On Christmas morning, our sweet Lily woke up with a fever, flu symptoms, and a cough, and was taken to Graham hospital. She was diagnosed with Influenza A, and a chest x-ray revealed pneumonia in Lily’s left lung. She was quickly transferred to OSF Children’s Hospital of Illinois.

Her condition rapidly declined over the next several days - she required an NG tube, and when the nurse finished putting it in her nose, Lily said, “thank you.” This little girl is 20 months old, and is already so kind hearted and thoughtful.

Unfortunately, the NG tube caused uncontrollable bleeding, which resulted in blood and platelet transfusions. Before her chest tube surgery, her doctor said he was not hopeful that she would make it. She went into respiratory failure and required intubation, and was referred to as “one of the sickest patients in the PICU” - something no parent wants to hear.

Thanks to her phenomenal team of doctors, nurses, and specialists, she is currently stable and has overcome a lot of things her doctors frankly didn’t think she would. Our girl is fighting hard to get back home to her brother and sister who really miss her. It is an uphill battle with a lot of uncertainty, but we continue to cheer her on and remain hopeful she can overcome this.

Her parents are constantly by Lily’s side to support and comfort her. This Go Fund Me was created to help give some financial relief to the Stufflebeam family while they care for Lily in the PICU, and to cover her medical expenses.

We are grateful for the outpouring of love and uplifting words we’ve received over the past week, and ask that you please keep our Lily in your prayers. Your generosity and support means everything to us during this incredibly difficult time.

Lily’s journey so far:

Dec 24

Lily developed typical flu symptoms

Dec 25

Flu symptoms worsened, so Lily was taken to Graham hospital. A chest x-ray revealed pneumonia, and she was transferred to OSF Children’s Hospital. She required an NG tube and chest tube to remove fluid around lungs. The flu wiped out her hemoglobin and platelets, so putting in the NG tube caused uncontrolled bleeding. She received blood and platelet transfusions. Fever spiked to 104°.

Dec 26

Doctors placed a chest tube. Lily’s oxygen dropped to 60% overnight.

Dec 27

Lily went into respiratory failure and was intubated. The doctor was “not optimistic” about whether Lily would make it.

Dec 28

Lily developed an acute kidney injury, and her lung condition worsened. The doctors administered a paralytic so she wouldn’t fight the breathing tube. Struggling to keep her blood pressure down to normal range.

Dec 30

Her chest tube removal went smoothly. She has severe edema (swelling in the body due to too much fluid) and continued Lasix treatment to help her urinate and reduce fluid retention.

Dec 31

Continuing to monitor medications, swelling, fluid input/output, blood pressure, etc. She required another platelet transfusion. She’s still heavily sedated, but is able to open her eyes a little. She was able to get a feeding tube through her nose, and no bleeding occurred this time!

Jan 1

Fever spiked again, but is being controlled with tylenol. Breathing treatments resumed, new antibiotics administered, no longer tolerating trickle feeds. Abdomen is distended. X-ray results were concerning for ARDS, with further lab work needed. Also concerned for further kidney injury, but trying to avoid dialysis. Lungs look a little worse today, and doctors are working to prevent lung injury.