Stories About

Acute Illness

How Almost Dying From Sepsis Changed My Relationship With Shaving

After a cut shaving my legs turned septic, I learned to accept my body hair, and stop caring what other people think.
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Thank You. Goodbye. I Love You.

What living through the same condition that killed my friend taught me about making every second of my life count.
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What Happens When A Whole Country Goes Anti-Vax

In Samoa, nurse Andrea Chapman fights to get vaccines to a population decimated by measles.
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How Do We Stop The Superbugs?

After saving her husband's life from an antibiotic-resistant infection, Steffanie Strathdee is trying to bring phage therapy to the rest of the world.
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When A Parent’s Medical Intuition Is Right

Doctors can be quick to dismiss the gut instincts of a caregiver, but there's a lot more to parent's intuition than meets the eye, as these stories show.
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Sepsis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, And Me

Jennifer Hohman thought she was bitten by a flea. It was a tick. Next thing she knew, she was fighting for her life.
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The Rusty Nail That Almost Killed Me

Three years ago, Michael Porter went into a coma and almost died. Now with one less arm, he wants to educate the public about the dangers of sepsis.
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A Brain Infection Destroyed My Marriage, But Made Me A Writer

For two years, I lost much of my ability to communicate. I clawed it back, but not before realizing my husband and I didn't have much to say to each other.
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Bruce Willis, A Brain Hemorrhage, and Me

After a stroke put me in the hospital, I turned to the films of Bruce Willis to teach me how to Live Free and Die Hard.
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How Visions of Vietnam Helped Me Survive Paralysis

Changing my attitude and dreaming of another land helped me win a fight I almost lost against Guillain-Barré Syndrome.
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How My Own Experience With Illness Helped Me Help My Grandma Die

My own battle with Guillain-Barré, a rare autoimmune disorder, gave me the experience and authority to be there for my grandmother at the end of her life.
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