A Pennsylvania freshman went from happily celebrating the Christmas holidays at home with his family to being in critical condition in the hospital within days of an untreated urinary tract infection (UTI).
The family of 18-year-old Katie Sullivan told WPXI-TV that the teenager had lower back pain in early December – which they initially attributed to her rigorous training schedule as the Waynesburg University freshman was both a gymnast and softball player.
However, her family told the paper that she was getting worse a few days after Christmas. At that moment, she had extremely low blood pressure and a rapid heartbeat. She ended up having to be taken by ambulance to Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh.
When they arrived at the hospital, doctors determined that Sullivan was in critical condition and needed immediate treatment. They also tested her to find out what exactly was causing her illness.
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“When they did the testing, they found that she had had an IMS for about a month which actually caused a hole in her kidney,” the teenager’s mom, Shannon Sullivan, told WPXI-TV. “It caused an abscess in her liver in her back muscle and behind her kidney. She was in septic shock.”
After her diagnosis, the teenager underwent several surgeries and had to be placed in a medically induced coma with a ventilator because she experienced brain swelling, according to the station. That lasted about a week and a half — something Sullivan’s mother said was difficult to get through.
“We didn’t have much hope,” she said. “We brought our whole family. Hour after hour we went out and celebrated that she didn’t get any worse.”
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It was about a week and a half before Sullivan was finally able to communicate again. The family said she was able to shake her head “yes” or “no” to answer basic questions.
“I asked her if she wanted to go home and she shook her head ‘yes,'” her mother told WPXI-TV. “I told her that if she wanted to go home she had to give a thumbs up, and she did. From not moving on Sunday and speaking to us hour by hour, today is a wonderful day.”
The teenager’s parents said doctors told them their daughter has a long road to recovery, but they hope she can one day return to what she loves – playing softball. They also advised to see a doctor if one feels that something is wrong with their body.
“Even if you think it’s nothing, please get it checked out,” said Sullivan’s mother. “Because I never in a million years, and I’m a nurse, would have thought that she would be here with kidney failure, intubated and given a terrible diagnosis at 18 years old.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education