An Atlanta mom and her daughters spent the day together two weeks ago, enjoying an activity they do frequently, but the woman ended up going to bed with a mysterious fever, and that would only be the start of her problems. Within days, the young mother-of-two was paralyzed, and things keep getting worse.
Stephanie Ballard has been in the intensive care unit of the Piedmont Hospital ever since the morning after she went to bed with the fever, MyFoxAtlanta reported. Unfortunately, doctors are currently baffled at what’s going on, and as of Wednesday, they weren’t any closer to figuring it out.
Stephanie was with her two daughters a couple of weeks ago, swimming at the community pool, Pete said. That night, a mysterious fever took over her, and by the next morning, they both knew something wasn’t right.
“She woke up the next morning with chills, headache, started getting nauseous, and then started losing muscle control and actually had a fall,” said Pete.
He rushed his wife to the hospital, and even after a battery of tests, doctors still didn’t know what was happening. All they know is that she had swelling on the brain, but so far haven’t been able to figure out why.
“Her immune system is confused and actually attacking her brain confusing it for a virus or some other kind of thing that needs to be fought,” said Ballard.
For eight days after being admitted to the hospital, Stephanie was paralyzed on her right side, Pete said. Doctors treated her with steroids and other treatments, giving the poor woman a glimmer of hope, but then at physical therapy on Wednesday, that hope was shattered when her left side started doing the same thing, further baffling Stephanie’s doctors.
“I noticed that her left side of her face was drooping,” Pete said. “It flipped and we weren’t sure why.”
Friends of the family have started a GoFundMe account for them to help pay for the hospital bills, which they anticipate aren’t going to be cheap.
“We would hate to see the financial mountain that’s waiting for them be something that they can’t overcome,” said Jessica Diamond.
On Thursday evening, doctors performed a brain biopsy on Stephanie, and they hope that they’ll be able to figure out what’s wrong within three to five days. In the meantime, she remains in the ICU until doctors feel that it’s safe for her to be moved to a regular room, which could possibly happen this weekend, Pete said.
This is seriously a terrifying story and a reminder that at any time tragedy can strike. Regardless of the cause, it’s hard to imagine what it would be like having everything be fine one day, then the next you’re praying that your significant other isn’t going to either be permanently injured or even lose their life from something that can’t even be identified. It just goes to show that we should live each day as if it’s our last, since tomorrow is never promised.