Help Support Mackenzie’s Fight With Gastroparesis

In September of 2023, our dear Mackenzie was having unexplained pain in her abdomen and sought help from her ObGyn. Nothing was seen on any of the many scans and it was decided that she would undergo a laparoscopic exploratory procedure to see if anything could be found. A cyst the size of her uterus was found on the left ovary and was, thankfully, removed. Since that surgery, things have spiraled downhill for her. Two days after surgery, she stopped being able to eat or keep any food down. Everything tasted salty and caused immense nausea and vomiting. No matter what the type of food was. Ice cream was salty, as was jello and chicken. Hospital staff dismissed this symptom as “not a result of surgery”. 

After a few weeks of constant vomiting and a few more visits to the hospital and primary doctors offices, she was admitted to the ER on December 4th 2023 with severe dehydration and malnourishment. She stayed in the ER for 21 days!! Doctors were baffled on what was going on with her. Nausea medicine isn’t working. Test after test was done and they came up with nothing. They did, however, find a significant staph infection in the back of her throat… but every other test pretty much came up clean, except for a hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan. In a last ditch effort to help her and due to the results from the HIDA Scan, doctors decided to remove her gallbladder to see if it would help.

She was discharged Christmas Day of 2023 finally able to keep a few pieces of food down. This was short lived. It lasted about a week when she could keep a bite or two of food down then it started all over again. She also developed a hardy infection in the wound from the gallbladder surgery called Klebsiella Pneumoniae. She had to have her wound reopened and packed every day for over a month so the wound and infection could heal from the inside out. All while still not being able to keep any food down and having immense nausea that never goes away. She was able to stay home and heal from the infection but then developed an upper respiratory and sinus infection. She stopped being able to keep all liquids down as well. She tried to make it by herself but started having bouts of syncope (fainting spells) at home. After 4 months of being malnourished and unable to keep much needed food and nutrients down, her new husband brought her to Houston to get the help she so desperately needed. She went through an even more thorough battery of testing and she was finally diagnosed with Gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is a condition that affects the stomach muscles and prevents the stomach contents from being emptied into the intestines. In other words, her stomach is paralyzed and contents are not being emptied and are, instead, being thrown up. She’s suffering not only from this but along with the salty taste, syncope, severe nausea and vomiting, weakness, and a weight loss of 53 pounds as of now.

Doctors cannot tell right now if this will be a lifelong affliction or if it can be reversed. She has been in the hospital for 22 days and counting. When admitted, she was found to have a UTI infection and Pyelonephritis (kidney infection). She is on IV nutrition with a pending temporary feeding tube procedure. The medical bills and bills in general are overwhelming her and her husband, who is their only income right now since her condition is too severe to be discharged from the hospital.

Please consider helping them navigate through this tough time. All of your generous donations will help them with medical and living expenses until they’re able to bring her home and get back on their feet.