We've been keeping track of several E-coli cases in western Illinois and southeast Iowa for about a month.
We've learned there are *six* confirmed cases, three in Lee County, two in Des Moines County, Iowa; and one in Hancock County, Illinois. But health department officials do *not* believe they are related.
KHQA's Melissa Shriver traveled to Iowa City to check on two Tri-State children who have spent weeks in the hospital there.
TiAhnna Bryant is one of those children parents say got sick after drinking unpasteurized cider at a local pumpkin patch in early October.
What do you want to do when you get out of here?
She said, "Go to Subway!"
You also can get a smile from seven-year-old TiAhnna Bryant when you ask her about "High School Musical" movies. It's hard to believe she's been fighting complications of an E-Coli infection that almost took her life.
TiAhnna was transferred to the University of Iowa's Children's Hospital in Iowa City in early October. Her parents, Bob Bryant and SuzAnne Griffis, felt helpless as they watched TiAhnna go into emergency surgery where doctors discovered internal bleeding. She was diagnosed with a severe complication of E-coli bacteria called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. She had to go on dialysis, and she was at risk for a stroke.
Griffis said, "It was rough. First few days in Burlington you felt like you couldn't do anything. You were helpless."
Bryant said, "You go through so many emotions during the course of a week in the ICU watching what she went through. You're terrified, heartbroken, you're mad and angry. It's a roller coaster ride you wouldn't want your worst enemy to go through."
TiAhnna's parents say one of the worst parts was not knowing for sure what made their daughter so deathly sick.
What did you think when you heard your daughter had this?
Griffis said, "My first thought was where did it come from? If it hadn't been for Bob talking with the doctor, we would not have associated it with juice of any kind. When you think of E-coli you think of meat but she drank juice."
Bryant said, "It's a stressful thing to go through, trying to put all things together all while she's hanging on to life."
It was touch and go for weeks, but ,TiAhnna is bouncing back.
Griffis said, "That night when we got the first smiles and laughs it was the best thing I could ever witness, but I'll tell you I broke down and cried."
TiAhnna has been released form the University of Iowa Children's Hospital as of Wednesday, November 5.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKHQA