Everybody complains about Facebook, but I've been able to reconnect with many of the people I went to high school with. Michelle is one of those people. Her story is one that needs to be told, so I feel incredibly blessed that she is allowing me to share it with you all. I had heard about TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome), but I never realized the deadly consequences of it. I'm pretty sure that most of us women have used a tampon once in our lives, so this is a story that needs to be read by all! Michelle's story in her own words . . . .
My story starts on June 23rd, 2007. I was at a Dance Nationals in Michigan. I had my period and I would change my tampoon every 2-3 hours. I had my old kind, but since I was going to a Dance Nationals I thought that I’d try a Sports kind. Within days of using the sports tampon, I started feeling sick to my stomach, fever, and just tired. We had all thought I had the flu, so we didn’t think anything of it. I don’t remember the ride home or how I even drove from my friend’s house to my house. On June 25th, I had to call into work to tell that I couldn’t make it in. They said that I was delirious and not myself. I had slept the entire day and don’t remember anyone coming in or out of my room or even trying to get me to eat something. When I woke up on the 26th, I was feeling so much better. I was ready to head into work when I started throwing up. My husband said that we are going to the hospital to get an IV in. They started taking my stats which my blood pressure was 70/40 and I had 104.6 temp, but I looked fine. The next thing I knew they had me in the ER with doctors and nurses flying all around, putting IVs in me, trying to find out what was wrong as my husband was calling my mom. That was the last thing that I remembered.
My mom had kept a journal of everything that happened while I was in the hospital. So the next parts are from her journal as well as from what my Mom and John (Michelle's husband) have told me…
About an hour later, my mom had arrived and joined John in the waiting room. My mom and husband were waiting when the doctor had come out, sat by them, and said that he doesn’t think that I’ll make it through the night and that he’ll keep me in his prayers. My husband and mom were so in shock. They were calling all the family members to get them in to say their goodbyes to me. My brothers were trying to drive up and fly in. The doctors didn’t know what I had — they thought Rocky Mountain Fever or a bug bite. My co-workers said I was on my period which made them look at it at a different way. I was in the ICU unit at one hospital when the new on call doctor came up to my husband and my mom and said that they need to transfer me to his other hospital he works at. They have a dialysis machine and that I need to get on it right now. At this point, my organs were starting to shut down and my body was starting to blow up. They transferred me to the other hospital via ambulance, which I don’t remember at all. At this hospital, I was in the ICU unit there for a week in a coma and with a breathing tube. I was on dialysis once a day and getting blood taking from me. My feet were starting to turn black and my hands were swelling up. The doctors said it was because my organs were shutting down and the hands and feet are the last things that they worry about. The first thing is to get my organs going. I was also bleeding from my eyes. They really didn’t know how serious this was till they saw me in the ICU. My family all came around and prayed for me. I was on so many prayers circles within my family, friends, dance community and their friends and families. My Grandma had a little prayer service for me in her own home. They didn’t want her to come and see me. They knew it would break her heart. My family had told me that I looked like a Sumo Wrestler. I had gained over 80 pounds from all the medicine. The doctor told my family about this $5,000 medicine that would help me fight this infection that was taking over my body. My family didn’t care about the money, they just wanted me get better. Within a couple of days of that medicine, my temp broke (on my mother’s birthday) and they felt I was starting to turn around.
It wasn’t until July 3rd, 2007 that I woke up. I remember my cousin Barb talking to me and telling me to wake up. She kept saying that if I wake up that they will take the breathing tube out. I finally woke up on July 3rd, 2007. I didn’t even realize how long I was out. I remembered looking at the date and saying that it was my niece’s birthday. They were so surprised that I remembered that from being in a coma for a week.
The one thing that I do remember is seeing my feet bandaged up. I was freaking out. I thought I would never walk again or better yet, dance again. Dancing had been my life since I was a little girl and the thought of never being able to do that again, I wanted to die. The let me see my feet and I just started to cry. They were all black, bloody, and swollen. They said that I could have lost my feet completely, but they were getting way better than they thought. For the next 12 days, they would come in and change the bandages as well as get me to start walking again. It was a long 12 days…there were some ups and downs and a huge struggle with learning how to do things again. Simple things like writing your name, getting dressed, walking, feeding yourself, folding clothes, etc… People were coming to see me and I didn’t know what I looked like until the day I saw my reflection in the mirror. It looked like I had a mask on my face. My eyes were sunken in and I had broken some blood vessels in my eyes. My hair was so thin and I just looked like someone else. It was heartbroken for me to see how this young person could have almost lost her life all from a Tampon…a new kind of tampon.
