Tampon terror
My teenage daughter is lucky to be alive
The pitter-patter of someone tiptoeing up to my bed made me stir from my sleep.
‘Mum, I don’t feel well,’ my daughter Molly, 14, whispered.
Yawning, I followed her to the bathroom.
Under the bright lights, she did look a bit peaky.
Within seconds, she was throwing up in the toilet.
‘Poor thing,’ I said, rubbing her back.
I thought she just had a tummy bug.
My husband Mark, 43, was already up, so Molly got into bed with me for a cuddle.
‘I’m cold,’ she shivered, visibly shaking.
So I wrapped her up in the duvet. But as I held her, I realised her skin was hot and clammy.
‘You must be coming down with something,’ I said.
Later that morning, in April this year, Molly had terrible diarrhoea. I knew she was on her period. And for some reason, I wondered if she was wearing a tampon. ‘Did you take it out before bed?’ I asked her. She shook her head. She’d had one in all night – for 10 hours. ‘I’ve taken it out now, though,’ she replied. I’d always told her about not wearing tampons overnight. I knew you have to be really careful. Still, I didn’t think it was anything to do with her feeling unwell. But, later that afternoon, Molly was still sick. And I caught sight of a red rash on the back and front of her torso. It looked just like sunburn. Worried, Mark and I googled her symptoms. We found a web page about toxic shock syndrome (TSS) – a rare, but lifethreatening bacterial infection. I already knew it could be caused by wearing tampons for too long, but I’d had no idea just how serious it was. Alarm bells started ringing in my head.
‘Molly ticks all the boxes,’ I gulped, checking off her symptoms.
Then I read some horror stories about patients suffering from TSS. Some had lost limbs due to their organs shutting down.
Worse, some patients had lost their lives.
I felt sick with fear, didn’t want to take any chances.
So I took Molly to see an out-ofhours doctor, while Mark stayed home with our other kids, Sam, 16, and Ross, 8.
The doctor wanted to take a urine sample, but Molly hadn’t had a wee in nearly 24 hours. ‘I can’t go,’ she sobbed. Her blood pressure was also dangerously low, and her heart was racing.
Concerned, the doctor sent us straight to Northampton General Hospital.
By now, Molly was so weak and dizzy, she could hardly walk.
At the hospital, doctors carried out several blood tests.
‘I think she might have toxic shock syndrome,’ I told them.
Molly was taken to the High Dependency Unit.
We didn’t have to wait long for her blood-test results. Molly did have TSS. ‘Is she going to be OK?’ I begged, terrified.
All I could think about was
I felt sick with fear, didn’t want to take any chances
Molly losing limbs or, worse, not surviving at all.
It just didn’t bear thinking about. My poor girl was only 14, too young to be fighting something so deadly.
She was hooked up to fluids and antibiotics to help fight the infection.
But doctors warned her kidneys were starting to fail.
‘Please, just help her,’ I cried.
Molly was so drowsy and dizzy, but I managed to keep her talking.
‘You’ll be home before you know it,’ I kept telling her. I just prayed I was right. Hours on, Molly was still no better.
And the following day, her blood pressure was still low.
Mark brought the boys in to see her.
When they were out of earshot, I broke down.
‘What if she doesn’t improve?’ I sobbed to Mark. Each hour that passed was torture. Molly was still conscious and talking, but her tests showed her kidneys were still failing. Then, two days on, there was a turnaround. ‘Her kidneys are improving,’ a doctor said. A glimmer of hope… After, she went from strength to strength. Slowly, her body fought off the deadly condition. And, after five days in hospital, she was finally able to come home.
My girl had fought back from the brink. Incredible.
She was still weak and tired, but on the mend. And so happy.
‘I can’t believe how unwell I was,’ she said.
It still hasn’t really sunk in how close we came to losing her.
If Mark and I had delayed taking her to the doctor, the TSS would’ve taken over her body even more.
Molly’s so lucky she received treatment before it was fatal.
And all this because of a tampon! It’s crazy to think something so little can cause so much harm.
Now Molly doesn’t wear them, as she’s susceptible to getting TSS again.
She’s only 14 – still learning about this female stuff. But even I didn’t know tampons could be so dangerous.
Now we want to warn as many women as possible. Never leave a tampon in for longer than the recommended eight hours.
I thank Heaven daily that Molly was OK.
Others might not be so lucky.