Lilly's Story   — Sarah Holen, UT, USA

My daughter Lillian was diagnosed with Strep B which resulted in necrotizing fasciitis. She was four weeks old. When I was pregnant, I had Strep B. However, I was not aware what it meant and my doctor did not even inform me that I had it. My baby was born via c-section, so they did not give me the antibiotics. When Lilly was four weeks old, she started crying. I could not console her, so I took her to our pediatrician. The doctor could not see anything wrong, but advised me to take her to Primary Children's Medical Center if she continued to cry. A few hours later, I decided to take her. Thankfully, we only lived 15 minutes away from this amazing hospital. I took her into the emergency room and was seen within minutes. The nurse asked me about a tiny red spot on her cheek. I told her it was not there earlier. The nurses watched the spot and within an hour it had tripled in size. My little baby then had an ultra sound, MRI, and cat scan-all within a few hours. They also did a spinal tap. The doctor came in and told me my daughter had necrotizing fasciitis, but they were not certain if it was caused from Strep B or Strep A. She would need immediate surgery. My husband and I broke down in the Emergency Room. She was so tiny, only eight pounds, and they wanted us to sign a waiver giving the "okay" for surgery. Within a few hours she was admitted to the PICU. A few hours after that, she went into surgery. The Nose, Throat and Ear surgeon informed us that after her surgery, she might need several more. He did not know if our little baby was going to live or die. They immediately put her on several antibiotics to find which one would kill the Strep. They also found out soon after that she had Strep B. After two weeks in the PICU, two weeks in the hospital, 3 operations, several hours in wound care, multiple MRI's, feeding tubes, IV's, etc, my little Lilly was released. We continued homecare for another month which meant antibiotics thru a pic line and in-home wound care. Today, Lilly is a healthy, vivacious two year old. She has a scar under her chin that reminds her mom and dad of this scary time. However, no one else even notices it. Thank you for trying to educate people about Strep B. If I had known more about it and told the doctor to give me the antibiotic, this may never have happened. If there is anything I can do to help your cause, please let me know. Lilly and I would love to help others.