If you follow me on Instagram, you probably already heard the news – Michael got sepsis and ended up in the hospital 17.5 hours away from home! Leaving me and the kids stranded in West Fargo, North Dakota for the last 3-days!
How Exactly Did Michael Contract Sepsis?
Crazy story but this past year Michael and I contracted staph-infection and not just any type of staph infection – MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). This basically means that this type of staph is harder to treat and needs stronger antibiotics to get rid of it. Well, once you have MRSA, you can contract it anytime afterwards very easily. It just lives in the air and you can get it in any open wound. Like, apparently, no one even knows why you get it, but some people are more susceptible to getting it than others.
So during our trip, I guess somewhere in-between hotels and truck stop bathrooms, Michael must have got another abscess on his skin that became infected. While Michael mentioned it to me, a few days after he noticed it, we had dealt with staph-infections enough times that we thought we could hold-off and get home before he had to go to the doctor.
Fast-forward a few days later and Michael is feeling rough. That spot is hurting and he just wants to get home to have it checked. So, we leave California, head to Yellowstone (adding 7-hours to our trip) and by now Michael is miserable. He’s sweating, having chills and he’s just not feeling well – at all.
I’ve read about sepsis in the past but I think nothing of it. I’m still thinking, we’re going to get home, the doctor will take care of it and we’ll laugh about it later. But, I do tell Michael to try a virtual doctor and see if he can get an antibiotic, and thankfully, he obliges. He takes a photo of the spot and mentions his previous bouts with MRSA and the doctor agrees he needs medicine.. She sends him in the same medication he’s been on for staph in the past and he takes it and loads up on Tylenol and Ibuprofen.
The next day, he’s still sick. Still taking the over-the-counter medications and just not acting like himself. The whole time, we’re just praying we can make it home. And, with COVID, we’re half terrified to go to an urgent care and mention his fever-like symptoms, so we wait and keep heading towards home. After a long day of driving and trying to stay awake, we end up in Fargo, North Dakota. I take the kids swimming and while we are there Michael decides he needs to go to the doctor. So, we look up an urgent care that accepts his insurance and decide to head there.
Its now 6:30 pm. I’m waiting in the car with three kids and Michael comes back out and tells me, the urgent care refused to see him without a $100 deposit, his co-pay is only $30 but since he was out-of-state that was their requirement. (this is illegal by the way) but, thankfully, rather than send him away, the lady sent him to an urgent care up the road and that’s when things really got interesting.
Michael goes into the urgent care, it’s now almost 7pm and the urgent care closes at 7:30, but thankfully, they still see him. As I am waiting in the car, Michael texts me and tells me, he has a fever, so they want to do bloodwork. Meanwhile, they drained his abscess and its feeling a whole lot better.
About a half hour later, I see the urgent care close. Michael is still inside and I am beginning to wonder, what’s going on? Another half an hour goes by and I’m told to come inside. They want to admit Michael, its serious and he is septic. Still wanting to make it home, we ask if there’s anyway we can rush home and take him to the hospital, but the doctor assures us his condition is serious and there’s no time to wait. Sepsis can cause organ failure and death and since Michael is already type 1 diabetic, he can’t afford to wait.
In my mind I already know that sepsis is dangerous. I’ve read about it. I’ve heard stories about loved ones dying from it but somewhere my mind cannot comprehend that my husband could die and I am stuck with three kids in a strange town, all on my own.
The Next 3.5 Days
The next few days after Michael got admitted into the hospital were blurs. I spent the majority of my time trying to figure out what to do with 3 kids and going in the hospital to see Michael.
And, Friday, if Michael being in the hospital wasn’t bad enough, the doctors decided to do surgery on his abscess. But since Michael had already ate that morning, they wouldn’t be able to do it until 7pm that evening. This meant that I would be at a hotel while Michael was in surgery!!
For those of you who don’t know Michael and I in person, we are very close. Like so close we NEVER leave each other. I mean it’s rare we’re not together, so this was really upsetting for both of us. Fortunately, everything went well with the surgery and the next day (Saturday) Michael was told he could possibly leave and we were ready!
So, Saturday morning I pack up the car, check out of the hotel and just pray we can go home. We wait around until about 1pm and the doctor finally comes in. When he says we can’t go home, I start bawling. I just can’t take it anymore. I hate being alone somewhere I don’t know. I hate driving in strange towns and I don’t want to book another hotel on my own.
But for some reason, this is the hand we are being dealt. I’m trying hard to trust in God and know we are there for a reason but by now, I’ve just had enough.
It’s 4 o’clock and I finally book a room and decide to take the kids back to the hotel. I’m struggling. I don’t want to leave, but I’m praying he gets out tomorrow.
Back at the hotel, I order the kids Dominos and we all take our showers and get everything packed for home. I put the kids to bed and Michael text me: he just did a mini Bible study with one of the nurses who came to his room! And, it’s than I begin to realize why we may have been stuck in this town. This man was searching for God and Michael was able to point him to some amazing resources!
A few hours later, Michael text me again: he’s not feeling good again and he’s afraid he may be stuck in the hospital another day. His blood pressure is on the low side and he’s just really sick.
Of course this just makes me worry even more and I wonder, if his sepsis was worse than I realized. I pray and decide to try to get some rest.
The next morning, Michael is feeling better and there’s hope – we may finally get to go home!!! And, by 9am, the doctor who I bawled my eyes out in front of tells us the good news – Michael is getting discharged!
A few hours later we’re finally back on the road and ready to rush back home!!! It’s been such a crazy setback, but one things for certain, God is Good!!! He put us in Fargo, North Dakota for a reason, maybe it was so Michael could witness Gods love to others, or maybe it was to appreciate our home more, but either way, God knows what is best for us, even when we can’t see it!
Do you have any crazy vacation stories?
Last Updated on 4 years ago by Crystal Carder