A three day hospital stay was not in Heather’s plans. As a business owner and mother, Heather’s life was already busy and full. But when a fever and a rash appeared on Heather’s body, she knew she needed high-quality care close to home.
It was the end of October. Heather had a fever and some sniffles. In the chance that she had COVID-19 she was isolating, away from her family. A few days went by and instead of getting better, she was getting worse. A rash had appeared on her back and nothing was making it go away.
With her husband out of town, she reached out to her friend who said, “I’m taking you to the hospital.” Once her friend arrive at her home in Bow, Heather asked to be taken to Island Hospital.
When she arrived in the Emergency Room (ED), Heather was examined by a doctor who saw the seriousness of her rash and began working to discover what kind of infection had caused her body to respond that way. She needed answers and treatment fast!
Heather, a mother and business owner on the move, never thought she’d be admitted to the hospital. “You go to the ED thinking you’ll get an IV and sent home. Then it turns out you’re admitted for three days,” which is exactly what happened.
Heather’s doctors knew that the infection causing her fever and rash were going to need to be treated by completely flushing her system with a heavy schedule of antibiotics and that she’d need to be admitted for that treatment course.
It was a lot of information for her to take in at once. Heather had never had been sick like this before and considered herself to be a particularly healthy person. She had no idea how the antibiotics would affect her, but luckily for her, the ED doctors went above and beyond to explain it to her. “I knew what to expect during my hospital stay and even when I went home,” she said reflecting on her care.
Within 12 hours her fever broke and within twenty-four hours her rash began to go away. Her doctors explained how the antibiotics would flush all of the bad bacteria in her body as well as all of the good bacteria. With the additional help of the nurses, Heather knew what she needed to do to make a full recovery after returning home.
Thanks to the thorough work of the ED team and the bedside care during Heather’s hospital stay, Heather has made a full recovery, returning to managing her several local businesses and her family.