Hello everyone Im Kelli Cross. Ive survived Wegeners Granulomatosis, now known as Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, for six years. I posted this last week on my Timeline. Talk about a “Transformation Tuesday.” After all the treatments, medications, doctoring, researching, and pain and suffering, here I am six years later. At times, it felt like what was supposed to be some of the best years of my life had been taken away, but that’s the card I was dealt. Bad things happen, good people suffer, and there’s always someone who has it worse. Through this whole ordeal my family and I always felt so comforted and surrounded by God’s love. It’s like we knew everything was going to be ok even when the doctors did not. It certainly wasn’t easy, but God gave me the strength and patience to fight my way back to where I am today. This past year, I have had the opportunity to come in contact with people from all around the world who have Wegener’s and exchange our stories. Wegener’s has forever changed my life; so I will keep on changing other people’s lives through it. If you haven’t read my story, here it is: Six years ago today, I was diagnosed with Wegener’s Granulomatosis - a rare autoimmune and vasculitis disease that inflames blood vessels, reducing the flow of blood to vital organs with no cure, specific treatment or answer of how you get it. I go back to February/March of 2008, a 15 year old, sophomore in high school….something you’d never think would happen to you. I remember the world of pain I was in and how I was literally dying before everyone’s eyes. We were desperate for answers! No one knew what was wrong with me. Time was running out and my body was shutting down. It was truly a miracle how God saved my life. The Wegener’s had destroyed the tissue in my right sinus and I had a nerve exposed from the inside of my face. The pain was so excruciating and resulted in nerve damage (trigeminal neuralgia). I had pneumonia with a lung abscess and two tubes stuck in my back to drain the fluid off my lung. The doctor said it would feel like two 10mm bullet hole wounds. When my hemoglobin dropped to a five, I spent some time in the ICU. I was bleeding internally; blood was in and around my lungs, kidneys, and the lining of my stomach. Two weeks later, I ended up with a 106 degree fever and was down to about 75 pounds. Later on, the Wegener’s attacked my airway and now I am living with around 50% or less of its full capacity. Recovery was a long road. I missed the entire last semester of my sophomore year. When I did return to school, I didn’t look like myself from the treatments and medications, and yes kids are that mean to make fun of someone going through a health crisis. The past six years of my life have consisted of chemotherapy treatments, multiple surgeries, lots of pills, and chronic pain. The treatments were worse than the disease. I have battle scars all over my body. The goal for me is remission and I would say that I’m finally there – I am just left with the residual damage from the WG. Imagine going through treatment after treatment and some end up being trial and error and knowing that the disease can come back at some point (a flare up) and hit harder than the time before. It’s something that I’ll monitor the rest of my life. People with WG used to only have a five year survival rate. Well look at me now! I’ve been to hell and back again and I am on the other side of this looking and feeling pretty good these days. I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has prayed for me and given me encouragement to keep fighting. A special thanks, of course, to my unbelievable family who has turned their lives upside down to meet my medical needs. God always has a plan and there is always someone who is worse off than you. If what I am going through can help other people, then it is worth it. Little things do mean a lot and maybe people should sweat the small stuff because little things in life can make a difference. Everyone has a story to tell - take the time to listen and if you have good health, realize how truly blessed you are.
Posted on: Mon, 24 Mar 2014 15:00:57 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015