Hello Dear Friends,
I was just reading my last blog post. So much has happened since that post. For those that don't know, my entire family got sick with Influenza A in December. I got very sick. I had Influenza A, pneumonia, a strep infection in my blood, and sepsis.
Hubby took me to the emergency room on December 26 and I was lifeflighted to a bigger hospital 100 miles away on December 27. I'm told that I would not have survived if I wouldn't have been lifeflighted. I was put on a ventilator for many weeks and even during that time, the doctors and my family didn't know if I would survive. I was in a medically induced coma, my organs had shut down, I was on continual dialysis, and lost all of my muscle mass during that time. I have very little memory of December, January, February, and March.
I spent seven weeks in the ICU, five weeks at a skilled nursing facility, and I am still in physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I couldn't talk or move my body, arms, legs, fingers or toes because I had lost all my muscle mass and strength. The skilled nursing facility worked with me to get me moving, standing, walking, and feeding myself.
My family says I am a miracle. My kidneys are working and show no signs of injury from my illness and I'm getting stronger every day. I have neuropathy in my extremities, a hoarseness in my voice from being on the ventilator so long, and other weaknesses that may or may not resolve. My doctors tell me I need to wait and see. I was also told that it will take more than a year and a half for me to fully recover. I worry about getting sick again.
I thought the hardest part would be getting strong enough to move my body, stand, walk, and feed myself. No one mentioned that I would also have memory and cognitive issues, PTSD and depression during my recovery too.
I hope to be back with another post soon.
Your continued thoughts and prayers are so appreciated.
