CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s daughter Alice, 15, describes how her skin turned GREEN and she almost died
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Jake Tapper’s 15-year-old daughter has revealed she nearly died last year from a ruptured appendix, her illness misdiagnosed for several days when her skin started turning green.
Alice Paul Tapper, writing an op-ed for her father’s employers on CNN, is relaying her experience of a surprisingly common problem.
She wrote that around Thanksgiving last year, she was hospitalized with stomach pains, but doctors immediately told her it wasn’t appendicitis, a condition in which the appendix swells and fills with fluid, causing causes severe pain.
Alice said doctors ruled out appendicitis because she said her pain was in her entire abdomen and not on the right side, and doctors believed it was a viral infection.
Doctors also refused ultrasound scans or antibiotics, believing the former “weren’t necessary” and the latter would do “more harm than good,” according to Jake and his wife Jennifer Tapper.
Jake Tapper’s 15-year-old daughter has revealed she nearly died last year from a ruptured appendix, her illness misdiagnosed for several days when her skin started turning green.
Alice Paul Tapper, writing an op-ed for her father’s employers on CNN, is passing on her experience because she and her family want to spread awareness about the surprisingly common problem.
She wrote that around Thanksgiving last year, she was hospitalized with stomach pains, but doctors immediately told her it wasn’t appendicitis, a condition in which the appendix swells and fills with fluid, causing causes severe pain.
Alice said doctors ruled out appendicitis because she said her pain was in her entire abdomen and not on the right side, as doctors believed it was a viral infection.
The pain got worse and even her skin began to turn pale green as the days passed, and mother Jennifer told her CNN’s Sanjay Gupta that he thought Alice was dying.
Alice recalls her experience: ‘I felt powerless. My condition was not the only thing that alarmed me; so did the lack of acknowledgment I received from the hospital. they did not listen to me; when I described to the doctors how much pain I was in, they responded with condescending looks.’
Jake Tapper eventually spoke to the hospital administrator and did an X-ray, which showed not a viral infection but a perforated appendix that was leaking bacteria through Alice’s internal organs.
The 15-year-old had drains inserted into her body to get rid of the bacteria, eventually sending her into hypovolemic shock. She called it “the scariest night of my life.”
She recovered, but had to stay in hospital for another week after leaving the ICU, what she describes as cramps that left her barely able to walk and “uncomfortable drainage” in her body.
Jake Tapper eventually spoke to the hospital administrator and did an X-ray, which showed not a viral infection but a perforated appendix that was leaking bacteria through Alice’s internal organs.
The 15-year-old had drains inserted into her body to get rid of the bacteria, eventually sending her into hypovolemic shock. She called it ‘the scariest night of my life’
About 12 weeks later, he was finally able to have an appendectomy at a hospital in Jake Tapper’s hometown of Philadelphia.
Father Jake said: “Appendicitis doesn’t always present in the standard way, which means that this specific misdiagnosis happens all too often, and sometimes with much more tragic results.”
Alice added in her opinion piece that “despite being the most common surgical emergency in children, appendicitis may go unrecognized in 15 percent of children at initial presentation.”
The reasons for this are because appendicitis can mimic other ailments, citing research stating that “up to half of patients with appendicitis may not show the classic signs” of the ailment.
He said that after he started to recover, there were still problems, from losing weight to having a hard time eating and going to school.
About 12 weeks later, he was finally able to undergo an appendectomy at a hospital in Jake Tapper’s hometown of Philadelphia.
Alice said her experience led her to discover that other children have had similar problems and even died, citing a five-year-old English girl named Elspeth Moore.
Alice said her experience led her to discover that other children had had similar problems and even died, citing a five-year-old English girl named Elspeth Moore.
She added: ‘I wish it had never happened to me, obviously, but it was a very important learning experience for me. I want other kids to know that they need to stand up for themselves.’
Jake described his daughter as “stronger and in better shape than ever” on his The Lead Thursday show.
The emotional story is actually Alice Tapper’s second op-ed in her young life, having written an essay for the New York Times in 2017 about how she thinks girls should be more assertive in school.
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The emotional story is actually Alice Tapper’s second op-ed in her young life, having written an essay for the New York Times in 2017 about how she thinks girls should be more assertive in school.
Alice’s parents met during the 2004 presidential election, when her father was covering politics for ABC’s Washington Bureau, according to the Washington Post.
When they married, Alice’s mother, Jennifer Brown, was a regional manager for Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC, recruiting, educating, and organizing supporters for the organization. She is now a consultant to nonprofit organizations and serves on the board of directors of Population Action International, an NGO that uses research to advocate for global access to family planning and reproductive health care. The family resides in the DC area.
Alice’s parents met during the 2004 presidential election, when her father was covering politics for ABC’s Washington Bureau, according to the Washington Post.
When they married, Alice’s mother, Jennifer Brown, was a regional manager for Planned Parenthood in Washington, DC, recruiting, educating, and organizing supporters for the organization.
She is now a consultant to nonprofit organizations and serves on the board of directors of Population Action International, an NGO that uses research to advocate for global access to family planning and reproductive health care. The family resides in the DC area.