This WDW vacation coming in October will truely be a blessing...

[beattyfamily]

I usually don't post much in the Community board but thought this would be the right place.

We're a family of 4 with 2 DD's 6 and 2 1/2. We've gone to WDW 3 times now and this October will be our 4th. I believe now, after the past 2 weeks, it will be our most memorable ever, and a blessing too!

Our DD 2 1/2 somehow contracted the E. Coli virus and was VERY ill. I took her in to her PCP 4 days into the runs and vomiting. They thought it was just a stomach virus. Then I started to get concerned a couple days later when her eyes got puffy and she stopped peeing and when she did it was very dark. I did a quick search on the Internet and came up with KIDNEY FAILURE!! My DD only has one kidney so that really scared me!!

My PCP told me to take her to the ER for fear she was dehydrated. This was last Thursday at 3:00 p.m. that we arrived at the ER. It took them to about 8:30 p.m. to tell me it wasn't dehydration or just a stomach virus. She had E. Coli and it's now caused her to develop HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome). Only 5% of children who get E. Coli develop HUS. The toxins from the E. Coli get in the blood stream and attack your blood and it also attacks your kidneys so this was terrible terrible news.

They arranged an ambulance to take us to Boston's Children's Hospital right away. We were there by 9:30 and stayed in the ER till 1:00 p.m. the next day when they finally had a room for her. She was going down hill, loosing red blood cells and platelites. They also said there definitely was damage to her kidney. By now she's got 2 IV's and a cathider to see how much urine she is producing. There is no treatment for this but to wait and watch and hope for the best. All the hospital did was restrict her drinking and put her on a low sodium diet as she was retaining water because her kidney wasn't working right. She could only drink however much she peed so she was begging for a drink Thursday night and Friday. It was torture for us to watch her go through this.

She had black and blues from bursting blood vessels. She was so tired. They were giving her high blood pressure medicine as needed and she needed it for the first 2 days. Then they also gave her Folic Acid and calcium for her blood. They took blood from her every 2 hours at first then every 6 hours then down to once a day by Sunday, and on Sunday they took the catheder out. She could actually put pajamas on (Ariel, of course) and she was so happy not to have the "straw" for pee! Starting this past Monday her blood tests started to show that her kidney was getting better and so was her blood. The worst was over. No need for a transfusion or dialysis! If her blood went up again Tuesday (yesterday) she could come home and recouperate at home in her own bed with her own toys. Well, thanks to MANY prayers, she came home last night!!!

Throught this whole ordeal, she was such a good patient. She would thank the nurses and doctors when they were done with what they were doing even if it hurt her. I was so proud of her!

She will still be pale and weak for about a month, is still on the calcium and folic acid and will need follow up visits/blood work but she's on the road to recovery. No one knows the statistics of recurring problems in the future of HUS survivors but her doctors seem to think she'll be fine.

We're not sure how she got this but we visited a petting zoo six days before she started being sick and we also had hamburg helper 2 days before (I'm sure I cooked it fully but it could be cross contamination). I believe it's one of those 2. I will certainly not be visiting a petting zoo or be having hamburg any time soon!!!!

My sister took my 6 year old DD this week for us and she's coming home Saturday. I can't wait to have my family all together again! What a blessing, indeed.

I just wanted to share my happy ending with fellow Disney lovers and let you know how greatful I really am for our next WDW vacation with our 2 DD's who have been great troopers throughout this ordeal!

My little angel sure could use some pixie dust and prayers for a full recovery!

Thanks!

[bfeller]

So glad to hear that everything is going well now. Have a great trip in October.

[Minnesota!]

wow! I am so glad that things turned out alright. Definitely an angel child..

[2disneywego]

Happy endings are the best!!
May you have a wonderful family vacation in October!!!:)

[helenabear]

That sounds like one very scary thing to have happen to your DD. I am so glad that she is okay now. You definitely do deserve that vacation! I hope you all enjoy it!

[ChiTownZee]

Oh how scary! I'm so glad that she is OK!!! She sounds like a real trooper, I'm sure you are very proud. Have a wonderful time at WDW!!!
On a side note, maybe you should call the zoo, and let them know, they might have had other cases.

[addicted_to_WDW]

What an ordeal! I'm so glad your little angel will be ok. :)

[SuiteDisney]

I'm so happy to hear that your DD will be okay. I know you'll have a wonderful trip. (((hugs)))

[Kitty 34]

Wow!! What an ordeal you've been thru!!! I can see where your planned WDW trip will definetly be a blessing!:D

[tc]

Oh my, it sounds like it was so scary. And what a trooper for such a little one. I am so glad she's home. Prayers and pd sent from out west for her continued recovery. Hope you all have a magical time in WDW in October.

