Jessica Givens

My name is Jessica. I am 42 years old. I am a recent survivor of sepsis. On 2/4/22 I had what was supposed to be a very simple procedure called a NovaSure ablation, a surgical procedure to alleviate heavy periods. (Sepsis and Surgery) Down time is 3-5 days. I was doing fine and in normal recovery for the first 2 days.

On 2/6 I was feeling ok but throughout the day started to feel strange. By afternoon I was extremely tired, nauseated and dizzy. I had developed a headache as well. Within the hour things got worse. The headache was unbearable and I could feel my heartbeat throughout my whole body like my body was pulsating. My temp was 102. My neck and body were in severe pain. I called the on-call doctor who said I needed to go to the emergency room. I almost did not go! When I arrived at the emergency room I started to throw up and that is all I remember. I passed out and woke up in a room with tons of doctors, and IVs hooked up everywhere. It turns out I was septic from an infection.

My BP was at one point 76/13. My lactic acid levels were 4.6. I was told that I would have died if I did not come in when I did. It was the scariest moment of my life. After a week in the critical care unit of the hospital with several different extremely strong intravenous antibiotics, I was sent home on an oral regimen which I took for two weeks. It has been a little over a month since everything happened and I can finally say I am getting closer to normal. It took this long to not feel as though I hadn’t slept in 5 days at least once during the day. Doing simple things like cooking dinner or taking a walk were almost impossible the first few weeks. But I can do those things now and not have to go lay down afterword due to feeling dizzy, nauseated or exhausted. The mental part is hard too. I get anxious wondering if the infection will come back? I also hate that I am not 100 percent myself and wonder when I will every be back there. I can only pray that my recovery continues.

My goal is to get back on my Peloton. I am not sure when I will reach that goal or feel up to it but I WILL get there. I am lucky to be alive. I am lucky to be where I am at in my recovery, as I know that so many who have not been so fortunate and had much longer recovery processes. I have shared on social media and will share here as well. If something feels off, seek treatment. You never know what is going on in your body.