Steven developed neck and shoulder pain one day, without any fever or other signs of infection.
After being sent home initially from his local medical and injury centre, he developed fevers and light headedness, which got worse over the next five days. The second time he contacted Healthline he was advised to call an ambulance. His brother was in the house with him so decided to take Steven to the Nelson Hospital Emergency Department.
He was seen by the ED medical team within an hour. “They must have known I was in serious trouble”, remembers Steven, “I had a blood test straight away and my CRP was 403, when it should be 5 or below”.
At first the doctors suspected I was seriously ill with COVID but I wasn’t. I had multiple lung abscesses, pneumonia, an infection on my heart valves, septic arthritis, kidney failure, and a lung injury.
Steven had a disseminated infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus, a common cause of sepsis in New Zealand. He spent over a month in hospital receiving treatment, including an admission to the intensive care unit, lots of surgery, and antibiotics to treat the infection.
I do not remember much from my five days in ICU, and I did not known then what I had or that it was so bad that the doctors told my family to expect the worst – that I might not survive. I must have looked terrible to my family.
It took Steven a long time to get better, even when he left the intensive care unit. “I was immobile and not able to do much, so every time the nurses needed to move me it was in a sling and hoist. I was on so many antibiotics via a line in my arm. I had an antibiotic dose every couple of hours and was treated for 11 weeks in total!”
Steven did make it home eventually, after a long time in a rehabilitation ward. “It was great to get home. Even then I had a district nurse come every day to change my antibiotic infuser and to change any dressings.”
Steven and his surgeon agreed that he needed his positive attitude to get through his sepsis illness.
“I am very grateful to be alive. I could not have survived this alone. I would like to thank everyone who prayed for me at this very hard time. I thank and praise God for His help and guidance through this all, and for guiding the doctors, nurses and many other Nelson Hospital staff who have helped me through this. Thanks also to all my family and friends who helped and came to visit me while I was in hospital, and when I was home recovering. Going through major illness makes you appreciate the life we can all take for granted at times. We need to make the most of our time in this world.”
There needs to be education on sepsis. I had heard of sepsis but did not know what it was. Since I have been out & talking to people about sepsis I realise that most do not know what it is. Since I have been through it, I have learnt so much about. It is a very, very serious illness.
Take Steven’s advice. Learn the symptoms and signs of sepsis and if you’re sicker than you’ve ever been with infection, remember to Just Ask, “Could it be Sepsis?”
