Monsters Inside Me

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HOST VO

A walk in the woods leaves a teenager fighting for his sight.

TEEN VO/OC

I’m thinking I don’t want to go blind; please don’t let me go blind.

HOST VO

A construction worker does battle with a deadly worm that’s been breeding within him for 30 years,

ANA MOURA VO/OC

It’s very emotional for me because I think I’m really losing him.

HOST VO

…and an eight year old girl is attacked by a hideous organism that makes its nest inside her body.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

It feels like somebody is tearing out my insides.

HOST VO

Three vicious parasites united by one devastating strategy: they infect their host, then reproduce at terrifying speed.  They are all around us.  They are deadly.  They are the breeders.

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MUSIC IN

HOST VO

Worms invisible to the human eye, insects thirsty for blood, microscopic amoeba.  They might look harmless but these are some of nature’s deadliest creatures.  They can hijack our bodies, disable our immune systems.  They are parasites, but to those infected they are the Monsters Inside Me.

HOST VO

A parasite is an organism that lives in or on another living creature called a host.  They are among the oldest and most successful forms of life on earth, and like every other organism on the planet parasites must do one thing to survive, reproduce.

DAN RISKIN OC/VO

All organisms need to breed and parasites are no different.  Part of the reason a parasite needs a host is that’s where it’s going to reproduce.  A host provides food and shelter for the growing parasite, but when the breeders take over a host’s body the host can die.

HOST VO

Not all parasites are deadly, but many can cause permanent damage and they can infect their host in the simplest of ways, as…

HOST VO

…a teenage boy is about to discover.  In 2005, Kenny Watson is a 16 year old high school junior living in the rural town of Hardy, Arkansas.  

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I go to school, hang out with my friends, kind of goof off.  We have fun.  We make it through the day and try to tolerate school since it’s not all too exciting to be there.

HOST VO

Kenny lives with his mother, Dianna.

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

Kenneth is a very easy going person.  He likes to kid.  Kenneth is notorious for pulling pranks and tricks and fooling people.  He’s wonderful at it.

HOST VO

But Kenny’s happy go lucky life is about to be plunged into darkness.  One Monday morning in late fall Dianna heads to Kenny’s room to get him up and ready for school.

KENNY WATSON OC/VO

It’s a pretty normal day and mom comes in; she’s waking me up.

HOST VO

But as soon as Kenny opens his eyes he notices something is wrong.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I’m waking up and looking around.  I’m noticing I’m not seeing anything.

HOST VO

He mentions the problem to his mom, but she isn’t sure whether to believe him.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

Kenneth is famous for faking.  He’s pulled quite a number of stunts where he pretended to be ill so he doesn’t have to go to school.  I just look at him and I told him that you, you’re eye is fine.  You need to get up.  You’re not staying home.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

And she’s telling me I better get my butt ready and get to the bus stop…

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…because you’re going to school.

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HOST VO

The bus stop is only a half mile from the house, but as soon as Kenny sets out he starts having trouble.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I still can’t see much, much at all actually.  It’s pretty rocky so I’m tripping over myself.  As I get to the, you know, the end of the road I’m just sitting there, waving my hand in front of my face.  I can’t even see my own hand and that’s when I started to get scared.

HOST VO

Barely able to see, Kenny turns around and heads home.

HOST VO

When he gets there his mother is not happy to see him.

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

I am totally aggravated at this point.  I ask him, “What are you doing?  Why aren’t you waiting for the bus?”

HOST VO

But it quickly becomes clear that something is very wrong with her son.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I’m talking to my mom and I don’t even know if I’m looking at her face.  All I can see is, you know, a big black dot blocking everything.  I’m thinking, you know I, I, don’t want to go blind; please don’t let me go blind, you know, and I start crying like a baby.  I think that’s when she starts to believe me.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

He’s, he’s crying.  He’s in tears and my son just does not cry unless something is terribly wrong.  I think to myself okay, maybe he’s not faking.

HOST VO

Dianna immediately makes an appointment with their family optometrist, Dr. Jerry Ellis.  One hour later Kenny is in his exam room.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

Shining lights in my eye and he’s asking me to follow his finger.  I can’t; I can’t see his finger.

DR. JERRY ELLIS VO/OC

When I hear that he can’t see anything waving in front of his eyes; that’s when I get very concerned about him.  When I look in the back of his eyes I see something I’ve never seen before.

