Heather's Medical Journey to Life

We are all on a journey.  It can be hard to reach out.  But I believe the moment has come for me to ask for help.  I have been working to beat some insurmountable odds, overcoming many in my life.  I work to maintain a bright, positive attitude and outlook, but the conditions I'm facing now seem to have me beat, using only my own strength.  

My name is Heather Hendricks. This is my battle with the grizzly in the woods, so to speak.  And...I just can't play dead.

 

 The Short Story:

Between me and my husband, this year we are facing our 5th unexpected surgery within 11 months.  My husband has had 2 surgeries with an inpatient hospital stay (9mm kidney stone!), and I am facing my 3rd abdominal surgery.  The first required a 2 month recovery, as will the next one.  We have two school age children, and I have been unable to work due to chronic health conditions for the past 6 years.

 

I was formerly a massage therapist, but developed a neurological tremor, called Essential Tremor (info on this incurable condition here: www.essentialtremor.org)  that has taken my ability to work as a MT, and was subsequently diagnosed in 2013 with autoimmune issues causing body-wide chronic, sometimes crippling, pain. Finally, this summer, in July I was diagnosed with Endometriosis and Adenomyosis, which has led to this most recent round of grizzly surprises! (info on these conditions found here: http://www.drseckin.com/what-is-endometriosis and http://endopaedia.info/index.html )
 
 

Bottom Line: I now need another urgent surgery, and it's too much $$ to bear (no pun intended...well, maybe it's intended ;)

My Surgery scheduled for November 11, 2016 will include several operations:

Total Hysterectomy (uterus + cervix removal, possible ovary removal due to endometrioses) (Adenomyosis is a painful, debilitating uterine condition)

Gallbladder Removal 

Endometriosis Excision  (this takes precise surgical skill as endometriosis exists in, on, and nearby vital organs and must be expertly removed deep at the root of the lesion to be effective)

Appendix Removal (my symptoms indicate inflammation/ disease)

Possible Bowel Resection (due to endometriosis lesions infiltrating within my bowel,  requiring a more extensive hospital stay)  

Cystoscopy & Hydrodistention (due to bladder symptoms)

And....the only doctors with the skills to perform this surgery are Out-of-Network AND Out-of-State.  

Recovery will be at least a week before I can fly home. I must pay $4,000 before the first cut can be made (more could be due after surgery depending on how it goes,) plus cover all travel expenses and car rental for in town driving (hotel for our 10 day stay , 2 days pre-op, surgery, + recovery before I can fly home is $1,500 )  car rental estimate ($350) food ($200)  plus extra child care costs for my 5 year old while me and my husband are away from home ($300) flights ($850) .  Once I am out of the hospital, if my recovery runs long due to bowel resection or complications, my husband will fly back to Kansas and bring our youngest back with us, while I heal up for flying home. 

We don't have the funds to get us through this,  but we need to make it happen, which has put a serious strain and burden on the realities of keeping things running in our home and family.  As present as our financial needs are, I'd cherish your words of support just as much as your dime. Loneliness is a killer which I'm also working to overcome since my health decline.  It's been hard to keep up on the social scene, and knowing there are others out there caring about me, vulnerable  in this wild place where grizzlies roam, will help me keep on keeping on. It's been a challenging sort of decade or two..!

There's so much more to tell, but then the short story would turn into the long story...please be with me, and help me get to the longer story, so I  might meet you, healed and whole, out there somewhere along the way.

Every word of kindness, donation, and share makes a difference, and every contribution of any kind is my life's work to pay forward! <3

I much, much, MUCH rather be giving back than asking for support, and I can't wait to cross paths under different circumstances out on the trail!!! <3 <3 <3

(Me and my husband)

The Extended Short Story : 

I am getting ready to face my 3rd surgery this year... I will share how I have come to this place of medical/financial need.

(After emergeny surgery in December 2015, not sure what just happened.)

 

 

 December 13, 2015 I was rushed to the ER with massive internal bleeding from a hemorrhagic ovarian cyst.  I faced down death, and made a win with only a 5 day hospital stay, and 6 inch scar across my abdomen from an exploratory laparotomy (basically where they open up your abdomen, and take everything out so they can patch things up and check for leaks). I came home days before Christmas, and things were looking up for the new year!

(Happy about being alive, after 5 days in the hospital due to internal bleeding... and yes,after I almost died in December, I decided to live my life without regret, and soon dyed my hair pink-my natural color! :)  

However, almost before I could set my bags down from the hospital,  less than two weeks later, my husband got hit with massive (9mm) kidney stone attack/blockage that landed him inpatient, and in need of surgery, on the very hospital ward I had just left.  In fact, I was driving to my two-week post-surgery check up when the surgeon called me to tell me he was getting ready to put my husband under for surgery.

(Trading places!  Middle of the night ER run...Smiling due to pure delirium now...and don't know what else to do besides have faith, and smile!)  

 

My husband came home with a stent in his kidney, and we anticipated smooth sailing,  still with time  spared to sing Auld Lang Syne into 2016.  

