5 Lessons I learned from my Life-threatening Illness (and 9 Day Hospital Stay)

I just had my follow up appointment with my Doctor after spending almost 9 full days in the hospital...

He told me, "Shane, you were 2-3 days from your organs failing... or worse.  Thank God you went to the ER when you did. This kills people. It could have killed you."

Here's what happened...

I came home a few weeks ago from a speaking event in Florida.

Over the next few days, I felt super tired all the time. 

You know the feeling, right?

Where you just can't "wake up" all day, or find much motivation to do anything?

At first I thought, "I'm probably just tired from traveling... I'll shake it off."

Then the fevers started...

101...

102...

103... That's when I got a little scared.

My brother sent me a text to check on me and I showed him the thermometer...

He was right, I needed to go to the hospital, but I had a problem...

We were in the middle of a snow storm and all the power at our house went out.

I decided to "tough it out" and stay with my family so we could deal with the freezing weather (which I know know could have been fatal). 

We packed up the 4x4 pickup truck, and had to move over to my office for a couple days while the power was being restored at home...

Then the fever got worse...

103.5...

104...

Finally my fever hit 105...

That's when things got scary.

No matter how much Tylenol or Ibuprofen I took, the fever would not go down.

My body started shaking violently. At times it was so bad I had to put a blanket between my top and bottom teeth to keep them from breaking!

I contacted my doctor and some close friends in the medical field, they all said the same thing "Get to the Emergency Room."

So I went.

The first day in the ER, I was there 9 hours...

The ER was packed with Covid patients, flu, and other sick folks.

I sat there in a full sweatsuit, my hood over my head, trying to stop shivering. 

A nurse came around to take vitals on everyone waiting. 

She got to me... my blood pressures was very low...

Then she checked my temperature...

Her eyes got huge and she said "Holy $%*#!" when she looked at the number and ran off to get a doctor...

They took me back and they tested me for Covid, flu, and viruses. 

Nothing, negative every test.

They took blood cultures and told me, "it will take 24 hours to get the results. You can stay here or go home and rest there, we'll call you as soon as we know something."

I went home...

That was the worst night being sick of my life.

Violent shaking, uncontrollable fever, sleeping on an old mattress we keep in the upstairs room of our office... kids in another room on air mattresses because our power was still out at home...

A nightmare.

Early the next morning I got a text from a great friend named Ben who worked in the emergency room...

"Shane, get back to the hospital quick. Bring a bag, you are going to be here a while. Hurry, it's serious."

Not good.

We packed up and went to the ER...

They took me back for another blood sample before being admitted...

My fever was high...

I was shaking...

And suddenly, i passed out unconscious... 

When I woke up, two nurses and a national guardsman were picking me up and putting me in a wheelchair...

I was scared, confused, groggy...

My wife Jocelyn was home with the kids, so my dad had come to the ER to sit with me...

But I'd passed out in another part of the emergency room... he didn't know yet.

I was alone.

The nurses calmed me down, prayed with me, got my dad and my things, and we called Jocelyn to come down quick.

Then the doctor came in and gave me the news...

Somehow, I'd gotten a staph infection in my bloodstream and it was all throughout my system.

This is a super serious illness.

Untreated, it is highly likely (I've read up to 80% fatal) to lead to death.

Even with treatment if you catch it too late, it can still kill you or cause major organ damage to your kidneys, liver, or even heart.

The next 9 days were a blur...

I was admitted to the hospital and started on powerful IV antibiotics.

Pneumonia set in on top of the infection, the fever stayed high for days, and a horrible pain started in my lower back...

I couldn't find a comfortable position, no matter how hard I tried.

It took me almost an entire night to get a room in the main hospital and get out of the ER. 

The hospital was completely full, but the seriousness of my condition bumped me to the front of the line...

There were no private rooms available, so I had a roommate.  An older guy named Murrell also battling an infection. This would turn out to be a huge blessing...

The next 4 days were filled with tests, scans, and waging war agains the infection in my body.

IV Antibiotics 24/7...

Blood draws daylight and dark...

MRI's, CT scans, and echocardiograms on every inch of my body to make sure the infection was not setting up abscesses or pooling in spots...

It was a dark time.

Again, I felt alone.

Covid rules limited visitation. 

My wife Jocelyn could only come during the day. I missed her so bad at night.

My kids were not allowed to visit me at all... I didn't see Isaac or Anna Jo for over a week... it was torture.

