Jerry Boisvert
It’s been an unhealthy rollercoaster ride to say the least over the last one-year. I have had more than my fair share of ailments ranging from Covid to nerve pain issues to recently severe sepsis that ultimately escalated to septic shock.
It was Sunday, February 18, and we were driving home from Canada where we attended a funeral for the young son of my wife’s former manager. We had my wife’s current manager with us and after a long 8-hour drive, we brought our friend home and had dinner with he and his wife. We went home, unpacked, and put our comfy pajamas on, and started watching a TV program. I started to become nauseated and proceeded to vomit quite violently. Within literally 15-20 minutes, I began to get the major chills and shaking. As time quickly passed, I became almost convulsive like and could not stop shivering. My wife could not get much feedback from me, so she called 911, and an ambulance arrived shortly thereafter.
I was transported to an ER, where they initially pulled blood and tested me for the flu and Covid. Both tests were negative, yet my fever was measured at 104 F. Some additional bloodwork was done, along with IV solution and antibiotics. My wife finally left the hospital ER at 2:00 am Monday. It was at 4:00 am that I had suddenly taken a turn for the worst. I can only share now what I was told by the doctors and my wife. My kidneys and heart began to show signs of deterioration. I was in and out of consciousness, and my wife was phoned by the ER physician in charge to make her way back to the ER asap. I was injected with epinephrine, and an emergent line fed through my femoral artery, and then catheterized. My white blood cell count had dropped to 0.6. My platelets along with other blood levels like lactate plasma, magnesium, enzymes, etc were either highly elevated or near drastically low values. My blood pressure bottom out at 78/63, my fever was just above 104 F, and my respiration was weakening. They administered vasopressors through the emergent line to elevate my blood pressure.
After several hours in the ER, I was assigned a room in the ICU where I spent several days being treated, having multiple tests, and having many doctors visit with me trying to isolate the cause of this septic shock. It was found that my gallbladder was distended with a thick wall, but there were no gallstones seen on the CT scan. After a nuclear HIDA scan, it was found that my bile duct was blocked, yet surgery was out of the question due to my weakened state. (Sepsis and Gallstones)
I also have had a handful since May, 2023 a series of small hard lumps on my arms, abdominal region, and legs that end up getting infected and abscess. I have had to have them I&D’d (incision & drainage) each time that they emerged into an infected abscess.
fter 1-week, I was discharged, and came home very weak. It has been a few weeks now, and my appetite is slowly coming back, and my strength is improving slowly, but I am suffering from insomnia. I can get to sleep with no issues, but cannot stay asleep for more than 3-hours since coming home from the hospital. It is definitely miserable along with the rashes on my arms, hands, and legs. My mental state is poor as I am not only paranoid about the health situation, but also quite depressed with the thought that I was so close to not making it. Thank God for the ER team at the hospital.
Never, ever take for granted life itself. Cherish each and every day as if it was your last. And make sure that you share the love that you have for your significant other and children to the full extent.
