A Long Story

It was a beautiful spring-like day in early March. She was celebrating her 15th birthday with five of her girl friends with a walk to the park. It was a nice day, but this was not the high point of her life. She and her family were about to move and they had already switched churches. Her parents had divorced two and a half years earlier and her mom remarried a year and a half later. Things were not very peaceful for her. She longed for the day when God would call her home to heaven and could not hope anymore. As far as she could see, the good life for her was coming to an end and she could not help think of all the past friends she had lost that should have been at the party.

(Two weeks later)
She woke up before church feeling a bit odd, so she skipped breakfast. After the service, she stayed sitting and didn't talk to anyone because of the pain in her stomach. As soon as she got home she threw up. She tried eating something then, but couldn't keep anything down, not even water. She wasn't too concerned though, since her mom told her that her friend she had gone rollerskating with on Saturday night had the same sickness.
Now, usually she complained whenever she was sick, a trait which caused her family much anxiety. This time she decided it would be different. She didn't want to cause any more worry. So, she just rested and waited it out.
Monday was no better. She couldn't eat or drink anything. She stayed in bed almost all day, alternately sleeping and listening to Switchfoot's Nothing Is Sound.
Tuesday night after another day of losing everything she tried to eat, she felt miserable. It was the worst she had ever felt. She tried to sleep, but could not because of the severe pain in her stomach. She went downstairs to the couch and lay there writhing in pain. Her mom half kidding, half joking asked "Are you dying?"
"Mom, I'm really not sure." she replied.
The next day she thought she felt better. She still couldn't keep down anything, but the pain subsided a little. Her friend was all better by then. She hoped it wouldn't be long for her. She still slept almost all day, though, as well as the night. Her fever was high.
Thursday morning was a beautiful day, with the sun shining bright through her skylights. She got up out of the bed feeling better, like she was going to be well that day. [gross part] While she was in the bathroom though, she threw up again...and it was green. "Mom, I haven't even eaten anything green!" [/end gross part]
"You haven't eaten anything! Honey, look at your stomach, it's all swollen." She hadn't noticed the swelling. She thought she was just fat, like she always though.
They made plans to go to the doctor on the way to the library. She'd been sick for four days and it was getting a little scary. They were even more scared after the doctor's. After checking her, he cheerfully told her in his Scottish accent "Well, Luv, I think you have appendicitis. You need to go to the emergency room right away."
On the way to the hospital her mom called all their friends to find someone to watch her younger siblings. It seemed like everyone was out though, since it was one in the 60's and only March. No one was missing out on the good weather. Except her, she sat in the car in a sweatshirt and sweatpants, extremely chilled, trying not to be jostled too much on the bumpy road.
Her grandmother met them at the hospital to watch her younger sisters. The emergency room wait was as terrible as everyone says. Her mother said something to her grandmother about how ridiculous it, because her appendix could burst right then while waiting at the hospital. There was no one else around anyway. None of this scared her though; her over tired mind could barely process it. Having her appendix burst and dying didn't seem to bad at the moment though. Anything that would stop the pain was fine with her. After at least two hours of waiting, they finally went into the doctor. After examining her, he told her that he thought it was just the flu and said she could go home. Her mom wouldn't allow that though, so he sent her to the other building to have her checked out by the surgeon.
The surgeon was concerned. Very concerned. The surgeon told her she needed a CAT scan right away. They made her drink this nasty drink to make her insides more visible. It came right back up while she was in the waiting room though. She could barely care, though. She was slipping away.
The CAT scan results were not good. "We can't even find her appendix, her intestines are so swollen," the surgeon told her mom. "It might be Chron's disease. We need to bring her in for exploratory surgery right away." So, she was admitted into the hospital and hooked up to an IV.
While she was lying there in the top floor of the hospital, waiting for them to be ready for her, she thought she was about to die. Really, the pain had taken over so much, that death was a wonderful thought to her. She felt bad for her family though. She didn't want to leave them without her. Her life hadn't been lived the best it could be. She thought of all the times she complained and was ungrateful. If only she could just be alive without the pain now, she'd have no reason to complain.
Most of all though, she thought of God. She closed her eyes and thought of Jesus, her Savior. She was overwhelmed by the fact that she might meet Him that night. The thought filled her with fear. Not fear that she wasn't saved, but just the fear of coming face to face with God. She looked forward to it though and thought it was very appropriate since her life seemed to be winding down.
A couple men came in and wheeled her in her bed down to the surgery room. They gave her something in the IV. She was so exhausted anyway. They were telling her something about what they were doing and what would happen. They asked if she understood. She didn't. She couldn't. She faded away quite peacefully. There was no time to say goodbye to her mom, who was there with her. It was the end, so she thought.


