My life has been a fight ever since I was born, one of the most significant battles of my life happened when I was not even a month old and has stuck with me for the past 17 years of my life and is a motivator to my desire to succeed. September 6, 2000, I was born into this world the 2nd child of Maria and Percy Vela, one typical day there baby boy just like any other newborn, healthy weight and size; but unexpectedly the baby became unordinary. This family went from having a healthy beautiful baby boy to a sick infant who wouldn’t digest anything, and he couldn’t be fed and vomited frequently, a horrible nightmare for my parents. My parents immediately took me to the hospital in Stamford Connecticut, and the doctors diagnosed me with Pyloric …show more content…
When a baby has pyloric stenosis, this narrowing of the pyloric channel prevents food from emptying out of the stomach.Pyloric Stenosis had fewer than 200,000 US cases per year; remarkably I was part of these cases in the US, of the 1.5 per 1000 babies to get diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis. My diagnosis with Pyloric stenosis at less than a month old was slightly rare because usually, Pyloric Stenosis occurs between the ages of 4 to 8 weeks of age. Symptoms I experienced included vomiting after feeding, persistent hunger, dehydration, and trouble gaining weight. My parents were transparently fearful for my well being so they brought me to the hospital in Stamford Connecticut. When taken to the hospital, I was diagnosed with Pyloric Stenosis. They had to treat me, and suddenly I was being taken care of getting prepared for a treatment called Pyloromyotomy. What is Pyloromyotomy? Pyloromyotomy is the treatment of Pyloric Stenosis; doctors make a small cut (incision) in the thickened muscle, which opens a narrow passage so food can pass more easily out of the stomach. On October 30, 2000, I had Pyloromyotomy procedure at only one-month-old. My parents waited in suspense as I was treated, successfully. Pyloromyotomy saved my life and giving me a scar that was supposed to away within a few months, a scar that I still have and is the only thing left behind from the surgery which is there
...h a type of surgery called Cholecystectomy. The Non-Surgical approaches are used only in specific situations such as when a patient’s condition prevents using an anesthetic. In such cases, Oral dissolution therapy is used.
Growing up, life wasn't easy. As a result of these adversities, I've been able to not only see, but personally experience, having a constant battle in my life. Throughout this journey of life, I’ve had the opportunity to meet people and learn about different backgrounds and hardships many others suffer from. These experiences,
It was like living a poetic death, knowing that it could happen again at any moment. With a racing heart, watery eyes, and hands that trembled with fear, I knew there was something seriously wrong. As I crawled down the hallway to get help from my mother, I had tears streaming down my face and was overcome with anxiety. The pounding in my chest was enough to make me think I was dying. On the night of October 24th, 2014 my life had drastically changed. Suddenly and without warning, I had uncontrollable PVC’s and was unable to breathe.
The typical defect that takes place with a human affected is heart problems. In early infancy surgery needs to be taken place to avoid serious issues in the future. Atypica...
Something that I have learned after overcoming this battle is that life is very unpredictable and it is up to the individual to rise above and choose the right path. This excerpt from the poem “Recovery” by Maya Angelou has given me encouragement and inspiration to move on with my life and become the best person that I can be: “A last love, proper in conclusion, should snip the wings forbidding further flight. But I now reft of that confusion, am lifted up and speeding towards the light.” I live by these words everyday because they motivate me to succeed and overcome the impossible.
One fateful day at the end of June in 1998 when I was spending some time at home; my mother came to me with the bad news: my parent's best friend, Tommy, had been diagnosed with brain cancer. He had been sick for some time and we all had anxiously been awaiting a prognosis. But none of us were ready for the bumpy roads that lay ahead: testing, surgery, chemotherapy, nausea, headaches, and fatigue. Even loud music would induce vomiting. He just felt all around lousy.
After a gradual build up of symptoms and discomfort, I received the diagnosis that I had developed a Staphylococcus aureus infection in my lower left lung. One of the symptoms of this rare strain of pneumonia, besides fever, sore throat, and night sweats, I would discover, is pleurisy: inflammation of the lining of the chest cavity. It started with a strange slight throbbing of my ear, then a sore shoulder, and finally the most excruciating pain I can imagine. I woke gasping and half expected to see a large gash beneath my lower ribs and an exit wound in my mid back. Moaning to myself with tears boiling in my eyes, I tried to muster the air to call for help. Movement intensified the pain but I finally crawled to my parents’ bedroom and my dad rushed me to the ER. Heading up I5 in the middle of the night, I cursed the demon that was inside
January 12, 2006. It was my birthday and the most tragic event of my life. I had come home to hear the horrible news that my uncle, whom I adored dearly, had passed away. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I was heartbroken, baffled, and overall miserable. When I approached my mom and asked for the cause of his death, she replied with a downcast expression and informed me that it was due to a heart attack. At the time, I didn 't understand why him, out of all people could have had a heart attack. Our entire family had claimed that he was a born athlete. He would never touch any sort of junk food, and worked out every other day. It didn 't make any sense. Only unhealthy people had heart problems right? Two days later, a toxicology
More than 40,000 people a year are so desperate to lose weight they turn to the controversial, sometimes life-threatening surgery such as Gastric Bypass. I will be explaining what the surgery entitles, disadvantages vs. advantages. And most important, is Gastric bypass surgery the right choice when considering the risks. The most common form of “stomach stapling” is gastric bypass. In this procedure, a small pouch is formed in the stomach and stapled shut. The small intestine is then cut and stapled onto the pouch, shrinking the stomach’s ability to take in food. The technique involves removing a section of the stomach and rearranging the small bowel to divert bile and pancreatic secretions away from the food stream. Fats and starches flow through without being absorbed. In order to be a candidate for the surgery, patients must be considered morbidly obese or at least 100 pounds overweight. Before an individual gets the go-ahead, he or she meets with doctors and psychologists to rule out all other ways of help. Surgery may sound like the best option for a morbidly overweight person, but a small figure comes at a high price. There are health risks and the side effects can be fatal. Three people will die during every 1,000 procedures, according to the ASBS. Let me tell you about more disadvantages. More than one-third of obese patients who have gastric surgery develop gallstones. Nearly one in three develop nutritional deficiencies. Patients could also be at risk for anemia, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease.
