Bruce Brannon

In October of 2017 I had the flu and visited my primary care physician, I was given medication to take and sent home. Four weeks later, I had not improved, so I visited my doctors office again. (Sepsis and Influenza) I was dehydrated so they gave me an IV with fluid, and given more medication. A few days later I was admitted to the hospital for 3 days, where I received IV antibiotics and fluids and discharged

About four weeks later and I still had not improved, so another trip to my doctors office, and was immediately sent to the hospital, where again I received IV antibiotics, and fluids, and discharged four days later. Three weeks later, on January 21st 2018, I was found unresponsive in my recliner, and an ambulance was dispatched to my house, and transported me to the local hospital. I was treated for several things while in ICU. They were guessing as to what the problem was, and I was deteriorating quickly and was placed on the ventilator. My family was called in and told that I probably would not make it.

I was finally life flighted to a better hospital and placed in ICU. The second day there, an infectious disease doctor came in and finally diagnosed me with septic shock and began treating me with the right antibiotics. (Sepsis and Septic Shock) After four days being in the better hospital, I woke up and and was able to speak for the first time in 12 days. I still had trouble with cognitive issues and was speaking out of my mind. I had lost 68 pounds and my kidneys were trying to shut down. I was still in ICU, but improving each day with the exception of my kidneys. I began drinking pitchers of water a day, and finally my kidneys started improving, so much so that they started trying to find a rehabilitation facility that they could send me to.

I started begging for them to let me go home, and finally two days later they let me go home, with the agreement that a nurse, and physical therapist would come to my home every day. So after 14 days in ICU, I was discharged. I was having trouble physically and mentally while at home, and one day I succumbed to the mental issues I was having and came within seconds of ending my life, but thank God that He was watching over me. I should have gone to rehab, but was too stubborn, and didn’t want to go.

A few months later after discharging from the hospital, my feet were so swollen from all of the fluids, and walking in physical therapy, I had rubbed sores on the bottom of both of my feet, and I didn’t take care of them and ended up with severe infection, so I was admitted to the local hospital, where they had to amputate right pinky toe and the right side of my foot. Three months later they operated on the other foot, and removed some bones out of my left foot, I attribute that to the septic shock. I am now 5 1/2 years post septic shock, and I am just a shell of the person I was before. I struggle with cognitive issues every day, and I also have a lot of physical limitations, but praise God, I am still here and I make the best of it everyday. I had never even heard of sepsis before I was diagnosed. It is a disease that tries to strip every bit of life out of you, and I hope I never have to go through another fight like this again. Thanks for allowing me to share.