[kathymc]

OMG! how scary - so glad that she is ok and will hopefully have a quick recovery.
have a wonderful trip - you all deserve it!

[imgoingtodisney]

Here's hoping for a speedy recovery. Poor thing. How are you holding up?

[ead79]

What a terrible thing for your family to go through. Your DD is certainly in my prayers for a total recovery. Enjoy your well-deserved WDW trip!

[CamColt]

Oh My! You definitely deserve a vacation! So glad all turned out for the best. Take care!

[Patrick IL.]

What a terrible ordeal! I will keep your little one in my prayers for a total recovery. Please enjoy your trip and come and visit us over here more often:D

[beattyfamily]

Thanks for all the well wishes!

I took one of your advice and emailed the Farm we went to and I CC'd a Boston newspaper. Even if I don't hear from them, maybe I'll wake them up and they'll make the necessary changes to make the farm safer for little children. We'll see.

I'm holding up alright. It was really tough in the ER and the first couple of days in the hospital with the fear of kidney failure, but now that she's home and in high spirits again and on the road to recovery, I haven't been happier. My husband and I are just much more cautious now with her and more thankful than ever for our children!

I would NEVER have thought this could happen to us so please be VERY careful with raw meat at home and at petting zoos! I'm also going to run out and buy lots of disinfectant lotions!!

Thanks again!

[janette]

How very scary, I do hope your trip is the most magical ever.

[Sonya]

I'm very glad your DD is doing good. Have a great trip!

[Saffron]

Oh gosh! That is scary! This trip will definitely be a blessing. :D I will keep your daughter in my prayers, for a full and speedy recovery. Please check in with us and let us know how she's doing. :D :D

[Beanie]

Wow...how scary for your family! I am so glad that she is going to be okay...I hope you have a wonderful time at Disney!!! :)

[nativetxn]

Bless her little heart. How terrifying this must have been for all of you.

I'm so glad she is doing better and is home again. I just said a quick prayer that your baby recovers quickly and 100%.

Your trip to WDW will be extra magical now.

Katholyn

[JulesMom]

I am so glad she is recovering well!

Pixie Dust on the way~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

This will truely be a wonderful trip!:D

[Big V]

Thank heavens everything turned out all right! Have a great trip!:D

[tnkrbell]

WOW!! Now that is scarey!!! You sure do deserve to have a great family vacation!!!!! Hope she continues feeling better!!!
(By the way Im from Wrentham originally :))

[JESW]

Glad to hear that all is well! Your poor little one! It's so hard to watch your children suffer.

When DD was 8 months old she was diagnosed with kidney reflux grade 5 on both sides. She had to go through various tests and was so scared! To make a long story short, she outgrew it (after over a year on antibiotics) and now she is a happy & personable 3 & 1/2 year old.

A trip to Disney is jsut the thing for family time. Hope you have a WONDERFUL time! We will be there in November.

Jill

(hello neighbor...we are up the road (495!) from you in Mendon!)

[zurgswife]

Glad to hear your little one has made it through the ordeal ok....

I vote for the petting zoo....I littlegirl in our area got extrememly sick at a local dairy petting zoo....was your local health department contacted to make sure that everything is OK at the zoo...because if your child could contract it so could another...

[meeshi]

Wow. That is very scary! I am so glad your little girl is better and you can enjoy your vacation. Have a wonderful time at WDW!:)

[Dan Murphy]

What a terrifying experience, bf!!! So happy that she is better and over the hump. Enjoy that trip, a real trip of celebration and thanks. {{Hugs}} for you all and a prayer for her continued good health and full recovery. :sunny:

[s&k'smom]

Hi BeatyFamily. On the resorts thread there is a "Who's going in October" thread. You'll be able to meet up with lots of us who are going then. I hope you have a wonderful trip and lots of PD to your little angel.

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Could this be from the current massive ground beef recall? The timeline seems about right:eek: !
Hope you all have a great trip and your little girl is completely well!:)

[BibbidiBobbidiBOO]

Could this be from the current massive ground beef recall? The timeline seems about right:eek: !
Hope you all have a great trip and your little girl is completely well!:)

[ecs38]

Pixie dust and prayers to your DD and your family.

I know how wonderful it is to be able to bring your baby home.
In May, my 5 yr old DD was transferred to Children's Hospital in Boston for a viral infection. It is a terrifying experience. Now you would never know my DD had been ill. Here's wishing your DD also has a full and speedy recovery. Take care.

[Boots]

{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}} How scary! Glad to hear that she is doing much better. I will be keeping her in my prayers for a full recovery!

[Disney Doll]

What a terrifying ordeal!!!!!! Thank God she is on the mend!!!!

