My Lemeirres

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On Thursday, January 17th, 2014 I left work early feeling sickly with a sore throat. Given the time of year, I assumed that I was coming down with a cold or tonsilitis. I went to the local Urgent Care on Friday, was tested for Mono, Strep and the flu, and was sent home with pain medication and told to rest and drink fluids, and that I should feel better soon. By Saturday, I was facing body aches, fever, rigors, and overall exhaustion. I was taking OTC meds to help break the fever every few hours, but each time, it came back with a vengeance. My sore throat continued to get worse and swallowing anything was nearly impossible due to discomfort. That Sunday, I managed to eat half of a bowl of soup and thought that I was on the upswing before the downfall truly began. I was sitting in my parents living room when my mother had made a joke about my feet being so cold that my toes were blue in color. This was not uncommon, as I typically have cold feet. Sunday evening was not looking any better. At this point, I was just exhausted from being achy and managed to knock myself out with medication and sleep through the night. When I woke the next day, I knew something just was not right. The left side of my neck seemed to be swelling and was now noticed from the outside of my body. My father took me back in to Urgent Care (the same one that sent me home with Percocet and told me "Good Luck"). 

I was eventually called back and placed in a room. The nurse who came in to take my vitals had a concerned look on her face when she walked in. Now, I assumed it was because I hadn't showered, was wearing sweat pants, a hoody, and my hair looked like hell, but that was soon answered. She checked my vitals (BP, Sp02, HR, Temp) and left the room right after she had her readings. Although I don't remember much after this next part, I have been able to piece together some of the gaps in my memory with medical records and input from family and friends.

The doctor walked into the room where I was sitting slumped over on the exam table, took a quick look at my vitals, and was placing an IV into the inferior part of my right wrist. Even I knew that this was not a good thing because it's not a typical IV site. I remember something along the lines of him saying that they were calling for an ambulance and that I was being taken to the hospital, which coincidentally was 1500ft across the road. I was swiftly loaded into the ambulance and rushed across the street. When I arrived in the ED, the nurses were scrambling around, trying to figure out what measures to take. *This is where my memory has lapsed big time*

What I do remember:

-My mother made a nurse cry because he was refusing to give me a warm blanket even though I was clearly freezing.

-The lights were extremely bright

-It took what felt like forever for me to be taken to a room

When I "woke up" in my hospital room, my parents were sitting there staring at me like they were waiting for popcorn to finish. I was later told that I had essentially coded once I was brought up to the floor. Multiple doctors and nurses were in the room as I was unresponsive, I was ashen in color, and a crash cart had been brought in. I believe there was some discussion of intubating me and moving me to the ICU at that point, but my stats rose to a level of stability and I was able to keep from all of that fun from happening. 

Through the next couple of days, several image scans were conducted. It was an 8 month pregnant resident from Illinois that figured out what was going on. The swelling on the left side of my neck was actually a bacteria clot that had formed in my L-IJ (jugular vein). She identified the condition as Lemeirre's Syndrome. Prior to this point all ideas of concern were proposed: Cancer, DIC, etc. My lungs were beginning to shut down and it was unclear as to why until a MRI was done of my chest cavity. My left lung was at 10% function due to the bacteria breaking off from the clot and traveling into my lungs. A disease specialist was brought in from Vidant Medical Center and he started me on a round of strong antibiotics and this was supposed to help take care of the issue. It did not.

 

...to be continued