Pastor Janice Odom

After having a stroke in October, 2023, in February of 2024 I contracted Covid. I had all of my vaccinations, nonetheless I came down with the virus. (Sepsis and Covid-19) I didn’t immediately get over it. After five days, I was running a 103* fever and was in a cold sweat which was so severe, we had to change the bedclothes twice. My home health called to check on me and when I explained it, they told me to go to the ER.

In my weakened condition, several opportunistic infections had begun to invade my body. I had UTI, kidney, and skin infections that I hadn’t paid close attention to because I thought it was just Covid, for which I tested positive. Blood tests showed I had sepsis. Multiple rounds of antibiotics failed to kill the infection.

On a daily basis, they ran blood tests and tried different IV antibiotics. Nothing worked. They put in a port for the antibiotics. My heart began to fail. They put in a pacemaker. They told us to call my family because I might not make it. I could no longer walk. I had to be lifted to go to the bathroom. They finally had some success with the antibiotics. I turned a corner. Three weeks later, I went to inpatient physical therapy for another 6 weeks. We weren’t sure if I would regain my mobility. I had walkers, wheelchairs, bedside commode, chair lifts. I also had a recurrence of sepsis. After 4 more months of home health, I could finally walk again on my own. January 1, 2025, I returned to my job as Pastor.