JJ's story   — anonymous

My son Javier a.k.a. "JJ" had symptoms, but I wasn't really sure what he had. However, I knew deep in my heart that something was wrong with him. "JJ" was about 5 weeks old when GSB attacked his little body. He was really whiny, would whimper, and grunt. So, I thought that maybe he was constipated. JJ was also running a fever and would not nurse. That was a sure sign to me that he was not feeling well. So I took him into Children's Hospital. As soon as I took him to the emergency room the nurse noticed the whimpering, and grabbed him out of his car seat immediately. She took him back to see the doctor right away. I didn't even finish registering him! The first step was to figure out what was wrong with him. So JJ had a spinal tap and blood work drawn and he was put on antibiotics right away. The doctors tested for everything and slowly but surely were starting to rule out things. I am thankful that they ruled out meningitis. However a few days later it was diagnosed as Group Strep B. Of course my son was admitted to the hospital that day. It was a course of 8 days that we stayed. The Group Strep B seeded in his hip joint, causing fluid to build up. So he needed surgery to relieve the hip of the fluid and pressure. He was not moving his leg...it was limp and tender to the touch. The GBS also caused sepsis and spread into his bones. Test after test, it was so hard to see my little son going thru this. It was very heartbreaking. My son came home after 8 days in the hospital, but needed antibiotics every 6 hours thru a PICC line in his arm. So I was his nurse also. I gave him the medicine every 6 hours for 6 weeks, and guess what? He got the PICC line out a few days ago. I am so happy and grateful that my son recovered. I still am a little nervous that it might come back, and scared about what would happen if it wasn't all gone...but I am sure the doctors wouldn't have taken it out if there were signs of GBS still. At first I thought this must not be a common illness, but I am glad I found this website to read other stories, and to get the word out on this horrible illness. I wish the best of luck to all the parents and babies!!! Attached you will find a picture of my little JJ. It was taken a few days before his PICC line was removed!!