The day that I got to go home was July 15th, 2007. It was the first time that I got to walk out of the hospital, assisted with a cane, instead of being taken in by a gurney. My husband had to start changing the bandages, I couldn’t do much housework, I was completely helpless, and if you know who I am, that’s so not what I like to feel like. I usually am the one helping everyone and now I was the one that needed the help. When I went home, they wanted me to keep going to the doctor once a week till they were sure I was 100%. Every time I went to the doctor they would change their status on my feet. First it was the whole foot then just the toes, then just my big toes and finally it was the tip of my big toes. I had proven them all wrong. I came back saying that I was going to walk, dance and even leap again.
As days turned into weeks that turned into months, I had started losing my hair, my feet were starting to get a little better but I still had to use a cane and they had put me on mood stabilizers because they didn’t want me to have PTSD. I had to retrain my feet and started to wear hats. I was tempted to shave my hair off but was afraid it wouldn’t come back in. I started to be able to wear sneakers. Dance shoes were no longer in my bag. With all the damage to my feet, I figured I would never be able to wear dance shoes again. About 9 months after the whole incident, my hair grew back and came in super curly and I was back to my old personality. The only thing that was missing was the fact that I wasn’t able to leap, jump or dance like I used to. At least I still had both of my feet and I was able to still choreograph with the students knowing that I could only do things with just a gesture here or there. I had a huge support system from my family, friends and dance family. They were the ones that kept me going and kept me on the path of proving the doctors wrong.
About a year later, I actually got on a pair of tap shoes, even if it was only on for a few minutes. Then I started walking more, trying to build up my muscle back. By the start of the new dance season, I actually did my first leap in class. I stopped the class and about died. I never thought that I would be able to do that again. I say the power of prayer, love and God were the things that helped me get to that goal.
To this day, I no longer wear tampons. My infectious Doctor said that I could but it could only be for 5 minutes at a time or it could trigger it again. I don’t ever want to go through that again. I tell all my family members, friends and students that they really need to pay attention to the boxes, especially the labels. The one box of Sports tampons that I have, have different ingredients than the ones out now. If we are in class, I excuse them to change their tampon. I don’t want anyone else have to go through what I went through.
It has been five years since the last time that I used a tampon. I’m still teaching and starting to adapt to the way my feet are. I’m going to chiropractors whom are working miracles on them as well as my back. I also had a daughter in 2010, something that my husband and I didn’t think that we were able to have. She has been a miracle to us and I want to be the one to educate her and any other young woman out there. I’m so blessed to be here and to have a wonderful, loving support system. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of what happened and how my life could have gone. I’m truly blessed for all the 15 doctors I had as well as the ones that are still helping me now. I can’t thank everyone enough for being there for me, praying for me and helping my family when we needed you the most.
The pictures (at the beginning of this post) are the phases in my life…the first one is 6 months before…the next two are when I had TSS and didn't know it…the next two are of the hair loss as well as the cane that kids decorated for me…the next two are how the curls came in…the say the hair loss and the curls are the result from the shock to my body. And the last ones are of something that I never dreamed of having. We thought we couldn't have children…but God had a different plan. 🙂
Thank you again Michelle for letting me tell your story. Now, for all you readers out there, here are the possible signs and symptoms of toxic shock syndrome:
A sudden high fever
Low blood pressure (hypotension)
Vomiting or diarrhea
A rash resembling a sunburn, particularly on your palms and soles
Confusion
Muscle aches
Redness of your eyes, mouth and throat
Seizures
Headaches
Please take Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS) seriously, and if you experience any of these symptoms while menstruating and using a tampon, please call your doctor! It could save your life!
That is just so scary and sad. 🙁 But I am glad that you were able to have a baby!
