Thankful People: Cape Girardeau family feels doubly blessed after medical scare

"If you believe in miracles, we experienced two," Amy Jones tells people when talking about the toxic form of E. coli that struck the oldest and youngest of her three sons.

The Jones household is a busy one. Amy is a real estate agent; her husband, Gerry, is managing member of RiverWest Partners. Their sons, Jed, 8, William, 5, and John Henry, nearly 2, keep the household percolating with activity. Amy and Gerry were in the midst of the complicated process of adopting a Guatemalan girl when Jed fell ill on the first Friday in May.

After a weekend his mother called "horrible," Jed was so much worse by Monday morning, Gerry rushed him to Southeast Missouri Hospital. Amy found a sitter for the younger boys and raced to join her husband.

"As far as things like the big things we have to be thankful for, the first is that the [Southeast Missouri Hospital] emergency room doctor handled it perfectly. He put Jed on fluids and took those blood and stool samples. That doesn't always happen," Amy Jones said.

Tests showed Jed had a toxic form of E. coli 0157:H7. Unchecked, the bacteria can turn to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which attacks the kidneys, leading to renal failure and a form of anemia. Those who survive HUS often face a lifetime of kidney dialysis and medical complications.

Doctors sent Jed to St. Louis Children's Hospital for specialized treatment, where three other children were being treated for HUS. Some were already on dialysis and when Jed was diagnosed with HUS, it looked like he might join them, if he lived.

"That's when people were scared," Amy Jones said, her voice fading with the memory.

Gerry's mother cut short a trip through Italy and flew to St. Louis. Amy's parents rented a hotel room near the hospital. Scott and Ashley Lipke, whose infant daughter Kate endured a series of surgeries after her 2007 birth, visited and offered support. Amy wondered briefly if helping the Lipkes through their medical crisis had been some kind of basic training for her own. Prayer chains started and messages sent by e-mail circled the globe. A St. Louis cousin of Gerry's showed up with food and her pastor. Gerry's RiverWest partners took over his duties and told him not to even think about work, he said.

Then Amy's sister called to say John Henry had symptoms identical to Jed's. John Henry recovered in a hospital room next to his brother's, without getting HUS. Jed struggled to beat HUS during the remainder of a two-week hospital stay.

The medical team included Dr. Phillip Tarr, director of Washington University medical school's pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition department. Amy still chokes up over the moment Tarr poked his head into Jed's hospital room to say, "Your son has a zero chance of dying."

At an August checkup, the doctor who predicted Jed would need a year of follow-up care said he had recovered and wouldn't need dialysis.

"The doctors were practically high-fiving each other," Amy recalled. Next week, the Joneses will add their adopted daughter from Guatemala to their household.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

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