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‘I Was Told My Swollen Leg Was Knee Sprain, But It Was A Flesh-Eating Bacteria & Had My Limb Amputated’
Jennifer Barlow lost her leg after contracting necrotizing fasciitis.
Last January, the Army Veteran returned to Atlanta, Georgia, from a getaway in the Bahamas when she felt something wasn’t right with her leg. Jennifer Barlow is a fitness fit but she instantly felt weak upon her return, which resulted in her lying in bed for four days. Her right knee ballooned to about three times the size of her left knee and was hot to touch.
Medics at a local emergency room believed her leg was just sprained and sent her home with crutches and pain medication.
But then, it kept growing, like that of a giant’s leg. Barlow was eventually diagnosed with a rare bacterial infection called necrotizing fasciitis, also known as a flesh-eating disease. The condition is regarded as a severe, rapidly spreading infection that kills one in five sufferers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The bacteria commonly enter the human body through a cut or other break in the skin, including burns, insect bites, and surgical wounds. Symptoms include a red or warm area of the skin that spreads quickly, severe pain, and a fever. It can also cause ulcers or blisters on the skin, skin color changes, pus or oozing, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea.
Jennifer Barlow lost her leg to the flesh-eating bacteria after doctors mistook the condition for a sprained knee.
‘I was in excruciating pain,’ she told TODAY.com. Barlow’s physician at the Joseph Cleland Atlanta VA Medical Center, Dr. Jonathan Pollock, added, ‘I was very concerned that she would not survive this. It is fair to say that her life was in grave danger.’ Barlow was placed in a medically induced coma for 10 days. And when she finally woke up, she had undergone 12 surgeries. ‘I was confused and scared,’ she said.
Barlow had more than 30 surgeries in total, including one to amputate her leg. She also went into sepsis, the body’s extreme reaction to an infection.
The Army Veteran’s case progressed to septic shock, characterized by a severe drop in blood pressure. Per the Mayo Clinic, signs of septic shock include not being able to stand up, extreme fatigue or not being able to stay awake, and a change in mental status. If left untreated, sepsis and septic shock are fatal. Barlow believes she might have been exposed to the bacteria while on vacation, as doctors aren’t sure what caused it.
Barlow specifically spent four months in the hospital and is now raising money for a prosthetic leg.
DailyMail reported that sepsis and septic shock impact about 1.7 million Americans every year and kill 350,000, according to CDC estimates. According to The UK Sepsis Trust, it affects 245,000 people annually and causes 48,000 deaths. The most common cause of necrotizing fasciitis is group A strep, a form of bacteria that can cause strep throat.
For the flesh-eating bacteria condition, the CDC estimates 700 to 1,150 cases a year in the US. According to the NHS, there are about 500 cases in the United Kingdom every year. Getting treatment immediately is important to keep the infection from spreading. While antibiotics can be effective, they don’t always reach all infected areas. As a result, patients will need multiple surgeries to remove as much dead flesh as possible.
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