My Saga with Leukemia

A Most Scary Infection

Several weeks into my treatment, I became very nauseous one evening. The nurse brought me a large container to gag into and told me to keep it close to my bed in case I needed it during the night. Need it I did! By morning I was totally exhausted and my temperature registered a searing 104.6 degrees!

The temperature prompted a quick call to the doctor and IV antibiotics were prescribed and begun immediately. As I lay on my bed like a limp piece of lettuce, the doctor arrived and quickly assessed that the Hickman line which had been implanted in my chest was infected! I was told I would be sent down to the lab where they would remove it. I thought this would be something of a priority but was both upset and angry when the line was not pulled until 6 p.m.!!

When I got back to my room and my temperature was taken, I was shocked to learn it had dropped three degrees, nearly instantly, upon the removal of the infected line. There is no doubt in my mind that this should have been a priority instead of leaving me lie sick as a dog all day.

The next day when the lab tests came back, I was further shocked, angered and scared to learn that it was also a Staff Infection...one of the most dangerous types of infections found in hospitals! The whole incident served to make me wary of the care I had received.