New mom, Lana Kuykendall, is battling flesh-eating bacteria.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Lana Kuykendall has had 11 surgeries since being diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis.
While in critical condition, she hasn’t had amputations and the disease is all in her leg.
“Lana’s vitals and blood work is good,” her husband says, according to the hospital.
The father of a Georgia woman with the disease notes milestones in her own fight.
(CNN) — The health of a South Carolina woman battling a rare flesh-eating bacteria has “slightly improved,” a spokeswoman for a Greenville hospital said Thursday, though the new mother remains sedated and in critical condition.
Lana Kuykendall has “undergone 11 debridement surgeries to remove tissue since being admitted May 11” to Greenville Memorial Hospital, spokeswoman Sandra Dees said Thursday by e-mail.
But unlike 24-year-old Aimee Copeland of Georgia — who has lost a leg, part of her abdomen, her remaining foot and her hands as she fights the same disease, according to online updates from her father, Andy Copeland — no parts of Kuykendall’s body have been amputated.
“Last night, Darren told the family in his update that ‘Lana’s vitals and blood work is good.’ This is a good day for her, and we will take it,” said Brian Swaffer, Kuykendall’s brother, in a message relayed by the hospital.
Kuykendall gave birth to twins, Ian and Abigail, on May 7 in Atlanta.
At that time, Kuykendall, a paramedic, was believed to be healthy. But a few days later, she went to hospital near her South Carolina home after noticing a rapidly expanding bruise on her leg, her husband Darren, a firefighter, told CNN last week.
She was diagnosed then with necrotizing fasciitis and has been incubated and sedated every day since, according to her brother and the hospital.
A number of bacteria, which are common in the environment but rarely cause serious infections, can lead to the disease. When it gets into the bloodstream -such as through a cut – doctors typically move aggressively to excise even healthy tissue near the infection site, in hopes of ensuring none of the dangerous bacteria remain.
The disease attacks and destroys healthy tissue and is fatal about 20% of the time, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
via S.C. mother battling flesh-eating bacteria ‘slightly improved’ – CNN.com.