Coping With Pericarditis

I went to the hospital on Monday with what I thought was a pulled muscle in my chest - docs ran all of the “normal” tests and found nothing, filled me with ibuprofen and released me the next day… By Friday, I was being rushed by ambulance to the hospital - crashed twice on the way there - emts were able to keep me alive until we arrived. By the time we reached the hospital, none of my organs were functioning. I was on total life support and the docs told my family I wouldn’t live until Sunday.

Finally, an ultrasound was done on my heart and “idiopathic purulent pericarditis” was discovered - the fluid around my heart was infected and had incresed to the level that my heart couldn’t beat. The docs put a window in the tissue around my heart and after being in a coma 17 days on complete life support, I woke up.

After a 30 day stay in the hospital with some rehabilitation, here I am-16 months later. I still have some neurapathy (loss of feeling) in my lower legs, but have married a wonderful man who has two great children!! So, the fairytale can come true!! Just don’t give up!!