so many antibiotic allergies that they had trouble finding med I could take that would kill the bacteria. Infection was eventually determined to be originally in the bladder and was Klebsiella.

I have to go get my past antibiotic allergies retested or challenged as the infectious disease doc said the next time all they could do is pray over me. I am home on Levoquin one tab every other day. This med has a long time that it spends in the blood stream.....30 to 40 hours for body to get rid of half of the last dose. When older can't tolerate higher or normal dosages.

So the days are long and have post hosp. doc visit tomorrow. So if you get really ill fast and have chills make sure to see that friends or relatives are around to help you make a decision on what to do. The nurses at hospital said that this gram negative sepsis is one of their biggest health problems that they see in ER. It has increased these past few years. Oh, I came home Christmas day. Merry Christmas to all. Irish

[bmonahan]

I am praying for you Irish, for healing of your infection.  Very glad you advocated for yourself and got to the hospital.  Interesting about the lower temperatures, I didn't know that.

[Jenny]

Wow! Scary stuff. Glad you?re doing better. I know what you mean about temperatures. If mine is 99, I?m sick as a dog!

[Carolina]

Dearest Irish,

Another reminder to make the effort to take our symptoms seriously!

It was midnight when I said "take me to the ER NOW!'

I had e-coli in my blood by then, Irish.

The horrible chills are called 'rigor'   I had to bite down on a washcloth so I wouldn't bite my tongue.

I had a kidney infection (my first, and only) that had turned towards sepsis.

We were hours away from death, Irish.

Unforgettable.

Regards, Elaine

[Joe S.]

I am glad that you caught it early. I value your voice on this forum. I pray that you will get better.

[araminta]

How frightening that must have been Irish, it's good you insisted on staying in the hospital.   I know sepsis is a terribe thing, and one of my cousins died from it when he was quite young.

Hope you feel better soon and have a much healthier 2019.

[Sharon]

So sorry you're going through this Irish,
but glad you caught it on time and are getting treatment.
Wishing you a healthy and happy 2019!

[irish]

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I will see my new internist next Monday so hope I will know more. Didn't find out much from a family practitioner( never saw him before) post hosp check up. He told me I need to use walker all the time......I didn't tell him that 3 rehab people assessed me at hospital and said I was good to walk. I use my walker when I know I am weak and when I have  back pain. It is so much easier to walk with walker when one has back pain. It helps move the pressure to your arms and not the back. If he was my doc we would butt heads.  Happy new year to all of you. Irish

[Deb 27]

Happy New Year Irish! I am so glad you paid attention to your instincts and got to the ER fast. Sepsis can be deadly, as you know. Glad you didn't let them kick you out of the hospital too soon. Take care of yourself and keep us posted.

[Bucky]

((Irish)) . . . glad you were on top of things and got to the hospital ASAP.  I think an advantage you have is your nursing experience - you know from working with patients, etc., what needs to wait and what needs immediate action.

I'm glad you were able to come home on Christmas day.

I agree with you on the walker - when my sciatica is acting up, the walker makes it so much easier to move.

Irish, I hope 2019 brings you stable health and many, many blessings.

Hugs,
Bucky

[susanep]

Irish,
I am glad you are better from this sepsis. That is such a scary sounding condition. I don't know much about it.
I haven't been here as much, but my lupus keeps me busy these days. I am taking a longer term of prednisone. I had lost a bunch of weight, but this doesn't help.
I had this feeling today that I needed to come here, and see how others were doing. Now I know why. I always have everyone in my prayers.
Do you find an internist is better to go to than a Rheumatologist? I am just curious.
Yes, when I go to the clinic for anything, and have my low grade fever of 99.5 they think it's nothing, but I am always feeling so bad. They just don't get it.
I am so thankful irish that you are better.
What all do you do during the days if you don't mind sharing. A moment of pretending I am there for a chat.
Hugs,
susanep

[irish]

Susan EP and all,  My life is soo exciting. When I got home from hospital I had the let down one gets after being cared for and having people in the room a lot of the time. Came home and it was so quiet. I was teary and lonesome but managed to get through it. Some of it is from the Levoquin as that drub makes me depressed. Then my son and family left for cruise yesterday and that made me feel uneasy. Don't like the thoughts of getting sick when no family around.

I have been trying to push fluids and rest a lot cause you come homoe totally sleep depreived from the hospital. I watch TV and mostly HGTV. Couldn't abide Hallmark Christmas movies this year for some reason. My vision is blurry from the Levequin so havn't read much. Talked on phone some. Just sort of vegged as they say. I am going to start cleaning up the place tomorrow. I have 2 days of antibiotic left and I will feel better. Did go to Walmart yesterday and get groceries and a Bizzard.....love those Blizzards. Walked in halls where I live for exercise. Not really very exciting.

Oh, I don't see a rheumatologist cause I have the immunologist. The Internal Medicine doctor is the one who follows all my diseases and treatments, does blood work, etc ordered mammograms, Dexascans, etc. Follows my diabetes and refers me to other doctors as needed. I have seen 4 different rheumatologists over the years and not had the best luck plus had to drive 2 hours to see them and still had to have the internist to follow my general health. Immunology follow autoimmne diseases.

Everybody have a happy new year. Hugs Irish

[SjoGirl]

Oh dear Irish, what a rotten way to spend the holidays or any day. You are in my thoughts.

Quick question, is this Klebsiella some form of bacteria? I hope it's not the meat Kielbasa.

[irish]

Sjogirl, Klebsiella pneumoniae (hope I spelled it right) is a bacterial that is easy to pick up in medical facilities of any kind. I am of the opinion that I got my urinary tract infection from having to do 3 colon preps in 2 months plus colonoscopy ad gastroscopy and then swallow the mini camera for 8 hours pictures of my GI tract and lastly having laser treatments in my colon and 9 stainless steel clips inserted in large bowel.

Remember the lastest information that has found that our GI tract produces a good share of the cells needed to fight infections. Well, I have compromised immune system and then had all these invasive procedures. Then I started on Cellcept the end of November. It was all too much for my system ....this is my opinion after thinking over the past months. Also was in ER inn October with very low hemoglobin and had blood transfusion. I think I had too many things happen that dragged me down. I was feeling so ill all those months that I sort of slipped upu on keeping track of myself. Take care. Irish

[trejonina]

We all thank God that you're so so smart and  acted so fast and could save yourself. TKS for all the info you give us! Happy New Year to all.