On Saturday, June 24th, Brodee (3.5) started showing signs of being ill.  In the afternoon, he started having diarrhea. He didn’t have any pain. I thought it was a tummy bug. On Monday, June 26th, his morning poop had red in it. I took a sample and a picture and brought him to urgent care that night. The doctor that saw him completely dismissed my concerns that something wasn’t right with my son. The doctor thought the bleeding was due to his rectum being so sore from having constant diarrhea for two days. I demanded he do a stool test. He finally agreed. 

Tuesday, June 27th, after Brodee’s morning BM, the toilet bowl was more red than brown. He also vomited. I called the urgent care and demanded the results from the stool sample. That’s when they told us to get him to children’s ER immediately. We were told that he had STEC, Shiga toxin-producing E.coli 0157:H7.  Brodee was hospitalized for two days, Tues June 27th through Thursday June 29th.  He probably should have stayed another day or two as he came home still having diarrhea and was clearly still contagious.  

During this same timeframe, my 8-year-old son Bentley had a sore throat for a week.  We actually had him scheduled to have his tonsils removed.  On Saturday, July 1st, two days after Brodee came home, Bentley woke up with a low-grade fever. I instantly thought he was getting strep. I took him to urgent care and had him tested for strep. He was negative but the doctor prescribed amoxicillin based on how red and swollen his tonsils looked. 

After we gave Bentley the amoxicillin, he experienced terrible stomach cramps and was in severe pain. We thought the antibiotic was too harsh.  On Tuesday, July 4th, we took him to a different urgent care.  This doctor prescribed a different antibiotic that would be gentler on his stomach. While waiting for the prescription at the pharmacy, Bentley vomited. Once back home, he started having diarrhea. I saw a streak of red blood and I knew at that moment that he had developed an E.coli 0157:H7 infection like Brodee. I brought him to children’s ER and he was admitted that evening.

On Thursday, July 6th, I started having bad stomach pains.  When I used the restroom, I noticed blood.  I spoke with the doctor and he advised me to leave the hospital and take care of myself.  My husband came to the hospital to stay with Bentley, and I went home. I had lots of diarrhea, cramps, pain, and fatigue. I treated mine with colloidal silver and after a few days, the symptoms seemed less severe.  I was able to return to the hospital and my husband Matt and I began rotating every few days.  We still had Brodee at home to care for also as he was still recovering from his STEC infection. 

Once Bentley was admitted to the hospital, he had bloody stools and urine every 30 minutes to an hour. He was extremely ill, but by Friday, July 7th, the day I left, he started eating small amounts of food and perked up some. I hoped he could come home on Saturday, but his daily blood test showed elevated kidney counts and the doctors were concerned Bentley could be at risk for developing Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).  We agreed for him to remain in the hospital one more day.

On Sunday, July 9th it was confirmed I had an E.coli 0157:H7 infection and Bentley had developed HUS. He became so very weak. On Monday, July 10th, he had surgery to place a PICC line and a peritoneal catheter in case he needed dialysis. He also received platelets during the surgery and over the next couple of weeks, 3 blood transfusions. 

At this point, Bentley was super sick and barely moved from the bed other than to use the bedside toilet. He stopped urinating so they had to give him LASIK to help him pee. Bentley was so ill he didn’t move or walk for over a week. We needed to start working with a physical therapist because he was so weak. 

On Tuesday, July 18th, after 15 days of being at children’s, Bentley came home.  He ended up having a dairy intolerance because his gut was so damaged. This past summer and fall, we very slowly started reintroducing dairy.  Fortunately, he has just been able to enjoy dairy again.

My oldest son Bentley and I still really struggle with the trauma. There is a lot of fear but it has also brought our family a lot closer to God.