A mother-of-three became seriously ill and was forced to learn to walk again, after what doctors believed was long Covid was actually a life-threatening flesh-eating disease that had devastated her organs.
Sam Lewis, 38, from Bournemouth, spent six months in intensive care while recovering from an operation to remove half of his pancreas, which had been destroyed by the infection.
The children’s entertainer began to feel unwell for the first time in 2021, noticing chest pains one morning while she was preparing her children for school.
When the worrying feeling persisted, she visited the doctor, who diagnosed costochondritis (inflammation of the breastbone) and sent her home with painkillers.
The pills only helped temporarily and the pain returned with a vengeance in March 2022, prompting another visit to the GP.
This time, his symptoms were “ignored” while Covid.
But that same month he could no longer bear the pain, forcing Lewis to go to the hospital.
Doctors performed a CT scan which revealed that a gallstone was blocking his bile duct.
Sam Lewis believed he had minor swelling in his chest, which doctors thought was caused by long Covid, until he ended up fighting for his life in hospital.
The mother of three said her family was called to her hospital bedside and asked to say her final goodbyes.
Gallstones are small stones, usually made of cholesterol, that form in the gallbladder. In most cases, they do not cause any symptoms and do not need treatment.
However, occasionally, they can become lodged in positions that cause them to block vital structures such as the bile duct, a small canal that connects some of the organs of the digestive system.
Ms Lewis was hospitalized to treat the blockage, but her health quickly deteriorated.
He had developed pancreatitis, a fatal condition in which the pancreas becomes extremely inflamed and causes agonizing pain.
Further tests revealed that the situation was even more serious; His condition had become necrotizing, meaning the organ tissue is so damaged that it begins to die.
In most cases, this causes bacteria to infect the tissue and begin to “eat away” at it.
Speaking of the ordeal, he said: ‘Pancreatitis is bad and it can kill you.
The children’s entertainer spent six months in the hospital recovering from major surgery that affected her ability to walk.
“It went from acute to necrotizing overnight.
‘My whole body swelled… She looked like she was eight months pregnant. I couldn’t move my ankles.’
Doctors took her to intensive care, while her family was told she might not make it.
She said: ‘At one point I was minutes away from dying.
‘My family arrived. It was heartbreaking. I couldn’t breathe properly. “It was so scary.”
Miraculously she recovered, but after two months in Bournemouth Hospital she developed sepsis and had to be rushed to Southampton Hospital.
Doctors made the decision to put Sam in an induced coma and operated on her to remove the dead tissue and half of her pancreas.
A few days later, Sam woke up with a drainage bag hanging from his abdomen, connected to a feeding tube, and found he couldn’t walk.
Happier times: Lewis and his three children enjoy a family trip to DisneyLand Paris before he falls ill.
Mrs Lewis must now eat a very limited diet to protect her pancreas from further damage.
In total, she spent six months in the hospital while doctors helped her gradually recover.
She was finally discharged from the hospital in August 2022, but was left with chronic pancreatitis, where the pancreas is permanently damaged by inflammation.
This means he now has to follow a very strict diet, which means he has to sacrifice some of his favorite foods, such as chips and cakes.
You need to follow a diet low in fat and carbohydrates, as foods can aggravate your condition and cause you to need more hospital treatment.
“It’s something I have to live with,” Mrs. Lewis said. I loved my food.
‘I loved going out. Now I refrain from going anywhere in case I have an attack.
‘I can’t even eat chips, chocolate, fish and chips. I can’t go to the bakery with fast food or soft drinks.
It took her a year to walk properly again and Mrs Lewis still has not been able to return to work.
But he hopes to be able to enjoy as much as he can without compromising his health this Christmas. “I’m ready to really enjoy it,” she said.