Graham Segars
I was at work, and everything seemed normal that day. A few hours in, I took a break, heading to my car for some rest. After sitting for a while, I got out of the car, but as soon as I did, I heard a loud pop in my hip. I was planning to head back into work to continue my shift, but with each step, the pain kept getting worse and worse. Walking became more difficult, each step more painful than the last. I had no choice but to leave work early.
When I got home, the situation worsened. I could barely make it up the stairs. My mom rushed down to meet me halfway, and I had to crawl the rest of the way up. After seeing a nurse practitioner, I was misdiagnosed with a pulled muscle. There was no X-ray or any thorough examination. They didn’t even bother to look at my hip. The nurse practitioner assured me that I would be fine to leave for my upcoming trip to New York City. But I wasn’t.
On that Tuesday, I still made the trip, despite needing crutches just to move. The pain was so bad I could barely use them. I was pushing myself, but I just couldn’t manage to walk, even with the crutches. I ended up being pushed through the airport in a wheelchair. When we arrived in NYC, I met up with my friend, still hopeful that maybe I’d feel better the next day. But the pain didn’t go away, and I went to a doctor in New York. They took an X-ray and referred me to an orthopedic specialist, but I decided to wait until I returned home to see my own doctors.
While in New York, we rented a wheelchair so I could get around, and my friends pushed me through the city streets. When I got back home, I scheduled an MRI for that Friday. After the scan, we were told the MRI had been lost. Thankfully, it was found, and I was told I had arthritis in my hip. They scheduled a procedure to drain the fluid from my hip the following Monday, with plans to test the fluid for infection. That Monday, they performed the procedure, and later that evening, we got a call. The fluid was infected and I needed to return to the hospital immediately. I had emergency surgery the next day, where they found my bones rubbing together, tearing through the cartilage.
I went into septic shock, which was thankfully caught and treated. I stayed in the hospital for five days on IV antibiotics and went home with a PICC line for more IV treatments. As a healthy 21-year-old male with no past health issues, septic arthritis was the last thing I expected. The condition is rare in people my age; only about 7% of individuals in my age range are diagnosed with it. The seriousness of this condition is reflected in the fact that it has a 20% mortality rate because septic arthritis can cause sepsis, making it life-threatening if not treated quickly and correctly.
It was my senior year of college. Although it was summer at the time, I quickly realized I wouldn’t be able to return for the fall semester on time. My college didn’t have virtual accommodations, but I worked with them to make it happen. A home health nurse came once a week to take blood samples, and I had physical therapy three times a week to get back on my feet as fast as possible. I eventually returned to school on September 30th, though I still had to use a walker and crutches. Despite a brief evacuation due to Hurricane Helene, I am now officially back for my senior year, down to using just one crutch. That’s my journey through septic arthritis.
Editing note: Despite the name, septic arthritis isn’t sepsis. Septic arthritis is an infection in the joint (synovial) fluid and joint tissues. Like any infection though, septic arthritis can cause sepsis, so it needs to be diagnosed and treated as quickly as possible to prevent that from happening.