HOST VO

Kenny’s eyeball is filled with blood.

DR. JERRY ELLIS VO/OC

There’s a 50-50 chance that he may lose vision permanently in that eye.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

I’m waiting and I’m scared.  I don’t know what’s wrong with my son.

HOST VO

Dr. Ellis goes to break the news to Kenny and his mother.

DIANNA WATSON VO

The doctor comes in.  He seems concerned and there’s an air of urgency about him.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

When he tells me that my eye’s bleeding, that’s when I start to get scared even more.

DR. JERRY ELLIS VO/OC

I tell his mother that I don’t know what’s causing this, but I do know a retina specialist that has the equipment and the expertise to be able to handle this for them.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

And he asks, you know, “How soon can you guys get to Memphis,” and my mom looks at him and goes, “As soon as you need us to be there.”  

HOST VO

Dianna and Kenny rush to the retina specialist, but it may be too late to save Kenny’s sight.

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

Memphis is 150 miles away.  We have to go there today, right now.  It’s frantic; it’s frightening; it’s scary and we’re trying to hurry.  Normally it’s a three hour drive; we make it in two.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

This has easily been the craziest day of my life.  At this point I’m pretty much braced for the worst to come.

HOST VO

Kenny and Dianna reach the Hamilton Eye Institute in Memphis.  They find retinal specialist Dr. Steve Charles is already waiting for them.  He begins by examining Kenny’s eye.

DR. STEVE CHARLES VO/OC

The damage that we saw in the eye took on two characteristics: one was this pocket of hemorrhage.  Surrounding that, the otherwise normal retina had this little patchwork quilt of white lines.

HOST VO

Dr. Charles shows the images to Dianna and Kenny.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

I can see these white tracks just all over his eye.  My heart just sinks.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

And it looks like there’s been something crawling around in my eye.

HOST VO

The white lines are the clue Dr. Charles’ needs to solve the mystery.

DR. STEVE CHARLES OC/VO

One look, you know instantly what it is.  The diagnosis is ocular myiasis.

DAN RISKIN OC/VO

Myiasis is a general term that describes any time that fly larvae infest the human body.  They can get in through open wounds, through openings in the skin or they can be swallowed.  When larvae infect the human eye it causes a condition called ocular myiasis.

HOST VO

A fly larva or maggot is living in Kenny’s eyeball and feeding off his retinal tissue, leaving bloody tracks in its wake.  Left unchecked, the maggot will eat Kenny’s eyeball.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

Is this a joke?  There’s no way I have a maggot in my eye.

HOST VO

But it’s no joke.

HOST VO

Dr. Charles tells Kenny and Dianna that time is running out.

DR. STEVE CHARLES VO/OC

The fly larva will do damage to the eye and if there’s enough damage that will remove central vision permanently.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

My son may not see again out of that eye.  It’s frightening to think of what my child might have to face.

HOST VO

There’s only one way to stop the parasite, surgery.

KENNY WATSON OC/VO

It scared me pretty bad.  Facing blindness at 16 is horrible.

HOST VO

16-year-old Kenny Watson has a live maggot in his eye.  It has started to eat away at his retina.  If doctors don’t act fast it will destroy his eye.  There’s only one way to stop the parasite, surgery.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

At this point I’m pretty much braced for the worst to come.

HOST VO

As doctors prepare Kenny for the operation, his mother Dianna can only look on.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

I know that he’s afraid and that frightens me.  No parent wants to see their child afraid.

KENNY WATSON OC/VO

They’re telling me, you know, this is what we’re gonna do and how we’re gonna do it.  The nurses come in and my mom tells me, you know, “I’ll see you when you get back.”

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

The last thing I told my son as they wheeled him away was that I loved him, and I watched and waited while they rolled him down the hall and then I cried when he couldn’t see me because I was afraid.

HOST VO

But in the O-R Dr. Charles is struggling to locate the maggot that is eating away at Kenny’s retina.  The bleeding in Kenny’s eye is making it impossible for him to find the parasite.

DR. STEVE CHARLES VO/OC

What we knew for sure is that a large hemorrhage was blocking the central vision.  The hemorrhage not only blocked the patient’s vision, it had blocked our ability to look for the fly larva.