I have almost died 5 times since and it has been only 16 years, each incident in a different year. In those 5 times I have been to the hospital once, that’s the one that left the gnarliest scar, I’ll talk about that one after. First I’ll tell the story about how my dog saved my life. I was about 7; it was back when we went out to dinners at “fancy places” as I used to call them. We would be dressed up from head to toe. Once we were back home from the “fancy place” my dad would always make himself a ham sandwich and my mom would get mad at him like always did. While they were having their routine debacle I decided this one time to hide from my mom and jump out to scare her, like she commonly did to me, it was always funny. While looking for the perfect place to hide I stubbed my toe on my parent’s storage bench, and just like that I knew where I was going to hide. I propped open the storage bench, only to see
It had come to the attention of my family that I had some sort of psychological problem and something had to be done. I was always labeled as a shy and quiet kid, and like my family I had thought nothing more of my behavior. However, now it had become something more obvious. I had told my parents the kinds of problems I was having. Basically I didn't want to talk to anyone or to be anywhere near anyone I didn't know. I didn't really want to leave my house for any reason for fear that I might have to talk to someone. I was so critical and scrutinizing in relation to myself that I couldn't even enter into a conversation. Everyone seems to have a part of themselves that lends itself to thoughts of pessimism and failure, but mine was something that was in the forefront of my mind at all times. Something telling me that everything I did was a failure, and that anything I ever did would not succeed. Through discussion with my family it was decided that I should move out of my parents house to a place where I could find treatment and get a job. I was to reside with my sister Lisa, her partner Brynn, and their Saint Bernard in Greensboro.
We arrived at the emergency room only to find several people already there. Joey was begging me to do something to stop the pain in his back; we waited and waited and waited. Finally, in total anger and despair I set out to find someone to help. The doctor came over, examined him and asked me several questions; it was slowly becoming apparent to me that this doctor did not have any answers. Meanwhile I was growing more concerned about the unknown; what was wrong with my child? The doctor, obviously puzzled by the situation, decided to run a CBC (complete blood count). This took what felt like an eternity, suddenly the doctor became somewhat evasive, almost secretive. I was exasperated, determined to find out what was wrong with Joey’s lab report. I inched my way over behind the curtain, so I could overhear bits and pieces of the doctor’s conversation. They were discussing things like a low hemoglobin count and a high white blood cell count, then I heard it, the most devastating word I have ever heard a doctor say-Leukemia.
It was June 6, 2011. I remember taking my mother to the County Hospital’s emergency room. She seemed extremely exhausted; her eyes were half-closed and yellow, and she placed her elbow on the armchair, resting her head on her palm. I remember it was crowded and the wait was long, so she wanted to leave. I was the only one there with her, but I did not allow her to convince me to take her home. I told her in Spanish, “Mom, let’s wait so that we can get this over with and know what’s going on with you. You’ll see everything is okay, and we’ll go home later on.” I wish then and now that would have been the case. Unfortunately, she was diagnosed with colon cancer that had spread to many parts of her body including her lungs and kidneys. The doctor said to me not considering that I was a minor and my mother’s daughter, “Her disease is very advanced and we don’t think she will live longer than a year.” With this devastating news, I did not know what to do. I thought to myself that perhaps I should cry, or try to forget and take care of her as best I could and make her laugh to ease her pain.
My stomach weakens with a thought that something is wrong, what would be the answer I could have never been ready for. I call my best friend late one night, for some reason she is the only person’s voice I wanted to hear, the only person who I wanted to tell me that everything will be okay. She answer’s the phone and tells me she loves me, as I hear the tears leak through, I ask her what is wrong. The flood gates open with only the horrid words “I can’t do this anymore”. My heart races as I tell her that I am on my way, what I was about to see will never leave my thoughts.
I was having a weekend getaway with my cousins when, at midnight, we were told that we had to return immediately. I was unaware of the gravity of why I had to come back home so soon, but I knew that it was severe. When I arrived to the hospital, I found out my brother had suffered a heart attack and passed away. I was numb and didn’t know how to process that information. He was my guiding light on my journey going back to school and coping with the death of my first brother. Instead of crying hysterically, all I could think of was “situations like this need to be prevented.” It could have been easy to give up but perseverance and resilience were my only options. Giving up on my dreams had never crossed my mind but my fortitude grew stronger with every wrench thrown my