Michelle I want to thank you for allowing Lisa to post your story. It’s heartbreaking to read what you had to endure, and I’m so thankful you made it through. I have a very close friend who went through TSS when we were 17, and we all made a pact to stay away from tampons. I don’t regret that decision one bit, and I thank you for putting your story out there.
OMG, that's so scary! I had no idea that it could be that serious.
Never used a tampon since warnings about TSS back in the 90's it should be more widely written/talked about women should be aware of all facts before making informed decisions concerning their bodies/ Well done both of you for sharing this.
This is so scary. I am so glad to hear that your friend is okay now.
I really feel for you. My daughter came down with Toxic Shock Syndrome when she was about 16. We were VERY lucky in that the doctor at our family clinic pretty much nailed it within about 10 minutes. He had just read about a case of TSS in a journal just a few weeks or months before so he sort of had it in the forefront of possibilities when my daughter came in with a 104 fever. We were on our way to the hospital where we had antibiotics flowing in her within an hour. Made a huge difference to have 2 doctors and their staff all be on top of what the symptoms were indicating. I really hope Drs. will pay closer attention to possible causes of various symptons like those.
Thanks Lisa for posting this! I really hope that women will take TSS more seriously. I can't thank you all enough for the kind post and the encouraging words. Thanks again Lisa for everything! 🙂
WOW! I feel like TSS is something we always hear about, but until today, I have never heard of a woman actually getting it. Thank you for sharing Michelle's story and helping to spread awareness!
Oh. My. Goodness. I've always read the warning on the box and thought "yeah, yeah, whatever." 🙁
Wow!!! This is so scary and makes me think twice about tampons. My mom never let us wear them as teenagers because there was a girl locally that died from TSS. I am so glad that Michelle turned out ok.
Wow! This is so scary. I'm sorry you went through all this, but happy that you overcame TSS. I didn't realize TSS could do so much damage to the body. This will make me think twice about using a tampon again.
That's so scary! I'm glad she's okay. I have heard about TSS from the pamphlets in the box but had never heard of anyone really having it- I had no idea how serious it is. Thank you for sharing this story.
How scary I am so glad she is okay. I have heard of this but never really understood the symptoms, thank you so much for sharing your story.
I am so sorry she went through all this, but happy that you overcame TSS. Thanks for sharing this story.
This is a great post and one that will serve me well in the future.
OH my gosh! So scary!! Thank you for sharing about this scary time!
My 20 year old daughter died of TSS in 2010. It was a horrible death! I have a group of 62 recent TSS victims if you’d like to join. Most of the girls had never met anyone else with TSS. Several of the members are parents of girls that died from TSS. Feel free to contact me on facebook and I will put you into the group. https://www.facebook.com/LuckyPoodle
What an incredible story. Good for you sharing it. And you’re right. Facebook does a lot of good. Its not all about selfies and brags–it is a great tool to help people. Wow. This story will stick with me.
Glad we are able to share important info like this on social media. Thank you
Thanks for helping raise awareness.
Thank you for sharing a story that can have such impact for others!
Sad story but I appreciate her sharing it!
So scary!
wow, thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing to bring awareness.
Wow, definitely a story that needs to be shared.
Thank you for sharing your story, Michelle. I’ve known two women who had TSS. Its really scary and quite terrifying. im so glad you have had such a recovery and are well now to share you story with others!
How scary!
Such an amazing story! I’ve never truly understood what TSS was and what happened to your body if you got it. I hope her story gets spread far and wide.
Great information and needs to be shared. Blessings to her.
Oh my, this is scary. So sorry that you had to go through it.
Such a scary situation. I knew a girl who had this. Thanks for sharing!
Very scary. Every woman should read this.
Thank you for sharing her story
Wow! I’ve heard that this can happen but never “met” anyone who it’s actually happened too. So scary…
thanks for sharing this with me Randa very one should read this story its hard to believe and am so very happy it had an awesome ending love G
Thanks for sharing this. I have heard about TSS but until today I haven’t ever heard of someone actually getting it. I’m so glad that Michelle is okay now.
This is so scary! Thank you for using your blog to share her story!
This scares me! I’m glad you were able to share her story though.
