Shanavya Waller

I’m 28 years old. I had problems with my stomach pain for five years. I went to every doctor I could find to find out what the problem was. Nobody could find anything. They started telling me it was all in my head. So I tried one last gastroenterologist. She ran a light in me and found something but she couldn’t tell what it was. So she did another test and got a sample to make sure it wasn’t cancer. It wasn’t, so she sent me to a surgeon. He came right in and told me you have to get the tumor removed. It’s by my pancreas, he told me. You would have to stay in the hospital five days.

So Dec. 3,2015, I went for surgery. A couple days later I started to pass out 3 days straight. (Sepsis and Surgery) They thought they were giving me too much medication. My bowel movements were black. The nurse told my mom that it was blood and that I was bleeding in the inside somewhere. So my mom told the doctor. That day I told my mom I was going to take a nap and she said me too. The doctor came in and told my mom I see she is getting some rest. Because I was in so much pain I couldn’t rest. So he told her I’m just going to check her. He checked me and saw that I wasn’t breathing.

He called everybody in and they rushed me down while he was on the bed trying to bring me back. They found out I had got sepsis. They cut a big hole in my stomach and took out part of my intestines because I had holes in it. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel) I had about four more surgeries. I was on life support for 2 weeks. Fighting for my life, the doctor said I was a strong fighter. After coming back off of life support I had 6 drain tubes. I kind look like an octapus. I was left part of my stomach open and I had a colostomy bag. I didn’t eat for 4 months. I couldn’t even drink water.

After a month they put me in a rehab because I could walk or stand on my own and I had to have wound care. I stayed there for a month then I got sick again and they sent me back to the hospital. They had to put another drain in. I stayed there for 2 weeks and I went home. With one drain and my bag and I was still unable to eat or drink. So I had a feeding tube for a while. But day by day I got better. I never thought I would be the same anymore.  I like to tell my story because it could happen to anyone at any time. I wanted to give up and I asked the Lord to take me and watch over my family, but he didn’t let me go so I know I have a purpose to be here. If it wasn’t for my family and friends helping me fight I don’t know where I would be. I still have aches and pain but I’m here and I’m blessed.