The Jack In The Box Poisonings -- A Feeling Of Helplessness -- Parents Of Sick Children Can Only Wait And Hope

On the days his wife worked, it was Joseph Dolan who picked up their two young daughters, Mary and Aundrea, from day care. And once they got home, he cooked them dinner.

But the children often got hungry while they waited, and soon it became part of the trio's routine to stop at a fast-food restaurant on the way home.

It was an easy routine to fall into. The children liked the food and they enjoyed playing in the restaurant play areas. For their father - like many busy parents pressed for time or energy - it was a quick and simple way to get the children fed.

But over the past two weeks that everyday decision thrust the Dolans and other families into the midst of a nightmare. The hardest hit of the more than 100 people suffering from E. coli bacterial poisoning have been the children and their parents.

Mary, who will turn 4 next month, and her sister, Aundrea, who is 2 1/2, were among the first children stricken with food-poisoning to be brought to Children's Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle.

A few days after eating a cheeseburger at a Jack in the Box near their Kent home, both girls came down with a fever, then diarrhea and severe stomach cramps. On Saturday, they went to Valley Medical Center and were transferred to Children's early last Sunday.

Aundrea's condition soon stabilized and on Monday evening she went home. But Mary, who was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a kidney failure that results in about 10 percent of those infected with E. coli 0157:H7, only got worse. Her blood platelet count plummeted and she had headaches and more cramps.

On Tuesday she had a platelet transfusion, but the following day she started vomiting. She could look only out of the left side of her eyes and kept screaming her mother's name.

Doctors performed tests, and found Mary had had a mild stroke on her left side, then a seizure. She was moved to the intensive-care unit.

"We weren't sure what would happen," Dorothy Dolan said. "You try to do as much for your kids and when a doctor says she's going downhill and there's not much you can do, it's the most awful feeling in the world. To have a healthy child one minute and to watch her down the next."

It is a feeling that Paul and Kimeeta Palmer, who have been keeping vigil at the bedside of their 5-year-old daughter, Kimesha, know well.

"It's pretty terrifying," said Paul Palmer. "As a parent, you don't want your children to hurt like this but it's totally out of your control and that's tough."

Kimesha first became ill Thursday, Jan. 14, about five days after eating a hamburger from Jack in the Box. After she started displaying the symptoms associated with the bacterial infection, the Palmers took her to a neighborhood clinic Friday.

The officials there didn't know what was wrong with Kimesha but they took test samples before sending her home. After she continued to have severe stomach cramps, the couple took her to another hospital, where she was given some medication.

On Monday, Kimeeta Palmer talked to a friend, Victoria Romero, and learned about the food poisoning outbreak. Later that day, Kimesha was transferred to Children's.

"We've been under so much stress and pain," Paul Palmer said. "On Tuesday, our worst fears were confirmed and we learned that she had the E. coli bacteria."

For much of the week, her condition progressively got worse. On Thursday, they were told Kimesha would have to undergo kidney dialysis. Paul Palmer took the day off from work to be at the hospital as doctors performed surgery.

PARENTS SUPPORT OTHERS

Through their ordeal, the Dolans have found some comfort in the close ties they've formed with other parents, including the Palmers, who are in a neighboring room.

By mid-week, Mary's condition had started to improve, but they remained concerned about the other afflicted children.

"We talk and compare notes and share stories to support each other; it's helpful for me," said Joseph Dolan. "I'm appreciative of the fact that we were spared the worst of it. But the torture is still unsettling. To see what it could have been like . . ."

The news of the death of 2-year-old Michael James Nole of Tacoma Friday morning spread quickly among the parents.

"My sister called this morning and everybody was crying at the house," Dorothy Dolan said. "It easily could have happened to us. It could have been anybody's kid."

When Mary overheard that the boy had died, she asked her mother what happened to him. Dorothy Dolan told her the boy had gone to heaven.

Paul Palmer was also shaken by the news.

"It was pretty sad over here when we heard the news," he said. "I really feel for the parents."

"It brought home the fact that this could really kill," said Romero, who has also been helping the Palmers during the past week. "When I left Kim the night before, she was happy, bubbly and her usual motormouth self. I was at home when I heard it and I thought would she be able to get out of this."

SOME GOOD NEWS

But, ironically, it was also on Friday that the Palmers and the Dolans got the best news of the week.

On Friday afternoon, after a week of increasingly grim news, the doctors told the Palmers that Kimesha would not have to undergo dialysis after all because her own system was kicking in.

The Dolans, meanwhile, were told that tests done on Mary indicate the stroke caused no lasting neurological and physical damage. They were also told that she would be able to go home.

Late Friday afternoon, as she napped on her small bed at Children's Hospital, her parents, Joseph and Dorothy Dolan, gathered all their belongings, including dozens of heart-shaped balloons and stuffed animals accumulated in the past week.

"It's great," Dorothy Dolan said with a tired smile. "It's almost over."

But Paul Palmer was more cautiously optimistic.

"I still have the feeling that it's not over yet," he said. "The fear is always in the back of my mind. The best thing is when she gets completely out of here."

CONCENTRATE ON RECOVERY

Although both families hold Jack in the Box responsible for what happened to their children, the parents say they plan to concentrate on their recovery rather than focusing on legal action.

With Mary home, the Dolan family plans to celebrate by simply enjoying their reunion. Joseph Dolan said he also plans to make good on a promise to take the girls to Disneyland.

But even when the children are out of the hospital, their parents say their lives will never be the same.

"Right now she has nightmares about it, and I'm sure she'll still have nightmares when she gets out," Palmer said. "And from now on, even the slightest tummy ache will bring back the fear for us."

Mary, meanwhile, won't have to undergo any more dialysis treatments, but she and Aundrea will have to come back to the hospital for periodic blood tests.

Joseph Dolan, who initially felt guilty over having taken his daughters to Jack in the Box, said he has resolved the feelings of guilt, but not his anger.

On Friday, as Joseph Dolan drove his daughter, Aundrea, to the hospital for the first of periodic follow-up blood tests, they passed a Jack in the Box. Aundrea excitedly asked if they could stop.

"I had to tell her that I don't think we'll eat there anymore," Dolan said. "She doesn't understand the cause and she doesn't have any qualms about going there, but I can't ever picture ever going there again."