In 2018, after a trip to California, Katy Grainger, 58, noticed a strange bump in one of her fingers as she returned to her home in Kauai, Hawaii. She didn't pay much attention to it, but it was a sign of something more grim to come. Doctors had to amputate her lower limbs and seven of her fingertips due to septic shock.
Videos by Wide Open Country
"I had been traveling in California, and I had flown home to the Hawaiian Islands where I live on the small island of Kawaii," said Grainger in one of her TikTok videos. She uses the platform to tell her story and raise awareness about sepsis. "I got off the plane and I noticed this infection," she continued. "It was a little bit purple and there was fluid oozing from it."
The mother-of-two didn't think much of it and thought it was a minor infection. She just picked up an antibiotic on the way home. Doctors even tested her and said she didn't show worrying signs at the time. He got home and she fell asleep. "I was really sleepy, so I went to bed early that night, the next morning I woke up, took a cool shower and just realized I was still really sleepy," recalls Grainger, according to the Daily Mail.
Her sleepiness seemed weird to her and even texted her husband, sending a photo of the infection. When she got up to go to the bathroom, she fell and broke her ankle, spraining the other. Struggling to get back to bed, she had to crawl back as she was unable to walk. Grainger contacted a friend who came and took her to the hospital, getting airlifted to Honolulu.
A Shocking Discovery
Once she arrived at the Honolulu trauma center, doctors tested her kidneys given the color of her hands and feet. They had to sedate and intubate Grainger as a result in an attempt to raise her blood pressure. When her husband arrived, doctors told him that she would probably lose some of her limbs. She was in septic shock.
According to Cleveland Clinic, septic shock is the last stage of sepsis. Sepsis is the extreme reaction of our body to an infection, lowering blood pressure and can lead to organ failure. Symptoms include lightheadedness, heart palpitations, confusion, and, in this case, skin rash.
Grainger's fingertips were black and had to be removed. "They were able to save my hands - I only lost my fingertips - but we weren't able to save my feet," she said. Doctors ended up surgically removing seven of her fingertips and amputating both of her lower legs. She also suffered from post-ICU delirium as a result, spending six weeks in the hospital.
Katy Grainger and her husband moved to Seattle to seek better medical care and Grainger became an advocate for sepsis, raising awareness in social media. She also joined the board of directors of Sepsis Alliance and volunteered as a lead advocate for the Amputee Coalition. Grainger even wrote a memoir covering Discovering Your Grit, telling her story and experience.
