Madison Grogan
July 8, 2025 is the day my life was altered forever. I was 18 years old and already dealing with severe complications of hEDS [hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome]. Those complications culminated in me needing a PICC line while recovering from port-a-cath surgery. (Sepsis and Invasive Devices)
The early morning of July 8th I woke up to a swollen, red and hot arm in which my PICC dwelled. Of course having the catheter you are informed to immediately proceed to the ED if those symptoms present. Unfortunately the first doctor only did a Venus duplex ultrasound and missed a large DVT and didn’t take any blood work or begin anticoagulant therapy. Despite speaking with the medical director due to concerns, I was discharged.
As the day progressed, I began to experience palpitations, rapid breathing, increased pain, severe headaches and confusion. Late in the evening my sister stopped in my room and told me “you look like garbage.” Due to her blunt comment, I staggered down the hall and grabbed a thermometer. It read 102. I barely could get to my mother who basically grabbed me, got in the car, and drove back to the hospital.
Immediately upon arrival a “code sepsis” was called and multiple IV attempts were made. By that point my vessels were too constricted to stick and the doctor proceeded with a IJ central line. They pumped me with antibiotics, fluids, and took cultures. In order to determine the source of the infection they performed a CT of my arm, neck and chest. They located a large blood clot spanning both the peripheral and deep veins of the arm ,as well as a massive abscess in the tissue surrounding the line and clot. From that information, the source was confirmed to be septic thrombophlebitis.
By removing the PICC, the abscess drained and I didn’t require surgery for that. By this point I had been in the ED between 6-8 hours and my cultures were already growing gram negative bacteria. Obviously, I was hemodynamically unstable and was admitted to the ICU where I was met by infectious disease and the vascular surgery team. ID informed me the cultures had isolated MSSA.
June 10th I developed bilateral pneumonia and bilateral pleural effusions both were caused by the MSSA. I required supplemental oxygen and continued the antibiotics. June 14 I had a TEE and removal of the port-a-cath, all of which was uncomplicated and successful. From that point I improved quite considerably and was cleared for the floor. Before leaving, a tunneled IJ catheter was placed in order to complete the IV antibiotics as well as my prior home IV therapy.
July 20 I was discharged from the hospital and rejoined my family at home. I completed the IV antibiotics in August and was deemed infection free and able to resume my life, for that momentous occasion I chose to get a cake and celebrate my life, because I easily could have died or been left with significantly worse long term issues. The clot was also successfully treated and I transitioned to long-term prophylactic blood thinners because I’ll need a central line for life. I now take infection prevention related to my central line incredibly seriously as well as education for friends and family about how to spot and prevent sepsis.
Sepsis and Invasive Devices