Diary of a Crohn’s Flare: Sepsis Redux

On Tuesday night of our vacation, I began to feel very crummy again.  I went to bed early and woke up at least 4 times due to abdominal pain.  Each time I woke up, I took ½ of one of my pain pills (for a total of 2 through the night for a total of 10 of these for the period of time of Tuesday night through Friday morning).  Despite the pain medication, I was only about to get 3 or so hours of sleep and I felt very cold all through the night.  By morning, I felt generally yucky, nauseated, had the classic elevated heart rate, and respiration.  I started taking my temperature and discovered that I had a fever too.

Through the morning my fever gradually rose to 101.8 F and (although it was not known to me at the time) my wife was calling my doctor and scrambling to find a hospital in the area to take me in.  Luckily by 11 am to noon, my fever broke and I started feeling not really better but not as bad.  Through the day I felt very worn out and wasn’t able to eat.

The general sense of malaise continue through Thursday but by Friday I felt good enough to go for a short visit to the beach.  I wasn’t able to eat very much on Friday either.

Saturday was our drive home and I continue feeling not very well.  My wife drove most of the way.  I occasionally had excruciating abdominal cramps with pain rising up to level 8 or so for very short periods of time.  I didn’t take pain medications though because I was worried I might need to drive.  During this time, only fruit & peppermint flavored candies didn’t make me feel even more nauseated, so that’s what I ate during the drive.

Once again, I have to strongly recommend that if you're having abdominal issues, try peppermint candies with peppermint oils in them.  They really help sooth the muscles in your abdominal tract and reduce nausea and cramping.

By Sunday, I felt good enough to eat ½ of a waffle (although it really lost its appeal by that point).  I was able to drive for almost 5 hours on Sunday and I was able to eat a hamburger by the end of the day though, that was a major victory!

Later we figured that in addition to the sepsis from the abscess, I may have been fighting the Norovirus (several of my kids experienced some symptoms that indicated a norovirus exposure too).  It took them several days to completely recover their appetites and resume normal bowel movements.