I lived to tell about it....Part 2

After attending church on Sunday and hearing God speak to me, I knew it wasn't my time to go, and the next week was proof I was going to be OK.

                                   

I sailed through Sunday as if I was feeling the best I had ever felt when really I just wanted to die. I spoke to my mom that evening and told her I thought I was feeling better, but I needed her help, again.  I was too weak to do anything.
Mom showed up Tuesday morning to help me with EVERYTHING.  I didn't get out of bed or off the couch except to use the bathroom.  She even brought me Liam to nurse.  I couldn't take care of myself let alone the kids at that point. Relief was coming, but when?

I made another call to the doctor.  They had to find medicine, soon, that would work.  And Wednesday afternoon was my appointment.  My incision was oozing more than ever, and it was red and hard, too.  Dr. Hutchens, who I was now seeing, asked it I would be OK to have a CT scan.  The caviot was I couldn't nurse Liam for 24 hours after because of the die.  YES, YES, YES!!!! Although I support nursing 100%, I was ready for answers.  I was sent immediately for a CT scan.

It took me 45 minute to drive home from the hospital, I no sooner walked into the house, and the doctor called.  She said I had an internal infection between my organs, and now that they know I have an internal infection, they can better treat with antibiotics.  I went to bed that night with a sense of relief.

I was awoken to my phone ringing at 6:00 am the next morning. It was my OBGYN.  She said she as going to admit me into the hospital, and I needed to get there as soon as possible.   This must be more serious than she thought!  I was October 3 and I was supposed to be celebrating my fourth wedding anniversary.  Happy Anniversary to me!!! What a better way to spend your wedding anniversary than in the hospital.

Mom and I loaded up the car and got Liam ready.  He was going to be in the hospital with me. I wanted to continue nursing and caring for him. Another bump in the road hit as I was on the way to the hospital. I got a flat tire, and had Jason come change it for me.  Where was roadside assistance or the police when you need them?

Once I arrived at the hospital, they took my vital signs and my heartrate was 40.  Within minutes they were rushing me off for surgery. In surgery, they removed as much of the infection as they could and inserted a drainage tube to remove the remainder of the infection.  They sent a small portion of the infection for testing to determine the exact type of infection I had.

Not only did I see my OBGYN in the hospital, but  I also saw the infectious disease doctor, wound care doctor, and the interventional radiologist.  Although no one knew they type of infection, they did insert an IV and had several antibiotics going at the same time.  It was amazing how much better I felt right after they removed a large portion of the infection.

My heart rate continued to remain low even after surgery.  The nurses would laugh when they took my vitals and asked if I was a marathon runner.  I laughed back and said I hadn't run in a couple of years.  What did that dangerously low heart rate mean?  The bacteria was taking over my organs and slowly shutting everything down.  My body was in septic shock.  Since my health was deteriorating so quickly, I only had about 48 hours to live.

Two days after surgery the culture results came and back showed I had methicillin-resistent Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).  It is a gram positive bacteria and a strain of staph that's resistant to antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections.  Knowing this, the doctors had to change their plan of attack and start a completely different antiobiotic: vacomycin.

At this point I have lost track of the antibiotics I have taken to treat this infection, but now I know I would be taking a very high dose of vacomycin through a PIC line for the next two weeks.  Because of the concentration and administration through a PIC line, the vacomycin was mixed in a lab and in a time release ball.  I had to be hooked up for one hour twice a day for two weeks. The great news is that I was able to do everything from the comfort of my own home with a little bit of training.

I was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday evening although my heart rate was still low.

Fast forward two weeks and all my vital signs were back to normal, I was feeling like a human being again and I had the energy to care for my family.

I can't say everything is fine today.....

In the next part of this blog series I will talk about my health over the last year and a half.