She woke up in a room with bright lights. She could hear voices, talking about her, she thought. Where was she? Why would people be talking about her in her bedroom? How did they all get there? She couldn't remember where she was last night, what she was doing last. She shifted slightly and the pain shot through her stomach and it all came back to her. She was in the hospital with something wrong with her. She thought she was dying. Why was she here then? Her mom rushed in as so as she was fully conscious again. "You're going to be okay. Your appendix has been burst for four days. You'll be alright now."
It was only about ten o'clock when she was settled in her room. They gave her morphine for a pain killer. She tried to sleep, but couldn't stop talking to her mom about it all. She was so relieved. She knew what was wrong with her and she was going to be okay. Her mom told her to sleep, but the adrenalin rushed through her too much. Finally, just before sunrise she drifted off for a couple hours.
That day her siblings and many other people visited. Everyone brought gifts, cards or flowers. Her room was filled with beautiful things. She was thirsty, but they wouldn't give her water. She was still on the IV and had an oxygen tube in her nose as well as a variety of other tubes and chords connecting to her. She felt a little silly, but she was alive. God had saved her. That much was certain. He had a wonderful plan for her now; she had no doubt about that. He saved her life for a great reason, a plan He had for her to still be alive.
There were many complications in the next couple days. She had a bad reaction to the painkillers. She tried to eat after three days, but still couldn't keep it down. The IV irritated her arm when they switched the position. It didn't really matter to her though. She didn't realize anything was wrong, but her mom was concerned. She wasn't healing well. Every day she had to get up and walk around the floor. She could barely walk down the hall. She hugged a hard pillow to her stomach. The nurse told her that the pain was so bad because they had to cut through her stomach muscles. They wheeled her down to the garden one day for her to walk out there, but it exhausted her too much and made the pain worse. Her sisters brought her books in from home, but to her dismay, she couldn't read. Her brain wouldn't focus. She was too tired and the pain killers distorted her mind. One day the doctor came in and, without warning, tore the bandage off her stomach. To her utter horror, her stomach was doubled over and stapled together with fifteen little metal staples. "I didn't know they used STAPLES!" she cried later. The hospital was dull. They brought a TV in and she watched some movies, but after six hours of that, it got boring. She was just happy to be alive. So happy.
Tuesday, she finally was released. Her cousins brought her home in their comfortable car, so she wouldn't be banged around too much. She was happy to be home and hoped to return back to normal. But it couldn't be normal anymore. Her life was a miracle, she now could fully see. When she was lying in the hospital bed that night before the surgery she was dying. She's sure of that. Her life was about to end and with all that happened, she should have. But, God saved her life and that gave her a reason to rejoice everyday of the rest of her life.

Her recovery the next few months was very difficult. She lost fifteen pounds in the week of not eating, which took over six months to gain back. Her stomach was so swollen for at least three months that all she could wear were sweatpants. She missed out on spring because she was too cold to stay outside much. Her stomach still swells sometimes, even two years later, when she's under stress or eats certain foods. She developed intolerance to gluten. All in all though, she wouldn't trade her experience. It changed her whole outlook on life. She can sit now, outside, just watching the birds and the grass swaying in the wind. She loves everything about life now. When before, she felt this drive to succeed at everything and couldn't rest without feeling guilt, she now can be at peace with resting and just enjoying the life her Lord gave her.

Less than a year later she was involved in an online project that brought 10,000 people to its site in the first hour of it's launch. She made friends in the new church and was invited to several graduation parties the next spring. Her next birthday, there were a hundred people with her to celebrate the end of her highschool graduation. She's learning to play guitar and has made even more friends of all ages. She does not mention any of these things to people in order to brag. She says this all as a testimony to God and the wonderful things He has done for her and how He has blessed her by using her for great things.

How do I know so much about this girl? I am her.

Soli Deo gloria,
Katrina