Teen Has Breasts Removed After Infection
Teen Has Breasts Removed After Infection
RAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A teenager who decided to get her breasts pierced for her 18th birthday faces reconstructive surgery after a flesh-destroying infection forced doctors to remove her left breast.
Stephanie Edington of Crawfordsville remained hospitalized Friday at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis, where surgeons also removed lymph nodes and infected skin up to her collar bone.
Dr. Robert Goulet Jr., a professor at the Indiana University Cancer Center, said the piercing created an entry point for the bacteria, but the procedure likely did not cause the infection itself. Edington is diabetic, which left her susceptible to infection, he said....
"By the time she got here, the skin tissue was all pretty much completely dead," he said. "She was a very sick kid when she got here."