[Planogirl]

There was just a huge beef recall. I think that this may be a lot more suspect than the zoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/fc?tmpl=fc&cid=34&in=health&cat=food_safety

I'm glad that your little one bounced back so well but what a nightmare!

[beattyfamily]

Yes, my husband and I have seen the ground beef recall which is around the time I would have bought the ground beef (at Stop & Shop) but I don't know if MA is included in this recall. Time will tell.

We'll probably never know for sure whether it was the zoo or the ground beef in the Hamburger Helper (although no one else got sick). Unfortunately, I'll NEVER feel the same way about petting zoos or ground beef again. I'll probably end up being over protective till she's over this ordeal and a few years older too.

She's got an up hill battle still. Since we've been home, we've been to the ER twice for blood work and a urine test (she has a UTI from the cathider) and she's going again this Wednesday and next Wednesday for follow ups and more blood work.

She's still pale, weak and cranky. She still has puffy eyes in the mornings as I guess she still has excess fluids from her kidney being damaged. It's quite scary. I just pray they caught all of her problems and that she's completely on the mend.

I really just wanted to make other parents aware of the dangers of ground hamburg and zoos and how deadly they can be for a toddler. This syndrome, HUS, is rare but very serious and can be deadly. Most people have never even heard of it. It's quite a new desease. They only named it in 1955.

Her big sister (6) is finally coming home from her aunt's house so our family will be reunited again today, yeah!!!

I pray that I never hear of this happening to anyone else in my lifetime as it's absolutely horrific.:(

Thanks again for all the well wishes and pixie dust, she sure does need it!

Thank you.

[MaryAnnDVC]

Oh my, what a terrifying experience! I hope your DD continues to do well...she and your whole family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

My DD went through a lot of health problems last fall with no diagnosis for a while, and we thought we were going to have to cancel our trip to WDW. We were able to go, and boy, did we ever go with a whole new perspective and sense of gratitude (post-9/11, as well)...I would get teary there, just taking it all in, unlike anything I had experienced on prior trips. Here's hoping you'll have a wonderful trip as well! :D

We'll be seeing a doctor at Boston Children's Hospital soon...I hope it's as wonderful as we've been hearing.

[#1 Disney Fan]

Oh my! :( What a horriffic experience for your precious little daughter and the rest of your family to have to go through. She sounds like she's been handling it so bravely. Sending truckloads of magical sparkling Disney pixie dust to your daughter in hopes that she feels completely better really soon.

[Lynn CC]

What great news that your daughter is out of the woods!

I'll keep her in my prayers, in the meantime ENJOY your trip to Disney in Oct. together!

I'm so happy for all of you that she pulled through that, what a strong little girl:)

[MaryAnnDVC]

Got to thinking about your DD today, and was hoping for an update. I hope she is continuing well on her road to recovery. :)

[Kteacher]

So glad to hear everything worked out. Have a great time in WDW!

[beattyfamily]

Thanks for thinking of Julia.

She's doing much better than we she first came home from the hospital on July 16. She was cranky, tired and very pale. And she also got a urinary track infection from the cathedar so she had to be on Cypro (Anthrax antibiotic!) for 7 days.

She's had blood work twice since she left the hospital to continue to monitor her and make sure she's still improving. Although her blood and urine aren't "normal", she's getting better each time they do the blood work.

She'll go again for blood work and blood pressure in about a week and a half, then once a month, then once a year.

She'll need to be monitored once a year for probably the rest of her life as this desease is so new to the medical field that they don't know the long-term affects of it. They cannot guarantee that she won't have kidney problems or high blood pressure in the future. But the doctor at Children's said all indications are that she'll be fine.

As far as how she got this. We'll probably never know for sure.

It was either the petting zoo or the hamburger.

I got a call from the town Health Department yesterday and the day before with lots of questions. They will do an investigation. Whenever someone gets E Coli, they investigate. They are going to give the petting zoo a call as some of the stuff I told them about the zoo seemed gross to them and they are going to notify the zoo to stop. For example, they had this middle section with lounge chairs for the parents, two baby goats, and lots of chickens all running around with kids. Then they also had 2 sprinklers that were shaped like flowers for the kids to cool off in. Kids, including mine, were running through it. Some kids took off their shoes and ALL their clothes! Now this is an area with animals running around too! What about the feces on the ground? Mixed with a sprinkler and kids getting naked? That's disguesting!

And I told them all about the hamburger and where I got it (Stop & Shop) and I'm sure they'll do some investigating there too.

So that's the latest. I thank you all for your concern, kind works, and prayers and pixie dust! It has truely helped Julia, I'm sure. It could have been SO much worse. Most kids who get HUS usually end up in total kidney failure and need dialysis and a transfusion. So we were truely blessed!:sunny: