At this point Elizabeth's blood platelet ...

At this point Elizabeth's blood platelet level has dropped and they think she has Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which is from E coli. Her kidneys have been working extra hard to fight this bacterial infection. The doctors are planning on starting dialysis sometime between late morning and early afternoon. We have been informed that she may be in the hospital anywhere between a week to a month. The doctors are hoping to send her home in a week, but there's no telling how long that we will be here... 1145-1199 5th Ave, Des Moines, Iowa

Information about Ecoli and HUS from Wikipedia   Escherichia coli Escherichia coli ( /ˌɛʃɨˈrɪkiə ˈkoʊlaɪ/;[1] commonly abbreviated E. coli) is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lowerintestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls due to food contamination.[2][3] The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2,[4] and by preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the intestine.[5][6] E. coli and related bacteria constitute about 0.1% of gut flora,[7] and fecal-oral transmission is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount of time, which makes them ideal indicator organisms to test environmental samples for fecal contamination.[8][9] There is, however, a growing body of research that has examined environmentally persistent E. coliwhich can survive for extended periods of time outside of the host.[10] The bacterium can also be grown easily and inexpensively in a laboratory setting, and has been intensively investigated for over 60 years. E. coli is the most widely studied prokaryotic model organism,[citation needed] and an important species in the fields of biotechnology and microbiology, where it has served as the host organism for the majority of work with recombinant DNA. For more details about Ecoli visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escherichia_coli Hemolytic-uremic syndrome Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (or haemolytic-uraemic syndrome), abbreviated HUS, is a disease characterized by hemolytic anemia (anemia caused by destruction of red blood cells), acute kidney failure (uremia) and a low platelet count (thrombocytopenia). It predominantly, but not exclusively, affects children. Most cases are preceded by an episode of infectious, sometimes bloody, diarrhea caused by E. coli O157:H7, which is acquired as a foodborne illness or from a contaminated water supply. It is a medical emergency and carries a 5–10% mortality; of the remainder, the majority recover without major consequences but a small proportion develop chronic kidney disease and become reliant on renal replacement therapy.[1] HUS was first defined as asyndrome in 1955.[2][3] For more details about HUS visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemolytic-uremic_syndrome