But, the stone did not break up or pass the way we hoped it would, and  we sang ourselves into the 2016 new year to the tune of two separate day surgery procedures for treatment of my husband's kidney stone costing $5,000 a pop, after the initial inpatient treatment and stay, which our insurance only covered a portion of.

By middle/late February 2016,  my husband and I were both on the mend as much as could be expected, and all was looking up.

Until... they came crashing back down in June 2016.  I again experienced crippling abdominal pain, digestive problems and swelling, along with severe exhaustion.  This time I identified the symptoms as a  cyst, having just gone through this in December.  An ultrasound by my gynecologist revealed another large cyst on my ovary that needed to be surgically removed.  I tried to look on the bright side and see it as a blessing to have this be happening now, as it was right before school was supposed to start.  I was going to be entering a 4 year college  (Go KU!) for the first time, after completing my first two years at a junior college...which only took me 16 years to accomplish.  (Trust me, there's too much story behind this for it all to fit here-I'm familiar with obstacles on my path!)  Anyway...at 36 years old I'd worked over half my life to get to college, and the cyst had to go ASAP.  The pain was debilitating, and it would be impossible to go to school, which included a 45 minute drive to get there, and tons of walking just to reach my class.  Let alone, sitting in a desk properly without falling into a curled ball of pain on the floor.  The pain is like labored, unmedicated childbirth, without the reward at the end.  Or...without any predictable end at all.

And then, come home and take care of children?  Even without school, I was unable to function on my own.

July 1, 2016 I went in for cyst removal on my ovary, before it could burst and leave me with an ER "situation" like what happened in December.  

Easy peasy fix-it, and start kicking it...  until I woke up.

"You have one tough abdomen. We had to whack through a lot of adhesions to even get to your ovary...you have ENDOMETRIOSIS...all that debiltating pain you've been experiencing for the last 10+ years is not in your head!"  

(Hallelujah, so I haven't lost my mind!)

My abdomen and organs were covered with scar tissue, adhesions caused by endometriosis lesions that open up, and bleed every time I have my monthly cycle.  Every month they bleed, producing more and more layering scarring, choking organs, in my case,  producing daily pain. My sigmoid colon was found adhered to my lower intestines,  one ovary was glued by adhesions to my uterus, and a couple of other things were awry besides the large cyst which surgery was slotted for to begin with.  The ER surgeon in December failed to pass any of this info on to me!  

Alas, I was told there is no cure for endometriosis.  Still, I waited to feel better, at least temporarily, from the quick fix of laparoscopic ablation (meaning the endometriosis was burned on the surface, but not removed from my organs) but instead I have grown steadily worse, to the point of being left in an intermitent non-functional state of stabbing abdominal and back pain, paired with digestive issues that leave me unable to eat almost anything, and severe constipation, even with all the given remedies one can take.  Some days are better than others, but sometimes I cannot even walk.

I undertand "no cure" but this was not acceptable for me, or my family, so I immediately became proactive and began researching what was available in the medical community for my condition, beyond what a one page xerox info sheet could tell me.  I am a mom, and a vibrant human being who is here to put my passion and compassion to use in the world, and I'm not about to wither away, needlessly.  My focus with my degree was to become a counselor, and I needed to help myself to get there.  My entrance into school was relient entirely on my ability to complete school successfully, and at a steady pace without breaks because we were riding entirely on loans.  This amount of investment would require somewhat predictable, consistent, health.

(Me, earlier this summer, shortly after surgery, proudly previewing where my classes would be located at KU)

With my new diagnosis, and deteriorating condition over the past year, the committment of academia is no longer in my sights.   I have been transformed by the past year, and am hoping above hopes the next surgery will release me into life,  and be my final surgery for a long time to come. I completely unenrolled as a student at KU the day before classes were to begin. I've come to peace with my path throwing me an extra, extra curve.  What gives me energy and strength is the hope I maintain to still be with others on thier journey through pain, into a place with movement, and more light in life.   And, not least of all, to experience quality time focussing on the joy of being a fully present,available, happy, healthy mom to my daughters for the rest of this awesome life, teaching them to appreciate all we have to give, and for love of life and each other to not be held back by anything.  This is what truly matters.   

(Me and my youngest daughter.)

I am now positioned to become a Yoga Teacher,  using my life experiences and health conditions, interest and knowledge in anatomy from my time as a massage therapist, and all the love in the world bursting out of me to facilitate healing for others with trauma and chronic pain.  But this leg of my educational journey can't begin until surgery is over, and I am back on my feet.

There's so much more to tell, but then the extended short story would turn into the longer story...Please be with me, and help me get to the longer story, so I might meet you, healed and whole, out there somewhere along the way!  I much, much, MUCH rather be giving back than asking for support, and I can't wait to cross paths under different circumstances  out on the trail!!!  <3 <3 <3 

 Even if you cannot donate, sharing this page to social media will help us go far!  Every contribution of any kind is so deeply appreciated, and it is my life's work to pay it forward. <3

Thank you SO MUCH for listening, and coming along on this journey!!!

(Me and my oldest daughter, out on the trail, where life is lived best!)