Vim & Vigor - Fall 2018 - Community Healthcare - 55

muscle pain was so bad I could barely
walk. If it weren't for the muscle pain, I
never would have come in."
He visited the Emergency department at St. Mary Medical Center, where
doctors ran multiple tests to check for
pneumonia and septic shock. Sepsis
can occur when infections produce an
immune response in the bloodstream
that triggers dangerous inflammation
throughout the organs and tissues.
Testing revealed Edgington had
both conditions.
"He was a pretty sick man," says
Edgington's physician, B. Chhabra, MD,
family care practitioner on staff at
St. Mary Medical Center. "We admitted
him and he got IV fluids. We monitored
his blood sugars very carefully. We
treated him very aggressively with two
IV antibiotics and he responded very well
and subsequently was sent home three
days later. Three days is a pretty good
response time."
Edgington also has diabetes and high
blood pressure, factors that Chhabra
says can heighten the condition's risks.

WEBSITE

Help Close to Home
If you are experiencing symptoms of pneumonia or sepsis, visit
one of Community Healthcare System's Immediate Care locations for an examination. Or visit the Emergency department at
Community Hospital in Munster, St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago
or St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. For a complete list of locations,
visit us online at comhs.org/locations.

"Early detection is the key," Chhabra
says. "Early detection and aggressive
treatment can make a substantive difference. The complication and mortality rates are pretty high if you do
not come up with a diagnosis as soon
as possible."
Lisa Leckrone, Quality Assurance
director with St. Mary Medical Center,
says the hospital's ED physicians and
caregivers are rigorously trained to
identify and treat sepsis. The hospital's
compliance rate with current sepsis protocols far exceeds the state average of

39 percent and the national average of
44 percent, she says.
"We've had months where we've
been at 100 percent," Leckrone says.
"The sepsis protocols consist of specific
interactions and interventions that we
do to save someone's life. And we are
saving lives."
Edgington spent more than a week
recovering at home.
"I had a lot of medication to take,
along with breathing treatments to help
my lungs get back in shape again," he
says. "It took eight or nine days from the
time I left the hospital for me to be able
to walk up and down a set of stairs without having to stop and catch my breath."
Edgington says that looking back
to when he was first given antibiotics at the urgent care, he realizes he
might not be here today if he didn't
go to St. Mary Medical Center the very
next day.
"I'm grateful to the staff for their diligence in diagnosing and treating what
was wrong with me," he says. ■

St. Mary Medical Center physicians and other
members of the care team gather for a photo
on National Sepsis Awareness Day last year.

FALL 2018

http://www.comhs.org/locations

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