One evening, I became very sick. I fell asleep and my temperature went up to 104 degrees. My mom could hardly
wake me. She called the doctor and it was decided to take me to the emergency room of the hospital. In the ER
my temp went up to 105.5, I was in severe pain and also had abdominal problems. I stayed for five days. The doctors
had decided that I caught a bacteria that infected my kidneys, an unusual one that is not usually found there. I have
a condition called VUR (Vasico Ureteric Reflux). The medicine I usually take every night could not fight the new bacteria,
for it was resistant to my normal medicine! It was only after much prayer from my friends and my mom and dad's families,
that I was able to pull through those first few days.
I also have some problems in my abdomen that are being studied further and we still have to find out what will
be done to correct them. My abdominal problems are common to patients with VUR. I have the finest doctors
in Sacramento. They are doing their best to take care of me.
Since this text was first published, I have been in the hospital several times and have had many surgeries. As
of the summer of 2006, I am still having studies done to try to determine why my colon and intestinal tract is so unusual.
The next study that the doctors are trying to get approved is one to be done at the Stanford University Medical Center.
My colon is extremely large, even though the matter that moves through it has been turned to liquid for the past two years,
due to high doses of miralax. My intestines are also all running in a vertical direction (all going up and down), instead
of the most common direction, which is more horizontal. My kidneys will be tested again soon to see if they are functioning
normally yet.
I became friends with the hospital dog named Hazel. Here are some pictures . . .