HOST VO

Using a special tube surgeons suck out the excess blood and at last get an unrestricted view of the parasite.

DR. STEVE CHARLES VO/OC

The parasite is extremely small, about the size of a large water droplet.

HOST VO

Dr. Charles removes the maggot, but it may be too late to save Kenny’s sight.

DR. STEVE CHARLES OC/VO

If the fly larva has done sufficient damage then central vision could be lost forever.

HOST VO

Only time will tell how much of Kenny’s sight has been lost.

HOST VO

In the recovery room Kenny begins to come around.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I wake up and I’m back in the room looking at my mom.

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

It just seemed like a stark reality to see him laying there, pale and bandaged.

KENNY WATSON OC/VO

You know, I’m starting to think, you know, maybe I’ll never see again and maybe my blindness is permanent, and that’s definitely scary.

HOST VO

While they wait to find out how bad the damage is, doctors turn their attention to how the maggot got into Kenny’s eye in the first place.

HOST VO

Their investigation begins with the fly.  Adult flies normally lay their eggs in the flesh of a dead animal.  The eggs hatch into maggots which feed on rotting flesh.  The maggots then burrow into the soil.  Two weeks later they emerge as adult flies ready to breed.

HOST VO

So the doctors ask Kenny if he has come into contact with any flies recently.

KENNY WATSON OC

And then it just, it dawns on me.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

Two weeks ago I remember walking to school and, you know, it was a nice day out and boom, a fly in my eye.

HOST VO

Dr. Charles thinks that as Kenny removed the fly it laid an egg and this is what grew into the larvae that began to eat away at his eye.

HOST VO

In the hospital Dr. Charles has news for Kenny and his mother.

DIANNA WATSON VO/OC

The doctor reassured me that the maggot did not damage Kenneth’s eye permanently and relief just washes over me.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

My eye is killing me but I can see again.

HOST VO

With the parasite gone Kenny stands to make a full recovery.  Today with the help of glasses Kenny’s vision is back to being 20-20.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I’m feeling pretty lucky that all I have to do is wear glasses.  Because of all this I definitely don’t take my vision for granted anymore.

DAN RISKIN VO/OC

Ultimately the inside of a human eye is a dead end for a fly maggot, but it doesn’t know that so it’s going to feed and grow until it dies.

HOST VO

Maggots have also been known to invade the human ear and from there travel to the brain where they feed on brain tissue.  If this happens the consequences can be fatal.

HOST VO

But in the U.S. maggots rarely make their home inside a living person.

DAN RISKIN VO/OC

Once inside a host many parasites don’t just reproduce, they reproduce quickly and in huge numbers.

HOST VO

And when parasites use the human body as their breeding ground, the results can be devastating.

HOST VO

Ana Moura lives in suburban Roselle, New Jersey, with her two daughters, Nicole and Veronica, and her husband Francisco.  Francisco is a laborer and the rock that holds their family together.

VERONICA MOURA VO/OC

My dad is a very loving father and he works very hard to support us.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

Francisco is not only a very hard worker; he’s very witty, very funny.  He’s a very good dad.  

NICOLE MOURA VO/OC

He made me want to go out and, you know, enjoy everything in life, you know, work hard but not too hard.  Just, you know, live life to the fullest basically.

HOST VO

But this family’s perfect home life is about to be torn apart by the horrors of parasitic infection.

HOST VO

April, 2006.  Ana comes home from work to find Francisco collapsed on the couch.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

He does look a bit tired, a bit drained, and I asked him what is wrong.

HOST VO

Francisco tells Ana that he hasn’t been feeling well at work.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

He says well I’m having these lower back pains and cramps down his leg.  This is not like Francisco.  He’s never complained about any sort of pain.  I know it’s sharp pain down the legs, maybe it’s a pinched nerve.  I start to think well maybe he should be seeing a chiropractor.  

HOST VO

Ana makes an appointment for Francisco to see a chiropractor to examine his back.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

The chiropractor believes that Francisco’s spine is not aligned.  He does do the massages and a variation of different exercises.

HOST VO

But after several months of treatment the pain is no better.  In fact, it’s gotten worse.

ANA MOURA OC/VO

I’m confused.  Being he’s going to a chiropractor for such a long time there should be some results.  I really want to know what is going on in his lower back.

HOST VO

The chiropractor sends Francisco for a C-T scan.  When the results come back they reveal something no one had expected.

