This is my niece, Lacey. She is a beautiful, smart 12 year old girl who loves to sing and has a heart of gold. Like other 12 year olds, she loves friends, music, art, and living life. This all started with a couple of unexplained falls at school, followed by fever and weakness. Her pediatrician suspected meningitis and sent her to the ER immediately. Her symptoms only got worse from there.
She declined rapidly was transported to the PICU at Greenville Children's Hospital. Lacey was sedated and put on a ventilator. Her MRI showed inflammation from her brain all the way down to her spinal cord and she was showing no reflex response. The doctors finally diagnosed her with Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM).
AFM is a polio-like disease that causes inflammation of the spine, affects the nervous system, causes muscle weakness/paralysis, and other physical symptoms. According to the CDC there have been 173 confirmed cases since August 2014. Only 3 of the 173 diagnosed have fully recovered. We are praying that Lacey will be the fourth!
We will be posting updates as they come. Lacey still cannot breathe on her own and can only wiggle her toes, squeeze her hands, and open her eyes. She is scared, in a lot of pain, and has a very hard and long road ahead. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
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