On January 12th, my sister Grace was admitted to the ER for serious respiratory issues. She had been battling the Flu for 2 weeks and only getting worse.

CT scans confirmed that she had Necrotizing Pneumonia in both of her lungs caused by a severe staph infection. Her lungs were essentially being eaten away by the bacteria.

With this life threatening diagnosis, she was taken via ambulance to a bigger hospital in Chattanooga.

She has a very large mass in her left lung, along with several smaller ones in her right lung, making breathing very difficult and extremely painful.

She is currently in the ICU at Chattanooga. She is on a strong, broad spectrum antibiotic until spittum cultures can confirm which staphylococcus bacteria is causing the necrosis, which then will determine which course of action to follow.

Necrotizing Pneumonia is a very serious and severe form of pneumonia. If antibiotics are unsuccessful in eradicating the bacteria, surgery to debride the lung tissue is often needed.

Grace is a working mother to two beautiful children. At this point we are unsure of how long she will be in the hospital, but likely a few weeks of intensive therapies and then a longer recovery at home, in and out of the hospital for treatment and monitoring.

She will be out of work for quite some time, possibly months until she has full lung function back. With regular bills plus now medical expenses piling up, she needs to focus on getting better without the financial stress.

Grace is a beautiful soul; she is loved by so many. While this diagnosis is terrifying, your help, support and prayers are greatly appreciated.