ANA MOURA OC/VO

His spine is aligned properly however there is a dark spot showing around his pelvic area, roughly the size of a grapefruit.  He’s thinking the worst.  He’s thinking it’s cancer.

HOST VO

Ana Moura has just received the terrifying news that her husband Francisco has a mass the size of a grapefruit on his pelvis.  She knows she must be strong for her family.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

I’m trying to be the rock.  I’m trying to give him strength and I’m telling him no matter what, you’re gonna have to take it a day at a time, but I do become very concerned and is this cancer, is it not.

HOST VO

That night Francisco and his wife break the news to their daughters.

VERONICA MOURA VO/OC

At dinner they tell me that Daddy has a tumor and I was heartbroken.  I’m terrified that I’m gonna lose my father, terrified that I might not ever see him again.  I’m really scared.

HOST VO

For Veronica, the thought that she might lose her father is devastating.

VERONICA MOURA VO/OC

We had my sweet 16 planned out for a while and I always wanted to dance with my father.  That’s the one thing that I want out of the whole entire night.  I’m scared that he’s just not gonna make it.

HOST VO

But there is some good news.  The doctors believe that the tumor may not be life threatening and they decide to monitor the growth to see if it changes in size.  They prescribe Francisco drugs to fight the pain.

HOST VO

But as the days go by Ana notices that her husband’s condition is beginning to deteriorate.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

Home life at this point is very stressful.  When you have a grown man scream in pain, not being able to move, it’s really bad.  Francisco is incapable of doing the smallest tasks, including walking.  I get very saddened by seeing somebody that could carry the world not being able to at least walk.  He’s in such bad shape that he can no longer work.

VERONICA MOURA OC/VO

It just got to a point where I just couldn’t even watch.  I just wanted to run to my room and cry, and I did a lot.  I don’t want to see my dad go through so much pain.

HOST VO

One day Ana is at work when the phone rings.

ANA MOURA OC/VO

Francisco calls me at work.  I said, “What’s wrong?”  He said, “I can’t even go to the bathroom.”  

HOST VO

Alarmed by this new symptom Ana rushes home to her husband.  When she gets there she is horrified by what she finds.

ANA MOURA OC/VO

Francisco is in agonizing pain.  I practically have to carry him into the car.  I just try to keep my tears back so he doesn’t see the pain that I’m going through.

HOST VO

At the hospital doctors insert a catheter to relieve Francisco’s bladder, but the pain in his back continues to get worse.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

It’s heart wrenching for me to have to see him go through that much pain.

HOST VO

The doctors give Francisco morphine for the pain, but it’s not enough.

ANA MOURA VO

He’s in such pain that morphine was not working.

HOST VO

The doctors conclude that Francisco’s tumor must be growing and blocking his bladder.  The only way to relieve the pain is to surgically remove the tumor.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

He is very scared.  He is very nervous.  I turned to him, I said “You’re gonna wake up and I’ll be here.”

HOST VO

And now, Inside The Monster.  Throughout his career, how many patients has retinal specialist, Dr. Steve Charles, treated with a maggot in their eye: A. one, B. 20, C. 100, D. 200?

HOST VO

The number of patients retinal specialist, Dr. Steve Charles, has treated with a maggot in their eye is is A. one.

HOST VO

Francisco Moura has been rushed to the hospital with a tumor that has grown so large it is blocking his bladder.  His wife Ana is by his side.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

I feel helpless.  I don’t know what to do.  It’s very emotional for me because I think I’m really losing him.

HOST VO

In the operating room surgeons cut into the area around Francisco’s pelvis, but as they cut into the tumor it ruptures and a strange black fluid begins to leak out.  The surgeons send a sample of the fluid to the lab for testing.  Analyzing the results…

HOST VO

…is Dr. Christina Coyle, an infectious disease specialist at the Jacobi Medical Center in New York.

DR. CHRISTINA COYLE VO/OC

So when I saw the pathology report and when I saw the CAT scans I knew immediately what this was.  There was no question in my mind.  This is a parasitic infection called echinococcus granulosus.  

ANA MOURA VO/OC

I am out of words.  I am confused.  I am shell shocked.  What do you mean it’s not a tumor?  It’s a parasite?

