By Kristen Abraham
Burton, MI (WJRT/CNN) - An 18 year-old girl in Michigan came down with what her family thought was a case of the flu.
But it turns out, her body was actually being ravaged by a rare flesh-eating bacteria.
"It's been just a horrifying week," said Dianna Queen, Kaylee Queen's mom.
A week that Dianna wishes she could forget. She says her daughter has been diagnosed with a flesh-eating bacteria.
"She has a band starting from her leg and up in to abdomen kind of around her side, and up to her abdomen and it was a raised rash. It was literally spreading up her body," said Dianna.
That's when she took Kaylee to the emergency room, she was later admitted to the hospital. That was last Monday. Two days later, Kaylee wasn't improving.
"I gotta a call from her terrified from her hospital room that they were taking her into surgery," said Dianna.
Dianna says doctors told her two kinds of bacteria have attacked Kaylee's body. One has been diagnosed as that flesh-eating disease, the other hasn't been identified yet.
"They may never know exactly how this happened but going from the site of where it started it but it looks like possibly from shaving," said Dianna.
She says doctors have the infection contained, but Kaylee remains in the ICU. The girl who loves music, fashion, and photography is showing signs of improvement. After surgery she asked for her mother's chick soup and her cell phone.
"She knows how close she came and how serious it is and she's looking at it as a second chance in life," said Dianna.
Her family says doctors were forced to remove tissue and muscle that were destroyed by the bacteria.
Kaylee has been told to expect a two to three month long recovery period.
WJRT/CNN