My kids are everything to me.

What made matters worse?

I got admitted on a Wednesday.

My daughter Anna Jo's 11th birthday was that Friday.

I had to miss it.

We got to open presents over FaceTime, but it wasn't the same.

That was the first time I'd ever missed one of my kid's birthdays. 

That hurt.

But i was stuck in the hospital until the Staph was cleared...

I spent most of my time watching, hoping, praying and waiting for test results to say the meds were working.

I got super depressed.

I was so worried. What if the meds didn't work? Or the staph gets to my heart or kidneys? What's life going to look like after this?

Nights were sleepless as the pain in my back intensified, and I was constantly woken up by people drawing blood, or changing my medication drips.

I cried a lot at night.

Then one morning, I woke up around 5 or 6 am...

I couldn't go back to sleep, so I just stared out the window.

A few minutes later, the sky lit up and I watched the sunrise over a hill in the distance.

I took this picture...

Since my kids were little, we've always played a game...

Whenever we see the sunrise (on the way to school, vacation, whenever), I always ask them "What does the sunrise mean?"

And I taught them to say, "God gave us another day on this Earth."

And then I reply, "Yes he did. Let's be grateful, and not waste it!'

As I watched the Sun come up that morning, my life verse came to me.

Romans 12:12: Rejoice in hope, be patient in affliction, persevere in prayer.

Hope...

Patience...

Prayer...

That sunrise was the turning point...

God had given ME another day, I was not going to waste it. 

I found my patience in that moment in my affliction.

I painfully stood up, got out of bed, went over to the window and prayed.

I realized during that prayer I wouldn't be able to face this challenge by myself with willpower and a positive attitude...

This situation was too big for me to power through on my own...

I realized this problem wasn't like a business challenge... or a relationship challenge... or a personal goal...

This illness was too big to conquer alone...

So, in that moment,  I had to turn outward for help...

First, I prayed to God. 

God used that time of stillness to work on me, and  I leaned on him in that moment.  I opened myself to his will for my life. I prayed for my healing, and to see my kids again, and for protection over my body and to clean my blood.

I leaned on the nurses, the doctors, the people cleaning my room, and all the staff at the hospital. They took such great care of me, stayed with me,  prayed with me... And I just turned myself over to their care.

I leaned on my wife, my team, my employees, to keep the business moving forward. We didn't miss a beat. They all rose to the occasion in a mighty way.

I opened myself off to my online community, my business partners, and friends.  Hundreds of people prayed for me... on meetings, on Facebook Posts and in our groups, via texts, phone calls, and anyway they could reach out...

It was overwhelming, and that outpouring of community made all the difference in my recovery...

And I leaned on my roommate Murrell. 

We became buddies, watched football games together, talked about going home, checked on each other when the other had not talked for a while, prayed together...

We got to leave the hospital the same day.  God is good.

Friends, family, and faith all around me pulled me through.

The test started coming back with positive results...

The scans found no abscesses...

The ultrasounds, no blood clots....

The most important test, on my heart valves, found no evidence the staph had damaged my heart...

Then one night, on a zoom prayer meeting with my friends and strategic business partners from LifeSurge (the company I speak for), my colleagues prayed for God to give the doctors and nurses the wisdom to help me, for the medicine to clean every drop of my blood from the staph infection...

The next day... my blood culture came back clear of bacteria. 

Hallelujah!

My body was wrecked, and the journey far from over...

But I was alive, and going to be OK... no permanent damage...

It took four more days of 24/7 Antibiotics and countless tests before we started talking about coming home...

The doctors were perplexed how I got the infection in the first place, and were trying to find an answer to prevent future recurrence.

About 5% of cases of Staph in the blood are a mystery...

No wounds, no known entry point, no abscesses...

No clue on how it started.

We finally had to accept we may never know how the infections began...

And turned our attention to keeping it clear.

I had to have a PICC line inserted before leaving the hospital... (kind of like a semi-permanent IV).

For the next 6 weeks, I've got to take IV antibiotics through the PICC line to keep the staph away and full clear my system...

It's a long drawn out process I have to do 3 times a day... every 8 hours...

But a small price to pay to be healthy and at home with the people I love!

God is good.

All the time. 

And I'm so thankful that I'm on the other side of this particular valley...

-

I've been home now for about a week or so...

And I've been thinking about this ordeal a lot...