HOST VO

Echinococcus granulosus is a parasitic tapeworm.  When it gets inside a human host the parasite forms a cyst in the body’s organs.  The parasite breeds inside the cyst causing it to swell.

DAN RISKIN VO/OC

This massive cyst, called a Hydatid cyst, causes a lot of problems for the host.  As it grows it presses against organs and nerves causing severe pain.  But if this cyst ruptures and spills its contents into the body the host can be poisoned and even die.

HOST VO

Inside Francisco’s body the parasitic cyst has attached itself to the pelvic bone, making it almost impossible for the surgeons to remove it.

DR. CHRISTINA COYLE VO/OC

The only way to really cure him is to remove the bone and in his case that would cause paralysis.

HOST VO

So Dr. Coyle prescribes a course of antiparasitic drugs that she hopes will kill the parasite and fight the toxins from the ruptured cyst.

HOST VO

While Ana and Francisco wait to see whether the medication will work, they’re left with another burning question: how did the parasite get inside Francisco in the first place?

HOST VO

The adult tapeworm lives in the small intestines of a dog.  There it lays eggs which are passed out with the dog’s feces.  If another animal like a sheep ingests the eggs they enter the sheep’s intestines or circulatory system and form cysts.  When the sheep dies and is eaten by another dog, the dog becomes host to a new generation of tapeworms.  But if a human ingests food or water that is tainted by dog feces contaminated with the parasite, then they can become infected.  When Ana tells the doctors…

HOST VO

…that Francisco grew up in rural Portugal they know exactly how he contracted the parasite.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

The doctor tells us that it’s believed that Francisco got the parasite when he was a very little boy.  Either he drank or he ate something contaminated with animal feces.  

DR. CHRISTINA COYLE VO/OC

He’s probably had this parasite for about 25, 30 years, since childhood.

HOST VO

Fortunately for Francisco, the drugs have started to work.  They have successfully shrunk down the cyst, relieving some of the pressure he was feeling.  Francisco is on the road to recovery, but Ana knows he must work hard if he ever wants to walk again.

ANA MOURA VO/OC

He starts to go to do physical therapy to regain his strength and his muscle in his leg.  Even though part of this parasite is still living inside him, I do see that he is getting better.

HOST VO

For his daughter Veronica one dream still remains, to dance with her father at her sweet 16.

VERONICA MOURA VO/OC

The day of my sweet 16 I’m just so happy because my dad’s there.  I honestly thought he wasn’t gonna make it.

HOST VO

Francisco is thrilled to be alive and able to be there for his family.

FRANCISCO MOURA OC/VO

It’s amazing that I can go to her sweet 16.  It was very emotional because I thought I was not gonna be there.

VERONICA MOURA VO/OC

The moment I wrapped my arms around him I just burst into tears.

FRANCISCO MOURA VO/OC

I cry.  She cry.  It was an emotional moment for everybody.

VERONICA MOURA OC

I came very close to losing my father.  

ANA MOURA VO/OC

I’m proud of him for the fact that he hung in there and he is stronger than this parasite.

DAN RISKIN VO/OC

The echinococcus granulosus parasite is a kind of tapeworm that is found all over the world, but it’s most common in rural areas where dogs and sheep are abundant.

HOST VO

Only 1,000 cases have ever been reported in the United States.  To avoid contracting echinococcus granulosus, travelers to rural Europe should make sure to maintain proper hygiene, washing their hands regularly and avoiding unwashed food.  While echinococcus infection is uncommon, other parasites are much harder to avoid.

HOST VO

In 1995 Stephanie Haring is a middle school student living in the rural town of Perkiomenville, Pennsylvania, with her mother, Nancy.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

Stephanie is a typical nine-year-old girl.  She’s very loving, quiet natured.  She has lots of friends.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I love going to school and seeing all my friends.  I love classes; I am a straight A student.

NANCY LISS VO

She’s very athletic.  She hates to be inside.

HOST VO

But Stephanie’s energetic life is about to grind to a complete halt.

HOST VO

One morning Nancy is driving Stephanie to school when her daughter begins to feel unwell.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

My stomach really hurts; it’s very painful.  I feel like I want to throw up, but it’s not like your normal stomach pain like when you have the stomach flu.  I know something’s just not right about it.  It feels like someone is pulling at my insides.

HOST VO

Little does Stephanie know that she’s already locked in a battle with a deadly parasitic invader.

