From a Toddler Bite to Sepsis

This is Tiffany Reynolds and her adorable, energetic little bunch!

On November 24, 2022 Tiffany was taking care of her 3-year-old nephew when he bit her on the chest. This minor incident lead to a medical emergency that could have never been predicted.

Following the bite, Tiffany started feeling ill and went to bed after the kids were gone. On 11/27 - 3 days later - Tiffany was found, near death, and rushed to the ER. She had gone to sleep thinking she was ill but really she had an infection that was attacking her from inside. While sleeping she went into septic shock.

She was rushed to the ER and had emergency surgery due to septic shock and necrotizing fascitis. The following day she had 2 more surgeries, was facing multi-organ failure and the infection had spread to her heart. She had her 4th surgery on 11/30 and was left with a very large open wound on her chest, and a wound vac. She flatlined in 3 of the 4 surgeries and is very, very lucky to still be with us today.

On December 5th she was able to return home to her babies and enjoy the holidays, but on March 1st - her troubles began again. She still had an open wound from December - and wound vac - and one her kiddos came home with Group A Strep - which lead to group A strep, staph and ecoli in the wound. She was again hospitlized and was right on the line of sepsis with septic markers. As she recovered from that round of issues she was still working with the wound care team and on March 8th had a debridement of the wound. This is basically where they go in and remove all the damaged tissue, effectively reopening the wound for necessary reasons. In Tiffany's case though, the wound is not closing again. On March 29th she was sent for an emergency consult and she is now scheduled for a full chest reconstruction on April 19th. She will be in the hospital for an extended period of time, unable to do anything - barely raising her arms at all - for 4-6 weeks, and unable to get back to work for at least 2 months.

Understandably she has been unable to work throughout most of this, and now has no time to work and save for the time she is going to be in recovery from this new surgery. She desperately needs any and all financial help she can get Keeping the bills paid through all of this is incredibly difficult.

I am sharing this in hopes that our amazing community can rally around this young family and help during their time of need. Anything you can give is greatly appreciated!