Why did model Lauren Wasser lose one leg?

Lauren Wasser's life changed dramatically at the age of 24. His parents are models, 180 cm tall, blonde, and blue eyes are a neutral response from Santa Monica to Dutch fashion model Lara Stone. She even gave up on a college scholarship in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division 1 basketball league to become a model. Fortunately, two months after her birth, she was modeled on Vogue, Italy with her mother, and her career began. Besides working as a model, she learned the basics of improvisation, enjoyed basketball, and cycled 48km daily. She lived in a Santa Monica apartment and blended in with the glittering views of Los Angeles.

"It was all about how it looked," Lauren said. "I was such a girl, and I never even thought about it." That said, she has many friends, and a few weeks later, her friends, who gathered at the St. John's Health Center in a coma to say her last farewell, surround the hospital. It was about the number.

On October 3, 2012, Lauren Wasser felt sick with her. She had symptoms as if she had the flu. Partly because she's on her period, she went to the supermarket chain Ralphs in search of her favorite tampon brand, Kotex Natural Balance.

Lauren never dreamed that her favorite menstrual supplies were associated with her illness. After all, she had been associated with physiological phenomena for 11 years, so the use of "Kotex" was only a habit that was not enough to shoot. Like most of her girls, when she reached menarche, her mother taught her how to use tampons. Not only how to use the applicator, but also the tampon should be replaced every 3-4 hours. That day, following her simple rules, Lauren exchanged tampons in the morning, afternoon, and evening.

Late at night, she attended her friend's birthday party at the Darkroom on Melrose Avenue. She said, "I'm pretending to be fine," but at that point she was barely standing. "Everyone was worried that I wasn't feeling well." She drove back to Santa Monica, took off all her clothes and sneaked into her bed. She just wanted to sleep.

I'm not sure how long it's been since I went to bed, but Lauren's memory is uncertain, but when he wakes up with a menacingly barking blind Cocker Spaniel in his chest, he hears a violent knock on the door and "the police." I heard a cry, "It's the police!" Lauren dragged her body, but she managed to open the door, and a policeman came in to look into her room. Worried that her Lauren hadn't contacted her, her mother had asked the police to check her daughter.

"I couldn't take my dog ​​for a walk, so dog excrement was scattered all over the room," she recalls. I'm not sure how long she was in bed, and I can't even remember it day or night. Police saw the situation and told her to call her mother and left.

Lauren finally gave the dog a small amount of carrots from an almost empty refrigerator and contacted her mother. Her mother asked Lauren if she would call her ambulance, but she was so ill that she couldn't even make that decision. "I want to go to bed, so I'll call her mother again in the morning," she told her mother. She has no memory of her since then. " The next day, her mother asked Lauren's friend to go see Lauren with the police. They found Lauren lying prone on the floor of her bedroom.

With a fever near 42 °, she was taken to St. Jones. She suffered from organ failure and she had a serious heart attack, so she died as late as 10 minutes. She wasn't given first aid because her doctor didn't know what was happening to her until she called an infectious disease specialist. Her specialist immediately asked, "Does the patient use tampons?" She was using it, and when she sent it to the test, she got a positive reaction for toxic shock syndrome.

Toxic shock syndrome (TSS), named in 1978, is sepsis caused by a bacterial infection caused by a toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus, which is generally said to carry the bacterium in about 20% of people. It is not a symptom that occurs only in women, but it seems that there is a close relationship between tampon use and onset. Since the affected person had Staphylococcus aureus in his body before using the tampon, it cannot be said that the tampon was the cause, but there is no doubt that it is one of the causes of the TSS-related death that increased rapidly in the 1980s.

Tampons and similar sanitary products have been used by women for centuries. However, in the last 50 years or so, large companies dealing with tampons such as Playtex, Tampax, Kotex, etc. have begun to manufacture tampons from chemical fibers such as rayon and nylon instead of natural materials such as cotton. Synthetic fibers promoted tampon absorption, but at the same time created an environment in which Staphylococcus aureus can grow easily. When Proctor & Gample launched a powerful absorption tampon called "Rely" in the 1980s, it led to a dramatic increase in TSS incidence and many related deaths. According to research published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, the gelled carboxymethyl cellulose contained in the "Rely" tampon is viscous for bacterial growth. It becomes a medium and acts as a culture medium.

