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Kidney disorder strikes Okla. quadruplets

THOMAS, Okla., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma woman who gave birth to quadruplets in 2007 said three of those children fell ill in succession, likely due to a kidney disorder.

The Oklahoman said Monday that Jennifer Payne of western Oklahoma saw three of her children visit the hospital starting in August when her 2-year-old son, Preston, was hospitalized with a potentially life-threatening kidney disorder.

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"That first night, in the middle of the night, with Preston," said Payne, a registered nurse. "I just got this overwhelming feeling that there might be a chance I could lose him. I'd watch him breathe in and out. Your world gets really small."

Two days after young Preston was hospitalized, his sister, Claire, was sent to the hospital and within another two days a third quadruplet, Griffin, visited the hospital.

"Griffin was definitely the worst," Payne said of her children, who have since recovered. "None of them had to have dialysis, but he was probably the closest."

The Oklahoman said hemolytic uremic syndrome, a condition caused by a strain of E. coli, was suspected although doctors never determined the cause of the kids' illnesses, having discounted the possibility of food-borne illness.

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