HOST VO

Nine-year-old Stephanie Haring is on her way to school when she begins to suffer from excruciating stomach pains.  When they arrive at the school Stephanie is feeling so sick she refuses to go in.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

She won’t go into the school so I just say okay, we’re gonna turn around and go home.  If you feel better in a little while I’ll bring you back.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

We walk in the house and my mom tells me to go lay on the couch and relax for a little bit.  I’m hoping that the stomach pains go away so I can return to school.  I don’t like to miss school; I like to see my friends.

HOST VO

But what is causing Stephanie’s stomach pain?

NANCY LISS OC/VO

I think back to the night before, what we might have had for dinner that would have upset her stomach, but we just had a normal chicken and potatoes dinner; nothing out of the ordinary.

HOST VO

Thinking that her daughter has indigestion, Nancy gives Stephanie some liquid antacid.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I’m thinking that the medicine’s working and I’m gonna feel fine and I laid on the couch the rest of the day.

HOST VO

Three days later Stephanie is back at school and in the cafeteria sitting down for lunch.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I ate my lunch and my stomach starts to bother me again.  It really, really hurts.  The pain is getting worse.  It’s getting to be more of a gut wrenching, stomach turning pain.  I’m starting to worry what’s going on because it’s been three days and it’s still bothering me.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

I get a phone call from school.  It’s the school nurse letting me know that Stephanie is in her office.  She’s crying that her stomach really hurts.

HOST VO

But what is behind Stephanie’s stomach aches is a mystery.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

She has no fever, no headache, no diarrhea and I am just totally bewildered.  I can’t figure out rhyme or reason why her stomach keeps bothering her.

HOST VO

Once again Nancy pulls Stephanie out of school.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

As a mom I want to help her to feel better, but I can’t figure it out.

HOST VO

And after two weeks Stephanie is in so much pain she can’t even get out of bed.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

The pain is getting so unbearable.  I don’t want to get out of bed at this point.  I just want to lay there and cry.  This is where I realized that something is definitely wrong.

HOST VO

But her mother Nancy still hopes that Stephanie is just suffering from a stomach bug.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

She begs me, “Please Mommy, can you please take me to the doctor.”  I call the pediatrician and make the appointment but in my head I’m thinking I’ll go to the doctor and she’ll tell me that Stephanie’s fine.

HOST VO

At the pediatrician’s office Stephanie begins to recount her symptoms.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I described to the doctor that the, it feels like somebody’s tearing apart my insides.  I don’t even want to get out of bed.  I don’t want to eat.  I’m afraid if I eat my stomach’s gonna hurt even worse.

HOST VO

The doctor performs a physical exam but finds nothing wrong with Stephanie.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

To me I know something’s wrong on the inside.  I can feel it.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

The doctor tells me to just keep giving her the antacid, keeping her on the bland diet and see if it just goes away.

STEPHANIE HARING VO

The doctor told my mom that everything’s fine.

HOST VO

But as a precaution the doctor runs a series of tests on Stephanie’s stool and urine samples.

STEPHANIE HARING VO

So my mother takes me back home.

MUSIC OUT

MUSIC IN

HOST VO

Two days later Nancy is getting ready for work when the phone rings.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

I get a phone call from the pediatrician’s office that they had found something in the stool sample, that I have to bring Stephanie back in.  When someone tells you that they have found something in your child’s body your mind just plays games with you.  I’m thinking the worst.  I’m thinking my daughter has cancer.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

The doctor calls and asks us to return to the office, which really scares me because I’ve never heard of anybody getting a phone call from the doctor saying come back and it being good.

HOST VO

Doctors think they have finally diagnosed the cause of Stephanie Haring’s crippling stomach pains.

HOST VO

Stephanie’s mother Nancy drives her daughter to the doctor’s office to receive the news.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I’m worried that I’m gonna be really, really sick and they might not be able to, to give me anything to make it better.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

She’s telling me, “Mommy, I told you something was wrong with me.  I told you something was wrong with me.”  I really am feeling that I’m a horrible mother for not listening to my child when she says she’s not feeling well, and then I’m thinking well does she have cancer, could she have something wrong with her intestines?  I just, I really did not know what to think.

HOST VO

At the doctor’s office Stephanie and Nancy wait anxiously for the results.

