Ann Hayes

We were at our cabin in the mountains during the summer of 2022. Our day always starts with walking our dogs. On our way back to the cabin my hips started to ache so I walked ahead of my husband to get back. When I got back to the cabin I was shaking uncontrollably because I was suddenly so cold. My husband suggested I take some Tylenol and get in bed. He went into the small town to buy a thermometer and came right back.

I had never had Covid so I thought that I was coming down with it, but I tested myself and it was negative. I did have a fever but as the day went on I felt a little better by dinner. The next day, I was no better so we drove the 90 minutes back to our home. That night back a home was rough and by morning I was almost green in color and now needed a walker to move.

My husband called my doctor who said your wife is never sick, call an ambulance. At the hospital my blood pressure was 50/40. I was admitted immediately and spent 26 days in the hospital, 3 times my husband was told to get the family together I was not going to survive. The doctors had trouble figuring out what caused my body to go into septic shock. (Sepsis and Septic Shock) It was finally decided that I had somehow caught an old virus called HIB. (Sepsis and Viral Infections)

I never felt sick from the virus before I became septic. When I was finally discharged I had a PICC line for 6 weeks at home where my husband infused antibiotics once daily because while in the hospital I got a spine infection. Now at six months my hands and feet, which were black from no circulation during my hospitalization, have regular color but I have trouble with my toes and fingers. My toes feel like they have rubber bands around each one and my fingers ache all the time. My back is slowly getting better with physical therapy the infection is gone but still it still aches. The doctors attributed part of my survival to the fact that I was fit and healthy before the I became septic. I attribute my survival to the medical care that I received and that my family was by my side throughout my illness. Every day is a gift that I am thankful for.