A 59-year-old Scott woman named Tracy de Jongh Eglin, living in the Netherlands, suffered from flu-like symptoms on January 20th. On January 25th, her condition deteriorated. She was developing septic shock. Her husband realized that she was collapsing, and he rushed her to the hospital.
The doctors identified a blackish mass on her left buttock and diagnosed it as flesh-eating bacteria, which is fatal. The doctors informed the family to be ready to accept even the worst outcome, as the probability of survival following the condition is very low, about 10%. The doctors then operated on her to debride all infected tissue and muscles, which led to the development of a 20-cm-deep wound. She also lost 70 pounds of weight. The patient was in a coma for nearly nine days. Later, when she regained consciousness, she shifted between disorientation and hallucinations.
As a result of the deep wound on her bottom, she had suffered undeniably excruciating pain and mental agony. The patient in her media interview reported that the nurses would spend nearly two hours every day dressing her wound and that she woke up with a catheter, a stoma, and a deep wound. She spent almost six weeks in the hospital. Her urinary catheter was taken out after eight months, and she had to depend on a colostomy bag for her life. After her six weeks at the hospital, she was transferred to a rehabilitation center, where she underwent physiotherapy, psychotherapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. The patient recounts that she couldn’t speak Dutch after she woke up from her coma. She had also noted that her voice had changed. She even had to learn to walk as she lost muscles involved in walking due to bacteria.
She added that the traumatic event had changed her perspective on life and that she developed an even stronger sense of love for her husband, who was her moral support and whose presence of mind helped her survive the immense ordeal. She also expressed her gratitude to her doctors, who diagnosed and treated her.
(Input from various media sources)
(Rehash/MBT Desk)
