Lilly Downs, now 18, is fighting life-threatening infections as doctors try to solve “a very big medical mystery.”
Reminders of life outside Lilly Downs’ Denver hospital room dotted the walls.
Since then, Lilly’s doctors have discovered her stomach wasn’t working properly and she has spent most of the year in and out of the hospital, fighting what one of her physicians said are life-threatening infections. Late last summer, Lilly already was struggling to keep food or water down, getting stomach pains anytime she tried to eat or drink. She vomited blood.
Adolescents appear less likely to contract long COVID than adults. But more children have the condition than those who were hospitalized with the virus, according to“While it is still rare, it’s still definitely a large problem,” Yonts said, adding that hundreds of thousands of children could have long COVID.
Lilly knew she had symptoms from long COVID that weren’t going to quickly go away. Her heart rate can rapidly soar because of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, also known as POTS. She has fatigue, muscle aches and asthma.Lilly Downs, then 17, pushes an intravenous stand that is decorated with fall leaves and lights at her home in Golden on Sept. 17, 2021. At the time Lilly was struggling to eat.
Lilly Downs, 18, pets facility dog Posey at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children in Denver on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022. Lilly is unable to eat because of her symptoms so she has to get nutrients — such as protein and fats — intravenously through a central line that goes in a vein above her heart, Appel said.
Newer research on long COVID has looked at potential biomarkers and possible ways doctors can treat the condition. But there are no clinical trials taking place that look at possible treatments for children and teens, Yonts said. But it’s very difficult to access the therapy, which targeted an earlier variant of the virus, because the emergency use authorization issued by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has expired.
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