The doctor told Lauren's mother that she had no choice but to pray for her death. Lauren was in an artificial coma for treatment. News of her hospitalization spread on Facebook, with her friends and acquaintances lining up around her hospital to say goodbye to her.

A Facebook post saying "Pray her to Lauren", her friends who took turns worried about visiting the hospital room, her long blonde hair was shaved and shaved in a few days, which But Lauren doesn't remember. She remembers that she woke up with as much as 36 kg of liquid infused into her body, and while she was confused, she knew she was in Texas.

"My stomach was bloated and there were tubes all over my body. I couldn't even speak," Lauren says. Next to her bed was a tube of black toxin sucked out of her bloodstream. She looked out from her room and she was trying to remember the Southwest. Her swollen body didn't look like her own. "I suspected I was over-fed," she said. "I had no idea what was going on."

Much worse than her disorientation, her limbs had a burning sensation that didn't go away. She was gangrene because of the infection. Three years later, at a coffee shop in Los Angeles, she said, Lauren was still unable to explain her feelings at the time. "It's the most unbearable pain I've ever had, and I don't know how to tell it." For hyperbaric oxygen therapy, she was rushed to UCLA and treated with a hyperbaric therapy device to allow her blood to flow to her legs.

Lauren had time to wait for her consultation alone in her room. Her mother and her dad left for a moment and she sat in a large chair. There was a curtain in the room, and I heard a woman calling someone through the curtain. In the conversation, the woman seemed to tell her something about an emergency. "I have a 24-year-old female patient who has to amputate her right knee."

"I knew it was me." She was convinced. "I lose my leg."

While Lauren was in the hospital, her mother went to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of "Cotex Natural Balance" tampons, and to the daily necessities stores "Kroger" and "Ralphs" that sold them. Started a large-scale litigation. The Kotex brand tampons are not necessarily at higher risk for TSS than other major brands, but because they were the brand used by Lauren, they were subject to proceedings. Ultimately, lawyers are trying to counter the entire tampon industry, which uses synthetic materials for tampons. All defendants are in some ways negligent, dishonest, careless, fraudulent, illegal and responsible for Lauren's TSS hospitalization. (Kimberly-Clark officials refrain from commenting on the proceedings due to company policy)

Lauren's lawyer, Hunter J. Scornick, is accustomed to finding karakuri for products that are generally perceived as safe. For example, he has also responded to a lawsuit on the ingredients of the "cough syrup" that caused the seizures. "I'd like to be surprised that Lauren was shocked, but that's not the case," he said calmly until he got tired of it. "The tampon hasn't changed since the tampon-TSS link was taken up. The tampon maker's response is simply to print on the label,'It can cause toxic shock.' It hasn't changed for decades. " Fearing the Food and Drug Administration's check, the company explained that it would just put a note on the outside of the tampon box. He calls this a "(Monopoly) prison release card".

Since the 1980s, tampon packages have been required to carry a warning label. However, Scornick argues that Lauren's packaging did not give a particularly clear note that the tampons had to be removed at night. "It says change tampon every 5 to 8 hours, including midnight, but this is unclear, his family claims." "Midnight" can be regarded as 8 hours or more. They will argue that young women in particular often sleep 9 or 10 hours on weekends. "The tampon company should say,'Don't sleep with it on, use your menstrual pads while you're sleeping,'" Scornick points out.

Of course, most women see a note on the package about Toxic Shock Syndrome. You wouldn't think deeply about buying and using tampons every time, but I also know that vaguely the following is written.

The use of tampons is associated with toxic shock syndrome. Although TSS is rare, it is a serious and fatal illness. Please read the enclosed instructions carefully and keep them. Please refrain from using for more than 8 hours

For Scornick, the Food and Drug Administration warning label is the most annoying thing in this case. "The point of the proceeding is not about the precautionary statements in the package. Despite the fact that there is a material that promises the safety of the tampon, the tampon maker has not used that material for 20 years. That is the fact that the proceedings The focus is on showing the jury. Manufacturers emphasize the use of natural materials in these tampons, even though they are actually dangerous with synthetic fibers. It's made of natural cotton,'but it's not really natural, it's not cotton. If it's natural, the chances of a toxic shock are almost zero. "

