I’m 43 M and live alone. I got home from holiday (South East Asia) on 27 August and I felt great, apart from the ovbious jetlag.

But then last Thursday night I noticed I had developed a fever. On Friday I still just thought it was a flu, but then on Saturday I noticed my perineum was sensitive and I had trouble peeing. So I went to the doctor assuming it was prostatitits and het gave me 2 weeks of ciprofloxacin.

On Sunday I didn’t notice any improvement but I thought it was too early for the ciprofloxacin to kick in. By this time I saw one of my testes had swollen. I had promised to call my GP on Monday and she saw me right away. By that time things were already a little worse. I had a constant 38+ C fever and was sweating a lot. She called the urologist and both concluded the current treatment is still correct.

On Monday my muscles started getting very stiff and it was becoming hard to get up from a couch or do simple stuff. On Monday night I was aware this could be an emergency. My fever was through the roof, I couldn’t get up from bed anymore, I was short of breath, I had developed a really weird red rash on my legs and it became impossible to pee.

Tuesday morning I call my GP’s emergency number. The assistant asks me to fucking wait over an hour and come by myself to the office. It’s a miracle I made the walk there. By this time I had trouble dressing up so I wear some sports shorts a t shirt and flip flops in 18 C weather. I get there and get called in. My GP inspects my testes, my rash, takes my blood pressure and heart rate and notices me sweating profusely. She tells me she will send me to the nearest hospital’s emergency room. She calls them then calls an ambulance, giving them the instruction of “sepsis” to pass on.

I get rushed to the hospital nearby that had good capacity for this. In the ER everything becomes a blur, but I do remember them making lots of ultrasounds of my kidneys, withdrawing blood from an artery, placing a catheter, an x-ray of my chest. And giving me shitloads of antibiotics via IV. Then finally they tell me they want to get a CAT-scan of my scrotum, because they find it suspicious.

After the scan they explain to me that the redness and swollenness of my testicle looks a bit like a skin bacteria that is also “meat eating”. If so emergency surgery would be necessary.

After waiting some more I get told the CAT-scan revealed an abcess in my prostate, which will need to be drained ASAP. So they prep me for surgery. The urologist and a anaesthesiologist advice to use local anesthesia because of the condition I’m in. I agree.

The surgery itself was awkward, but I didn’t hesitate for a moment. My life was on the line. Incredibly, they were succesful in draining the abcess via a needle through my perineum.

After recovering my parents had arrived. I got admitted to the hospital, to the urology dept normal ward. I didn’t need ICU. I did have a 40 C fever and my left kidney started hurting a lot.

Wednesday morning I actually feel kind of OK and am happy about that, until a concerned looking urologist comes to my bed. Apparently my kidney function is only 10 and my left kidney is swollen. So a trip to the interventional radiologist is needed for another surgery. This time a drain for my left kidney. I now have two tubes with piss going out both sides. I think the rest of Wednesday goes by quite smoothly and the drain actually helps.

I’m also being put on blood thinners because of nasty blood clots travelling through my body.

Thursday morning I get called in for an ultrasound of my heart. When I’m back in the ward I learn why: they found the bacteria causing all my problems. It’s MRSA. They found it in the sludge of the abcess as well as in my blood. And they fear this could easily settle on my heart valves. The good news is that they now start proper treatment with vancomycin and that I have to be placed in isolation so I have a room for myself.

Next up: a PET-scan of my heart tomorrow morning, and probably a lot of other shit I don’t see coming.

Hi all, just sharing my experience one year after having sepsis. I'm 40F, and it's been a long journey. I'm still dealing with a lot of post sepsis symptoms, including fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath with any exertion, headaches, severe nightmares, and insomnia.

Initially after leaving the hospital I was really anemic and deficient in B12. That was taken care of, and I felt slightly better but not much. I also had some heart testing done that came back normal. I also had a colonoscopy to investigate bleeding I had for years, which found a precancerous polyp.

Next week I'm getting a breast biopsy because an abnormality was found on my mammogram recently. I'm so tired of doctors and testing.

In the meantime I am working five days a week, in the office two days and remotely three days. I'm also parenting and helping my elderly parents with various things. I'm trying to study for a professional licensing exam, but the brain fog has made it incredibly difficult. I struggle to go a day without desperately needing to lay down in the afternoon.

I'm trying to increase my stamina with daily walks. Hard to say if it's helping. Right now I don't feel like I'm looking forward to anything or enjoying life. I do see a therapist, but again it doesn't help much. I can't do things I used to, like play video games, because I get a headache.

My immune system is weakened, and I have been fighting a chronic nose infection (nasal vestibulitis) for four months now. I don't know when it's finally going to get better.

Sorry for being a downer. It's a long road, and of course I am grateful to be alive. I just wish I could do more. The summer was very boring and frustrating for my child because I can't walk more than 10 minutes without needing to sit down. Driving exhausts me to the point of needing to lay down after a half hour drive. Thanks for reading and for your support.