Help Maisie To Continue Her Fight Towards Recovery

My name is Ashley Waller, Maisie Waller’s Mother. Currently, Maisie has been in Children’s Hospital in St. Louis for 14 days with a severe staph infection. On Friday, 5/16/25, she had a low-grade fever, which we treated with over-the-counter medicine. By Sunday, 5/18/25, Maisie woke up and could not walk. We took her to the Emergency Room in Carbondale, IL, where they sent us home stating she had caught a virus. Something just didn’t seem right, so I took her to see Dr. Dabrowski on Monday, 5/19/25, who took some blood panels and X-rays. The results on the blood panel showed some kind of infection, so he sent us to Children’s Hospital where we have been since. Maisie was admitted and they stated she was septic due to the infection. The infection had settled in her left pelvic area (tissue, muscle, and bone) and in her bloodstream. Maisie’s first surgery was the hardest. She had a few holes drilled in her pelvis, an abscess removed, and everything scraped and washed out where the infection was. During recovery, Maisie was instantly put on a ventilator and a feeding tube. Maisie’s blood pressure dropped very low, so they placed an arterial line to monitor it continuously. Last weekend (5/24), Maisie had the ventilator, feeding tube, drain plug, arterial line, and catheter removed. We were moved to another floor. They found that Maisie had a blood clot in her left shoulder, so she has been on Lovenox shots. Maisie had to have a second surgery on 5/29/25. They performed an MRI and found a big hematoma in the same spot. They went in, drained it, and cleaned the area again. She had a drain plug and a wound vac put on to help with healing. Every day they have had to come in and draw blood from her to check her blood cultures to see if the infection is still in her bloodstream. We have had a few recent cultures that have been over 72 hours with still no growth, so that is a wonderful sign. Today, 6/2/25, she had her drain plug, wound vac, and her two IVs removed. They did put a PIC line in to make things easier and for when she goes home for her medicines. Now that the infection seems to be under control, we are working on her physical and occupational therapy. Once Maisie is able to go home, her recovery time is going to be 6-8 weeks. She will be sent home on IV antibiotics and an oral blood thinner. We will have to bring her back to Children’s Hospital every week to every two weeks for testing.

Since Maisie has been here, my partner and I have not been working. I will continue to be out until Maisie makes a full recovery, the end of July. I am currently under FMLA, but with no compensation because it is for the care of a child and not myself. We are asking for any help/donations for bills and travel back and forth to doctors. We truly appreciate everyone and all the prayers they have sent our way during all of this!