STEPHANIE HARING OC

I am scared; scared about what the doctor’s gonna say.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

The doctor comes in the office, looks at us and says, “I know what’s making her sick.”

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

The doctor tells us that I have giardia and I was just totally taken back.  I was like well what is that?

HOST VO

Giardia is a protozoan parasite that causes a painful disease called giardiasis.

DAN RISKIN OC

Giardiasis is an infection of the small intestine that’s caused by a microorganism called giardia lambia.

HOST VO

When the giardia parasite enters the small intestine it gorges itself on the body’s nutrients.  The body sends immune cells to fight the parasite causing painful cramps, but the parasite evades the body’s defenses by transforming into an impenetrable cyst.  Protected from the host’s immune system the parasite breeds rapidly, eventually colonizing the host’s entire intestinal tract.

DAN RISKIN OC/VO

The problem with giardia is that most people don’t even realize they have it.  It’s usually misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome, and without an accurate diagnosis and the appropriate medication giardia can run rampant in the intestines.  If this parasite goes unchecked it can cause enough diarrhea to severely dehydrate the host.

HOST VO

And for young children and the elderly…

HOST VO

…severe dehydration can be deadly.  When she learns that she has been harboring a parasite, Stephanie is stunned.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

You’re telling me I have something living inside of me?  I’m just totally blown away by it.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

Never in a million years would I have thought that she would have had a parasite.  This is turning out to be a nightmare.

STEPHANIE HARING OC/VO

I’m amazed, I’m confused, I’m disgusted.  I’m wondering what’s gonna happen to me.  Is this something that I have to deal with for the rest of my life?

HOST VO

Giardia is particularly dangerous when it infects young children.  The doctor prescribes a course of drugs to kill the parasite.

HOST VO

While they wait for the drugs to take effect, the doctors must figure out how and where Stephanie contracted the parasite.  Giardia begins as a cyst living in fresh water where it is ingested by a small mammal such as a beaver.  In the beaver’s intestines the parasite emerges from the cyst and reproduces, laying thousands of eggs that are passed back out into the water in cyst form.  When these cysts are ingested by a new host the cycle of parasitic infection continues.

DAN RISKIN OC/VO

Because giardia are able to reproduce so quickly it only takes a few cysts to create a population of thousands.  It’s this reproductive strategy that makes giardia such an effective breeder and one of the most successful human parasites on the planet.

HOST VO

Health officials question Nancy about where Stephanie could have become infected.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

They said she possibly could have gotten a hold of contaminated water and they asked me where Stephanie has been around water lately.

HOST VO

And right away Stephanie thinks she might have an answer.

STEPHANIE HARING OC/VO

The only place that I can think of where I would have picked it up would be the creek behind the baseball field.  Me and a couple friends would go back to the creek and play in the water, try and catch fish with our bare hands.  I am most definitely sure that that’s where I got infected.

HOST VO

The doctors agree that Stephanie probably contracted the giardia parasite when she ingested contaminated water from a stream near her home.

HOST VO

Stephanie continues taking the medication and after three days her mom Nancy notices a dramatic change.

NANCY LISS OC

After the third day on the medication she seems perfectly fine.  She goes back to her normal routine and that’s it.  We never have a problem again.

HOST VO

Stephanie has made a full recovery, but for her mother there is one pain that will not go away.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

I do feel a little guilty not listening to Stephanie.  I should’ve realized that she knows her own body, that when she says that she’s not feeling well that she really was not feeling well.

STEPHANIE HARING OC

It could happen to anybody that could be some crazy parasite or illness that you wouldn’t expect to get just doing a normal everyday activity.

HOST VO

Giardia is one of the most common waterborne parasites in the United States.  It can be found in recreational and drinking water.  The parasite is the cause of up to 25 percent of cases of gastrointestinal disease in the United States.  The best way to avoid infection with the giardia parasite is to avoid drinking untreated water, insure that…

HOST VO

…fruit and vegetables are washed in clean water and maintain good hygiene before eating and after using the bathroom.  And for those that do become infected there are drugs that can kill giardia before it kills its host.

DAN RISKIN VO/OC

Part of the reason a parasite needs a host is because a host is where a parasite is going to reproduce, but when the parasites shift their focus from feeding to breeding, they can overrun the host and ultimately kill it.

