WAUWATOSA — Alison Campbell returned to work this week at the Wauwatosa Fire Department.
Over the past month, the 19-year firefighter and paramedic has been driving back and forth to UW-Oshkosh to help her son, Jayden, who contracted a rare form of E. coli.
The signs started when Jayden started reporting that he had stomach issues. When Alison finally took him to the doctor's office, they told her to take him to the hospital.
"He lost 22 pounds over the course of a couple of weeks; he couldn't keep any food down," said Campbell.
A CT scan of his abdomen finally showed what had been happening to Jayden. The E. coli perforated his intestines.
Then, after the fifth day in the hospital, the antibiotics he was being treated with caused him to develop tardive dyskinesia. Jayden began developing bad tremors, and his airway started to constrict.
"Most doctors that have been doctors for 30 years—many, many years—even our nursing staff had never seen somebody actually have this type of reaction," said Campbell.
Alison said that doctors gave her a ratio of one in a million people having this type of reaction.
A team from Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin came together to figure out how to treat him.
"We're going to do more GI follow-ups with colonoscopy and ask these and find out exactly what kind of autoimmune disease he has and how long-term it will be with us," said Campbell.
While Alison was attending to Jayden, Wauwatosa firefighters, and the community were stepping up to help her.
"We made sure that her upcoming shifts were covered the first week," said Jeff Dethloff, president of Wauwatosa Firefighters Local 1923. "We also started a GoFundMe page."
TMJ4 spotted the GoFundMe, which is now over $8,000. The funds will help the family deal with medical expenses and treatment.
"They brought me gas cards so I could drive him back and forth to school," said Campbell. "They sent cookie grams. I had other fire departments calling me and sending me money—just anything that I needed."
Jayden's journey is far from over. He'll have more follow-ups and appointments going forward. While he was in the hospital, he continued his studies in order to take his finals this week. Jayden hopes to get into the school of nursing.
Doctors are still trying to figure out how the E. coli perforated his intestines. Alison is just happy that he's feeling better and grateful for her firefighter community.
"I can't thank them enough for letting me focus on him and making sure that he's okay," said Campbell.
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