Prayers and Support for Kirsten’s Renal Recovery

Kirsten Cook, is a Speech Language Pathologist and an alum of the University of Akron where she previously served as president of Alpha Phi and actually continued her advising past her graduation and into grad school.  Kirsten, a 30 year-old in Youngstown, Ohio had been feeling well through most of the summer of 2020 despite working more than usual at a local nursing home during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Then in early August, she developed an extensive bout of poison ivy from her sweet rescue dog, Luna, that required oral steroids. These steroids led to thrush and likely led to a lowered immune system. 


For several weeks, Kirsten continued to work in the nursing home as well as for her school district until finally she seemed to hit a wall. A good friend, Katie, happened to be visiting her on September 8th and when she arrived, she took one look at Kirsten, recognizing the gravity of the situation, and promptly took her to the St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Boardman Campus ER.  

At the ER Kirsten was found to be in sepsis, likely from an infectious cause. Labs later showed that an Acute Kidney Injury had occurred and she started on antibiotics and medications to maintain her blood pressure. From the ER, Kirsten was admitted to the cardiac ICU. Infectious disease doctors initially thought she may have a neck abscess in addition to the cellulitis overlying the neck and upper chest. She was transferred to the Downtown Youngstown St. E’s hospital branch on Sept 9th for possible surgical intervention. 



Kirsten continued to be monitored in the ICU, receiving IV medications. Slowly the cellulitis and neck infection began to improve but a pneumonia was found as well.  On September 11th it was determined she needed dialysis and she had her first session. It was also determined there may have been damage to the heart and so cardiology was consulted. They soon found her heart to be pumping weaker than normal, requiring 3 medications to treat.

The next day, dialysis was continued and Kirsten finally after 5 days was transferred out of the ICU. The doctors informed us at this time that the blood cultures were positive for strep pyogenes, and this was likely causing most of her complications. Steroids were started as well which did not seem to be of much benefit to the kidneys. They determined she would need a kidney biopsy soon to definitively know the exact cause of the kidney injury and thus know how to treat it.


On September 14th, Kirsten had a biopsy of the kidney, but results from that biopsy are still pending. The following day Kirsten had her 3rd dialysis session but then began to notice another possible setback. The cellulitis seemed to be returning to her neck and chest region.

As of September 16th, Kirsten remains on the cardiac floor and while her condition seems to be slowly improving the prognosis for her kidney condition is unknown and guarded. She currently requires assistance from physical therapy to walk and transferring is quite difficult. While we are hoping she will be able to go home with home health nurses and physical therapy, she previously was living alone and so extensive help will be required.

While Kirsten is young and was otherwise healthy, it looks to be quite a long road ahead to recovery, possibly several months. While she does have health insurance, we know she will be responsible for at least 20% of the costs of her hospital stay (including 5 days in the cardiac ICU) as well as home care for a lengthy period of time. 
We would appreciate all of the support and prayers you may be able to offer to this family and healthcare hero at this time!