Dr. Philip M. Thierno, a professor of microbiology and pathology at NYU School of Medicine, is doing his own research on the relationship between tampons and toxic shock syndrome, but agrees with his claim that cotton is safer. are doing. "Most major tampon makers use viscose rayon and cotton mixed fibers or viscose rayon alone for their tampons. If the toxin-producing bacteria of yellow staphylococcus are normal in women's vaginal flora. In both cases, if in part, tampons will provide optimal physicochemical conditions for the development of toxin shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1). " "Toxic shock syndrome develops even when women do not have or have low antibodies to toxins. The problem is synthetic tampons. Even 100% cotton tampons are at risk. It's a minimum, if any. "

Lauren faced a nightmare situation of signing a consent form for surgery to amputate his right leg below the knee. "The necrosis of her legs had begun, so we had to deal with it urgently," she says. The heel and toes of her left foot were also severely damaged, and the doctor considered amputating her left foot, but Lauren fought to leave her left foot. "The chances were half and half." "I had two newborn foreskin transplants and miraculously I didn't lose my legs. My toes were gone. My heels were finally connected, but very much. It's unstable. The fat pad that acts as a pad is gone. "

Lauren is still young and her body stores calcium in an attempt to heal her injured leg. Ironically, the amount of accumulation has increased significantly since the damage. "It's like walking on a rugged rock," she explains. She has undergone frequent maintenance surgery and her pain remains three years later. Her doctor tells her that when she's about 50, she may eventually need another amputation.

"When I got home, I wanted to die." "I'm such a girl, I suddenly lost my leg, got in a wheelchair, had only one leg, and couldn't walk to the bathroom. I was in bed and moved. I couldn't do that, and the surrounding wall was like being in prison. " Her phantom limbs could also occur, and she suddenly fell to the floor trying to jump off her bed. It was her feelings for her 14-year-old brother at the time that saved her from her self-harm. "I didn't want my brother to come home, look at me and feel I was giving up."

It took a long time for Lauren to accept her new self. "I was sitting in a small chair taking a shower and crying a lot. I had my wheelchair outside." She also had a conflict. "I was annoyed by everyone except myself. I would live a comfortable life and think" I'm an athlete "and" I'm a pretty girl ", but it's about physical conditions that I can't control. So it took me a while to get angry, whether I was still a valuable person or attractive. "

It was her photographer's girlfriend, Jennifer Robello, who helped Lauren. She took hundreds of photos each time her Lauren recovered as part of her treatment. While taking pictures around the city, they asked the young girls if they had heard of Toxic Shock Syndrome or if they believed it was true, but most of the girls. We answered no.

In the near future, Lauren is about to attend Congress with Congressman Caroline Maloney. Maloney, a female member of the House of Representatives in New York, is trying to pass the Robin Danielson bill. The bill is named after a woman who died in TSS in 1998. The bill will "set up a research program on the risks associated with the presence of dioxin, synthetic fibers, chemical fragrances and other ingredients in products related to women's hygiene." It has been blocked nine times in the past before voting.

Lauren, a lawyer, and Maloney want tampon transparency, not necessarily tampon suspension. Tampons are convenient for stopping bleeding during menstruation and have some meaning to use.

But Lauren is still reluctant to watch tampon commercials, where girls are flirting on the beach, wearing white shorts and playing on slides. There are no warnings about toxic shock syndrome in commercials. She laments, "I can't even climb the slide. I definitely don't want to be in a swimsuit. I can't even jump in the ocean." She said, "Commercial products are humiliating me."

She wants tampons, like cigarettes, to be sold more broadly and clearly, informing consumers of potential risks. "Cigarettes can be a cause of death, so it's up to you to smoke," she said of her options. "If I had a complete knowledge of TSS, I wouldn't use tampons." And she never uses tampons again.

Her girlfriend Jennifer does not shoot Lauren's prosthesis, but points the camera at her face. But she showed me a new photo today. In her portrait, Lauren wears jet-black eye makeup and stands on her own feet. Her prosthesis is wearing New Balance shoes. She is cautious about starting her job as her model. It's been three years since a black toxin vase was placed next to the bed in her room, and a high-pressure treatment device and her prosthesis salesman visited the room and offered a very unpleasant choice. .. Now she calls her feet "small feet" and "small toes", and she can even make a joke about her situation at the time.

Her life has changed drastically before and after her illness, but how can she afford this much, and how can she overcome the crisis? She asked her if she still plays basketball, as she wonders. "If you're going to play a match, there's a match forever," she replied.