Untreated strep lands Michigan mother to 7 in hospital to fight for her life
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (WJBK) - Two weeks ago, a mother of seven that she had a simple sore throat. Shannon McGeorge is now in an induced coma and fighting to live after her strep infection went untreated.
The Troy mom thought she had a sore throat and continued about her day as usual, her daughter Anastasia Coleman said.
"She just went about her business normally. Then Tuesday she started having flu-like symptoms," she said.
That's when the family knew something had to be done and she was admitted into the hospital at Royal Oak Beaumont.
"They told us she had strep, the flu, and she was severely dehydrated," Anastasia said.
Rare strep infection costs Michigan dad his hands and feet
They soon learned that what they thought was a routine illness was significantly more severe and things were only going to get worse.
"When they were hydrating her, her throat started to swell closed," Anastasia said. "Her organs were shutting down and she had sepsis from the strep. And basically had a 10% chance of living through that day."
She lives today thanks to an ECMO machine which basically does the job of the lungs and heart giving those organs a chance to recover.
The treatment worked but not after a toll was taken on Shannon and her husband. Mark suffered a stroke while by her side and was also admitted to the hospital.
The entire family, including Shannon, are now anxiously awaiting the prognosis on Mark's condition.
"She's awake now so she can see, she can't speak, she can't move her arms very well yet, but she was able to watch the whole thing happen. Now he's in the same hospital with a clot in his brain."
Meanwhile, the bills are mounting. the ECMO machine isn't cheap and treatment is usually about $70,000. A GoFundMe account was set up to help pay for bills. (CLICK HERE TO DONATE)
Anastasia says this should be a lesson to everyone.
"Listen to your body if you feel down don't think 'oh, I can beat it.' Go get checked out. It's better safe than sorry," Anastasia said.
Girl diagnosed with strep throat dies of leukemia one week later