Battling E. coli, One Girl's Story

Sept. 21, 2006 — -- Alaina Dressman, a 12-year-old, straight-A student in Union, Ky., ate a sandwich on Sept. 5 that changed her life.

"Alaina loves spinach on her sandwiches," said her mother, Donna Dressman.

After stopping for dinner at a small restaurant with her mother, Alaina piled spinach on her sandwich as she normally did. She was returning from dance practice.

For the next 3½ days, it was life as usual.

Then, Alaina complained of a bellyache and diarrhea, and told her mom that she wasn't feeling well.

Alaina never slept that night, going to the bathroom every 20 minutes to 40 minutes.

On the morning of Sept. 10, Alaina noticed blood in her diarrhea.

The pains in her belly had gone from a dull aching to severe cramping. The usually strong Alaina was starting to cry from the pain.

"She was doubled over from cramping," Dressman said. "She was tearing up, and that was unusual for her. That's when I thought, 'This isn't right.'"

The morning of Sept. 11, Alaina's pediatrician advised her and her mother how to manage diarrhea and to keep Alaina well hydrated. The symptoms didn't improve, though.

"Around 3:30 to 4:00 in the afternoon I really started to get concerned."

Dressman called the pediatrician again, who asked for a stool sample.

But the lab said it was closing for the day and would not be able to take the sample until the morning.

Dressman didn't want to wait another day, because her daughter's condition was deteriorating.

She called the pediatrician's office again. This time, the office told the mother and daughter to go to the emergency room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital -- a 40-minute drive from their home.

They arrived in the emergency room at around 9 p.m.

The doctors at Cincinnati Children's ran lab tests, took X-rays, and ran cultures of her diarrhea.

Every test turned up negative. The doctors found none of the problems they were looking for.

Alaina seemed to look and feel better. The emergency room doctor decided to send her home.