Summer of Medical Trials
For Randolph 3-Year-Old
By Sandy Vondrasek Cooch
Darcy Daniels and Michael Wooden always sort of hoped their daughter might be famous some day, but not this, not at age 3.

Big smiles from Wendy Wooden.

Last Friday, Harvard Medical School doctors and students sat down for a case study of Wendy Wooden’s summer of medical crises.

The Randolph girl contracted an E. coli infection in mid-June that developed into a serious and rare complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), that is especially serious for young children. In HUS, toxins produced by a certain strain of E. coli bacteria attack red blood cells and shut down kidney function. Wendy Wooden suffered though that, and then went on to develop virtually every complication that the syndrome might produce—and she survived.

Tow-headed Wendy, who spent most of the summer at Massachusetts General Hospital, is now back home. And although she still needs ongoing medical care and tests, she and her family are finding ways to reëstablish normalcy in their lives.

Wendy was even feeling well enough last Thursday to spend a while at a festive fundraiser, in the parking lot outside the 3 Bean Café, to benefit the Wooden family. According to organizer Rex Bence, the event—with music, food, games, and raffles—raised $2800 for the family.

This week, Wendy’s mom stopped by The Herald to share information about her daughter’s illness, and to urge parents to be on guard for E. coli infection and its complications.

Darcy Daniels also expressed, repeatedly, the family’s profound thanks for the outpouring of support from the community in the last three months.

"We’ve only been here two years," Daniels said. "I can’t believe the generosity, the community that has surrounded us and held us up during this time."

The Woodens will likely never know how Wendy got her E. coli infection, which can be contracted from eating undercooked meat or unwashed fresh food, from swimming in contaminated water, or by contact with an infected person, usually through unwashed hands.

Daniels said this week that in the week or two prior to falling ill, Wendy had been to several barbecues, had swum in two lakes, and several times in the Third Branch of the White River in Randolph.

Daniels noted that they met others at the hospital with E. coli infections, and that some of those were infected via drinking unpasteurized cider. That’s something for parents of young children, especially, to keep in mind as cider season gears up, she said.

A Stomach Bug

It was on Sunday, June 19, that Wendy Wooden showed signs of what her parents thought was a stomach virus, with a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting.

Wendy was better Monday, but worse again on Tuesday, with more frequent and bloody diarrhea, so her parents took her to the hospital.

The initial diagnosis was salmonella infection, and there was a 48-hour wait while a culture was done. During those next two days, the frequent and bloody diarrhea continued—as often as four times an hour—and Wendy’s worried parents kept calling their doctor. At dinnertime Thursday, Daniels learned that the diagnosis was an E. coli infection, and Wendy was taken in for blood tests. Two hours later, the phone rang at the Wooden home: "Pack your bags," the doctor said. "You’re going by helicopter to Dartmouth."

"They were pretty sure at that point that it was HUS," Daniels said.

Wendy’s kidneys were shutting down, and after one night at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, she was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital, because it had a pediatric nephrologist (kidney specialist) on its staff.

Although Wendy’s body was engulfed with an E. coli infection, antibiotics were not an option, since killing off the bacteria would effectively increase the amount of E. coli toxins in her body.

Wendy’s little body was doing its best to beat back the infection: At one point her white blood cell count was 94,000, said Daniels. Normal is 10,000, and the usual count for those with HUS is around 30,000. The medical team at Mass General was doing what it could to support that fight with massive amounts of medical intervention. Wendy was on dialysis, and on intravenous drugs.

But, there were more problems.

The toxins attacked her pancreas, shutting it down, and they attacked her brain, resulting in seizures. Wendy was unconscious for 10 days, breathing with the assistance of an oxygen pump. She effectively became, and remains, a diabetic, because of continuing pancreatic problems. Because Wendy’s kidneys were not functioning, medications built up in her system, causing blood vessels to become "leaky," Daniels explained. The result was alarmingly low blood pressure.

Summer at Mass Gen

"A very strong support system" helped Michael and Darcy through their summer at the hospital. Close family converged in Boston, and shared around-the-clock shifts.

And, thanks to the near-daily "Care Pages" updates that Darcy and Michael posted online, support expanded into a network, as friends around the globe tracked Wendy’s setbacks and progress, and then e-mailed messages to the Woodens.

Composing those updates, some of which came at the end of a day of scary developments, gave her and her husband a way to settle and focus, Darcy Daniels said.

And on it went. But, finally the corner was turned, and in late July, Wendy started to recover.

"She’s a stubborn little kid, always has been, and in this instance, it served her well," Wendy’s mom remarked.

On August 4, Wendy came home, to a grand neighborhood celebration, complete with a big banner friends hung on the front of the Woodens’ Church Street home.

But, almost immediately, a new problem emerged. Wendy started experiencing severe abdominal pains—"screaming pain"—due to what turned out to be strictures in her colon. The colon was apparently damaged by severe diarrhea, and in an attempt to heal, Wendy’s body had laid down so much new tissue that it caused a blockage.

So it was back to Boston, and after seven days of observation and tests, doctors decided to remove six inches of intestine.

Daniels had high praise for the staff of Massachusetts General Hospital, all of whom did everything they could, she said, to inform and support the family during those tough weeks.

Wendy came through the surgery well, and she and her parents returned to Randolph August 30.

And home is where they are happy to stay, although their world is still dominated by medical schedules. Wendy still needs—every few hours—blood pressure and blood sugar tests, oral medications, and insulin shots. She has regularly scheduled appointments with sundry specialists in three states.

There is hope that her damaged kidneys and pancreas will regain function over the next year.

"She is so much stronger, and starting to walk, run and climb stairs," Daniels said. And, after too many weeks of being in pain, Wendy is starting to joke and laugh again.

"I am so grateful to the community, and for all the support, some of it from people I don’t even know," Daniels said. "I’d open the front door to find cookies and bread on the step. It’s amazing what a community can do when it pulls together."

___________