HOST VO

For more disgusting parasites and tips on how to avoid them, visit our website: animalplanet.com/Monsters Inside Me.

MUSIC IN

DAN RISKIN VO

The reason that there are so many successful parasites on earth today is that for millennia they’ve been able to reproduce inside hosts, and as long as there are hosts on earth there will be parasites that use them to breed.

MUSIC IN

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

So I get on with my day and start brushing my teeth and getting dressed.

HOST VO

But the problem with Kenny’s vision doesn’t go away.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

I’m looking in the mirror but I can’t see anything.  There’s this huge black dot that blocks my entire field of vision like a ball of smoke almost.  It moves with my sight.  I look to the left and the black dot goes with me.  I look to the right and there it is.  I can’t make out anything.

HOST VO

As Kenny tries to figure out what’s going on a new symptom appears.

KENNY WATSON VO/OC

When I try to focus on things my head starts to hurt.  It’s just it hurts.  It’s a headache.  It’s a migraine is what it feels like.  It’s just unbearable.

HOST VO

When he gets downstairs Kenny tells his mom about the dark spot in his eye and the pounding headache.

DIANNA WATSON OC/VO

I’m just not buying any of this.  I look into his eye and I just don’t see anything.  I don’t see an eyelash.  There’s nothing there.

MUSIC IN

DAN RISKIN VO

Once a maggot is fully formed, the next step is for it to turn into a fly and a fly can’t live inside flesh so it needs to get out.  So as the maggot moves its way through the flesh trying to get out it destroys tissue as it goes and if it destroys the retina that causes permanent blindness.

MUSIC IN

DAN RISKIN OC

The more they breed the more offspring they could produce, but for a host that parasitic population explosion can be lethal.

MUSIC IN

ANA MOURA OC

To help not only try to straighten more of his spine, but release a lot of the pain that he’s having on the spine.

MUSIC IN

ANA MOURA VO

And I turned to him and I tell him well maybe you should see someone else.

MUSIC IN

ANA MOURA VO/OC

I do see him getting back to life and trying to go about his daily routine.

MUSIC IN

HOST VO

Maybe Stephanie isn’t sick at all.

NANCY LISS OC/VO

I am really starting to think that Stephanie does not want to be in school any more, which is really puzzling me.  She loves school.  Maybe there is something there that’s going on that I’m not aware of.  Maybe she’s upset about something that she doesn’t want to share with me.

HOST VO

Nancy decides to do a little detective work.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

I talked to the teacher.  I ask her if there’s something going on in the classroom that I should be aware of.

HOST VO

But the teacher insists that Stephanie is getting along fine at school.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

Her teacher tells me that she’s the perfect student.  She behaves, she participates in the class, that she never sees a problem.  I asked her teacher if she had any problems with any of the other kids in the class and she said that Stephanie is getting along fine with all of her friends, that she doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

MUSIC IN

HOST VO

The next morning Stephanie’s stomach pain is even worse.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

At this point I’m afraid to eat.  I’m worried that if I eat something my stomach’s gonna start bothering me again.

HOST VO

Concerned about her daughter’s health, Nancy turns her attention back to what Stephanie has been eating.

NANCY LISS VO/OC

After she had eaten her stomach hurts.  It must be related to her food.  I change her diet.  I really try to stick to very bland things, nothing spicy; something that’s easy to digest.  I started giving her plain toast, oatmeal and her stomach’s still hurting her.  Nothing is improving; nothing’s changing.

MUSIC IN

NANCY LISS VO/OC

She’s not complaining about going to school any more.  We get there; she hops out, gives me a kiss goodbye and she goes on with her day.  No phone calls at all.  I am so relieved that this whole thing is over with.  It was just so draining on both of us that I, I couldn’t imagine having to go through this again.

MUSIC IN

HOST VO

Today Stephanie is a mother herself.

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I sympathize with my mom.  I guess as a mother myself now, you know, you wonder when your children are really sick or when they’re just trying to get out of going to school because my son does that.  He wakes up in the morning and says, “Oh Mommy, my belly hurts.  I don’t want to go to school.”  I guess I have more of an understanding now that I’m a mother.

HOST VO

Stephanie is also philosophical about her battle with the giardia parasite.

MUSIC IN

STEPHANIE HARING VO/OC

I don’t want her to feel guilty about not taking me to the doctor’s right away.