Bamboo

I've gotten some great guidance from participating here. As I'm pretty new with having an autoimmune disorder (a few criteria short of Lupus), and hope to be able to repay everyone's willingness to help.

I've just had my second life-threatening infection in two months. In early March I had what I thought was a bladder infection, but quickly became very ill and was found to have a kidney infection- pretty serious since I lost one of them to cancer in October of '06. Then, late last Friday evening I began to feel chills. I went to bed, hoping a good night's sleep would be the cure. I was chilled and feverish the next day, Saturday, and got worse. I didn't tell my doctor's triage nurse that I had an immune disorder, so she gave me the "take two Tylenol and call me in the morning" routine. A few hours later my husband called the answering service and was told to bring me to the ER. I had full-blown sepsis by then and was in a pretty serious state. (My doctor-brother said, "Your husband saved your bacon.").

I was AMAZED at how serious it was, and so fast! I used to work in schools with physically handicapped kids, and later in middle schools- "viral soups" I called them- and I rarely got sick. I'm not used to thinking of myself as being sort of medically fragile, so I'm not sure how "crazy" to get with sanitation. I use Purell and try to keep my kitchen clean, but I've never had to be hospital-germfree.

My doctor advised me to wear a mask on airplanes and avoid being in public during flu outbreaks, etc. She told me at what point to call her or her coverage and what to say to make sure they understand how fast I can tank. What more should I do? Carry antibacterial wipes? Go through Purell like water? What about laundry?

Any guidance would be very welcome! I found out the four day hospital stay in March cost over $11,000 US. This one was also four days, but one of them was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). That's more than $3,000 by itself. I don't want to make a habit of this! My husband was very, very frightened. I can't do that to him if I can possibly help it.

Ann