I’ll never forget the day I found out about my disease. I was in the first grade at the time, and I was sitting in class when my stomach started to hurt. I went down to the clinic and the nurse said my temperature was 104 degrees. My mom and dad came to pick me up at school. When they saw me, they said I was as pale as a ghost. My parents took me to see our family doctor. The doctor ran a couple of tests and said they would have to take me to the emergency room at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. Aside from finding out about my illness, I will remember this day because of my mom.
There was a huge line when we got there and we were told to sit down and wait. We had been there for quite a while, when I needed to use the restroom. My mom and I went to the restroom and when we came out, I almost fainted. My mom started to freak out. She went up to the receptionist and said we have been waiting for about five hours now and I had to be seen by someone. The receptionist said there are still families ahead of us waiting to be seen. The receptionist then said we will take her in but if the other parents get angry, I’m sending them to you. My mom told the receptionist to send them to her and she’d take care of it.
They took me back into the ER and gave me a bed. The doctors said they got me there in the nick of time because my spleen was eating my blood, so my blood count was down to l When I heard that, I looked across the room to my mom who was crying. I often wonder what would have happened if my mom hadn’t had her little melt down that day. The doctors gave me a blood transfusion and began to run test on me to try and figure out what was wrong.
The doctors said they thought it might be cancer. My parents were starting to worry. It turns out that I have a disease called spherocytosis. I have a blood disorder where my body doesn’t know what a good red blood cell is and a bad red blood cell is. I was put on medication and sent home with a follow up appointment in six months. Unfortunately, I continued to get worse and after being in and out of the hospital for three months, the doctors removed my spleen. I now take medication to try and keep my immune system strong and there is a good chance I will continue on meds for the rest of my life, but thanks to my family and God, I still have my life.
By Katelyn Kundtz