I remember when they first talked about TSS years ago. It is a very important disease and people need to be aware. Thanks for sharing Michelle’s story to others. I am happy she has recovered.
Yikes! Scary story!
That is just so scary. So glad you shared this.
WOW! That’s scary. Thanks for sharing – that is something I never would have thought about.
So scary! I knew this happened to a girl I went to high school with but had no idea how damaging it can be!
Thank you for sharing your story! I had always read the labels on my tampons and heard about TSS but never knew just how dangerous it could be.
My college roommate got toxic shock syndrome and it totally freaked me out. Thankfully she was okay and I’m so glad Michelle is too. This is important information to share. Thanks for getting it out there.
Oh, I heard about Toxic Shock Syndrome. So scary!
Wow, I’ve heard about this, it always scared the mess out of me.
ohhh scary!!! 🙁
I am so sorry for your friend!
I had an old friend that had TSS, it’s definitely scary stuff.
So scary. I’m glad she’s ok
I have heard of this happening but never knew anyone that knew anyone that had this! I’m going to check it out.
Wow, I never realized the Toxic Shock Syndrome could do that to a person! I so glad to hear that she is doing ok now, what a scary experience!
oh my goodness, I have read about this before on the tampon packaging but thought it was rare that it really happened! I thought they were just being over cautious! Thank you for sharing your story!
This is so scary! I haven’t used a tampon or disposable pad in about 4 years, and I never plan to again!
Oh my God!I dont believe it.I am so glad I dont use them that often.From now on I am not using tampons ever.
and thank you so much for sharing your friends story.
Terribly frightening, and not your first thought when you get sick.
WOW, reading this now. It is nuts.
OMGoodness, I’m Just Glad She Made It So Sorry For Your Friend!!! XOXO
I’ve never heard of TSS before, so I’m going to learn more about it. I wonder what it is in the tampons that caused it. I’m sorry your friend had to go through all that pain and I’m glad she is feeling much better and is educating people about it!
I had TSS hemolitic Strep A in the 1976 before they knew what it was. Doctors continue to say it is a true MIRACLE survived. Even today there is a 50% chance of dying when the correct meds and treatments are provided.
It isn’t anything in the tampons that causes TSS. It is strep or staph infection that breeds and multiplies in the moist environment. Yes, it is a horrific. It is the sickest I’ve been in my entire life.
How scary!!
Thank you for sharing your story. TSS is really scary stuff. My mom had it when I was around six years old… I really only remember being taken to stay with a friend of hers for nearly a month, and being told that my mom was in the hospital. Years later she told me what it was, and only years after that did I start to look into it more. I haven’t used tampons in YEARS. Also, I think it is very important, as much as possible, to use unbleached pads.
So important to share. We need to be aware!
Bless you! You have such a big heart and I can’t thank you enough for getting this story out. I have been waiting for years to tell my story and you let me do that. Thank you so much! And thank you everyone for reading this. Please share with all your loved ones…especially the younger women out there…and read your labels and be safe! Thanks so much Lisa!
I’m recovering from TSS right now. Thank you for sharing your story. So many stories online. I’m doing my part to bring awareness and share stories. Ladies, be aware of the symptoms. I never dreamed I would ever get TSS. But I did. Thankful to be a survivor!!!
This story brings back many memories Lisa, I was diagnosed with TSS in December 2012. I don’t remember much of first 2 weeks,spent 5 weeks in hospital I was given 30’/, chance of surviving. My skin came off my hands and feet, mt hair fell out, my nails also came off both hands and feet. I couldn’t put on shoes for 5 months. I finally returned to work 6 months later. 4 years on and I still have kidney and liver problems and I have never been the same, my family have noticed I become confused and say I’m off with the fairies allot of the time. They believe I had probably infected the tampon before inserting it as I had my period when I became ill.
Sorry Michelle not Lisa
So pleased that Michelle survived, so sorry that other young women have died. Just to answer Kelly Barwick, what causes TSS is the RAYON in the tampon. To say that it’s a hygiene problem is not correct and tends to blame the user not the tampon makers (who market a product that is dangerous and isn’t even sterilised). Stick together ladies and keep spreading the word.