About the messages that God downloaded to me in my time in the hospital and since...

About the priorities he has highlighted in my life...

Here are some of my early thoughts reflecting on my life threatening experience...

1) Health is wealth

This illness was a fluke, random, crazy bad infection. But it really highlighted to me how important health is for a great life.

We often only realize this after we lose our health in some way.

This illness has taught me i need to be more proactive about my health. I bet my recovery would have been easier if I had went into this situation healthier.

I want to weigh less, move more, eat better, and take care of this one precious body that God has given me to navigate this life.  

No more hustle over health. 

Success means nothing if you can't enjoy it because you are in a hospital bed!

2) Family and community are everything.

There was a moment in the hospital where i was so tired i couldn't even watch TV. 

In that tear-filled moment, all i could think about was my wife, my son, my daughter, and the people I loved.

When I needed hope, I didn't turn to my bank account, or my to-do list, or my vision board...

I turned to my friends, my church, and my community.

I turned to my PEOPLE.

God did not put us on this earth to be alone. He gave us the gift of family and fellowship so we could have help up when we fall down.

I will be tripling down on service and relationships going forward. In our darkest moments, the people in our life matter most.

Having that network of support requires intention and investment.

Relationships matter most. Protect them. Nurture them. 

3) Thank God for the flexibility of online business

I've said it before, but I just don't know how anyone could go through this kind of situation with the flexibility of online business and remote work.

In our old jobs, Jocelyn would have been at work during visiting hours, and had no time to see me any day of the week.

We are batched up ahead weeks, months, in our podcasts (and have a strong rain / rerun plan if things get backed up).

Emails still went out, podcasts launched, sales and renewals were made.

My ONLINE business kept making money every day I was in the hospital.  It worked when I couldn't.

We had choices, flexibility, and freedom the entire situation.

That's why we are so passionate about this business model.

It's not for the job itself, it's for the life it let's us live... in good times and in bad!

We want this for you and your family too!

4) God has a mission for us all, and every day you wake up, he's saying "I'm not done with you yet. Get to work."

I'll send another email about the rest of my thoughts, but I want to share this now:

Every day you wake up, every breath you take, is God saying "GET UP AND GO! I have a plan for you! I have a mission for you! Strive! Drive! Fight for that mission! Keep moving forward!"

I believe God's mission for me is to help Christian men and women start online businesses...

So they can take control of their income...

Take total control of their time by working for themselves...

Which will give them total control of their life...

Make an impact for the Kingdom...

Change their family's future...

And leave an inheritance to their children's children!

God clearly spoke to me in that hospital room. 

"Shane, your mission... is to inspire other people to start THEIR mission, and use the internet to reach people unto the ends of the Earth!"

I'm STILL here to CAST my stone out upon the waters and cause many ripples.

I'm here to help YOU find freedom and and YOUR mission...

And if you are reading this, make no mistake: God gave you THIS day, and wants you to accept his mission for your life too!  

I'm here to help you get started when you are ready to step into God's mission for your life!

Because YOU are the mission HE gave to ME.

5) There is no tomorrow. Only today.

When you are faced with the real possibility of no tomorrow, you realize how precious today really is.

I was healthy one day, then not the next. That fast.

I was attacking life, and then I was fighting for my life.

If the sun is shining, if you are awake and reading this email...

Then you have TODAY!

Today is the day the Lord has made... let us REJOICE and be glad in it y'all!

Procrastination has no place in our life anymore. I declare war on "tomorrow" and claim "TODAY" as the day of my salvation, my action, my chance... the day of action, the day of effort, the day of stop putting things off, the day of checking off the boxes and getting stuff DONE...

And you should too...

Your life can change in an instant (mine did), and unfortunately, it doesn't always have a happy ending or a second chance or a clear bill of health at the end of the story...

You may not have tomorrow to chase your dream...

Or call that loved one...

Or to start your online business...

You only have TODAY.

Did YOU see the Sunrise?

What does that mean?

It means God gave you another day...

Don't waste it...

No more "tomorrows"

Get out there...

Take action...

And do whatever it takes to Flip Your Life.

Shane Sams

Flipped Lifestyle

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PS: A special thank you to everyone out there who prayed for me and my family, left us a messages on social media, or sent us cards and emails while I was sick. You helped us through the storm, and we will never forget the love you sent our way in a hard time.  We love you, and are so grateful for you, and will use this gift of life and time to serve you and your family!