A brave 9 year old girl is recovering at the IWK hospital after having surgery to remove her limbs. Allyssa Sippley came down with what her parents thought was a cold, and soon was diagnosed to be type-A strep throat, a rare strain of bacteria, and within days it led to septic shock, which caused blood to clot in her limbs.
Doctors amputated both arms above the elbow, one leg completely, and the other leg below the knee. Alyssa'a story is all over the news, and money is being raised to help out with expenses.
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/826955577327846/
Donate: http://www.gofundme.com/alyssasippley
Infection with Group A Strep (GAS) can result in a range of illnesses:
Severe, sometimes life-threatening GAS disease may occur when these bacteria get into parts of the body where bacteria usually are not found, such as the blood, muscle, or the lungs. These infections are called "invasive GAS disease." Two of the most severe, but least common, forms of invasive GAS disease are necrotizing fasciitis and streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). Necrotizing fasciitis (occasionally described by the media as "the flesh-eating bacteria") rapidly destroys muscles, fat, and skin tissue. STSS causes blood pressure to drop rapidly and organs (e.g., kidney, liver, lungs) to fail. STSS is not the same as the staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome that has been associated with tampon usage. Less severe invasive illnesses caused by GAS include cellulitis and pneumonia. In the U.S, about 25% of patients with necrotizing fasciitis due to GAS and approximately 40% with STSS die. About 10%-15% of patients with any form of invasive group A streptococcal disease die.
Alyssa'a sister added a great description of her sister on the web site that is helping collect donations.
People wanted more information and a good description about my little sister so I decided I would write it. Where do I even start...My little sister is the most energetic stubborn little 9 year old I have ever seen she wears hearing aids ever since she was little but, nothing will ever get in her way because she has and always will find a way around it, she doesn't care what people think she acts the way she wants to and loves to just let all her energy out and it always seemed like it never ran out.
And did she ever love driving her big sister crazy! She liked to barge in my room at any time and just talk none stop, that's something that I honestly truly miss. And one day she will be back doing it again I’m sure!
She loved talking to people and she might have been shy at times but once she got comfortable she could talk to you for hours and would get you to play games with her. She has quite the character and everybody always loved her uniqueness.
About almost two months ago she had caught what we thought was a little stomach flu. She got sick for the first day and had a little soar throat and the normal flu symptoms. After a couple of days it looked like she was getting better. But we were wrong. She didn't say anything that she was in pain and she acted like she was better she didn't seemed to have any problems at all. Until one morning at 4am mom woke up and saw bruises on her feet and a little bit on her legs. So my parents brought her up right away and when they got to the hospital not even 50 minutes after they left, the doctor said that she was already going through shock.
The first two days was absolute hell and we had no clue what caused any of it. Her blood had started clotting causing her legs and hands to lose circulation and it clotted so quickly that her feet were completely dead within a few hours. Her limbs were getting worse and her kidneys were not working. Her liver was half dead her heart and lungs couldn't go on their own and her brain was slowing down. That night we though we were going to lose her she had only 5% chance to live...
But then during that night they did blood transfusions and it started to heal her. Ever since that day she can now breath on her own her heart is strong and her liver is regenerating slowly and her kidneys are fighting hard. She had to get her legs and arms amputated because it was dead tissue and the infection was so strong in it they had to take it out before she got severely sick again.
So both of her arms are amputated from the elbow and one of her leg is amputated below the knee and the other one is up to the hip. They are still cleaning out her blood and working Hard at getting her better. These surgeries went well and she is healing slowly but good. She is so strong and stubborn this will not stop her in her road. It's a long road ahead of us but I have faith in her that she will be as energetic one day as she always was.
A certain type of strep throat caused all this. Don't ever ignore the signs guys because it can happen so quickly you'll never suspect it. I have read up on strep throat and in some cases if it's not treaded within a week this can happen to you. It's more common between infants and young adults. And it can affect anybody. Just because you don't have your tonsils for example does not mean your safe from it. Thank you everybody for your support and time it's greatly appreciated.
-Caitlin Sippley