People Who Went To See A Doctor “Just To Be Sure” And Ended Up Surviving Because Of It Are Sharing Their Stories
13.
“In October 2019, I was out shopping in the morning, and I had to use the restroom while out. When I wiped, there was blood on the toilet paper (light pink, it was diluted), and I knew something wasn’t right. I figured it might be a UTI or kidney stone, as I get those both frequently, but I didn’t worry too much. Having stage four kidney disease, I sometimes get blood in my urine as well, so I swept it under the rug…”
“…Later that evening, I started feeling ill and went to the bathroom in my home. This is where things get fuzzy. Somehow or another, I ended up sitting on the floor and could NOT find my way out of the bathroom. It was one door, a tiny room- not rocket science. I was in a state of total confusion.
Long story short, I was in there for hours, and my roommate, who was a former EMT and firefighter, found me. He insisted on calling an ambulance, but I fought him on it. I’m glad he didn’t listen to me. I had about an hour to live. When the medics came, my blood sugar was 14.
At the hospital, they diagnosed me with respiratory failure, kidney failure, double pneumonia, sepsis, a C. Diff infection, and cholecystitis (my gallbladder was infected). I remember being in the ER, surrounded by doctors, nurses, and medical students…everyone was staring at me with a look of dread as if I was going to die. All I could keep thinking was how I could not breathe (I kept trying to sit up to get air, but they wouldn’t let me) and that this is what death is like. I’m dying.
They put me out and intubated me, gave me an IO (this is where they drill a hole in your leg in a life-threatening emergency to administer antibiotics), and put me in the ICU. I was in a coma for eight days; they did not expect me to live. Ha! I showed them! I’m sure they were glad I did, too. When I got my tube out and began to sit up in bed, nurses would come by my room and express their surprise to me about how I was doing so well. I was in the hospital for two weeks, but it took me over a year to fully recover. I am one lucky person.”
