Support Ms. Santiago
Donation protected
JOIN US IN OUR SUPPORT FOR MS. SANTIAGO!!!
Ms. Santiago is a Spanish teacher at Belton New Tech High School. At only 25 years of age she has recently been diagnosed with Polymyositis (an uncommon inflammatory disease that attacks the muscles). In only 3 short months Ms. Santiago has endured many hardships with 4 hospital stays and countless Dr. visits and testing. Ms. Santiago is currently at a state where she is unable to eat, swallow, bathe, drive, or move around on her own. She has had a permanent feeding tube placed in her stomach. Dr.'s have stated that this is one of the worst cases of Polymyositis that they have seen.
Despite these conditions and challenges, Ms. Santiago has constantly maintained a positive attitude. She has not allowed these medical hardships to take control of her life or personality. She continues to place top priority on her students. Ms. Santiago is one of the most selfless individuals and has a wonderful personality! Her students adore her!
PLEASE HELP FUND OUR CAMPAIGN!
Let's show Ms. Santiago how much this community appreciates her!!
Below is a note from Ms. Santiago with more information pertaining to her diagnosis.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!
A note from Ms. Santiago:
Nicolle Santiago
25
I live at home with my parents
High school Spanish teacher at Belton New Tech
I've been diagnosed with polymyositis.
I've been treated with IV solutions, IV IG solutions, solymydrol infusions, prednisone, methatraxate, anxiety medication , Pepcid, iron, folic acid, I've had a feeding tube in my nose and I currently have a permanent feeding tube in my stomach
4 hospital stays
I can't eat or swallow on my own, bathe by myself, move around in bed, drive,
In February I noticed I had a swollen ankle and no matter what I tried the swelling wouldn't go down. After 3 days I decided to go to urgent care where they thought it was a blood clot but my primary had already checked my leg (for a hematoma) and it was negative. The doctor at urgent care said there was nothing he could do and that I should get to the nearest er (next door). There with my mom they ran tests and found that my ck levels were high (normal is in the 200's, I was at 3000) and they asked if I was a marathoner or if I did cross fit, I laughed. I worked out but nothing intense like that. They admitted me with rhabdomyolisis. All they could do was give me IV's. I felt fine, was eating fine (chick fil a, cheeseburgers, anything I wanted)
They discharged me after 5 even though my ck was still high and told me to check with my primary doctor.
The next day my primary looked me over and ordered labs. The very next day she called during breakfast and ordered me to get to the er, they already knew I was on the way my ck levels were at 5000.
When I was admitted the second time they began asking more questions and running more tests that kept coming back normal for autoimmune disease . Initially they believed I had some type of virus that became myositis and attacked my muscles. I endured a muscle poke test ( they stick a needle in your muscle and jab around looking for abnormalities), and a muscle shock test. They found an abnormality in my shoulder. They decided to do a biopsy of my shoulder and send it to mayo clinic. My ck levels went back down to about 3000 so I was discharged. After two weeks of resting at home I went back to work for a day. At the end of the day I started feeling chest pain. My mom was super worried and convinced me to go to the er. They did an x Ray, gave me some medicine and ran labs. The good news was that my chest was ok, just heartburn, but my liver enzymes were high so they admitted me again. My ck levels got to 10000. Doctors were worried that my body was so dependent on the prednisone even if it was affecting me. For this stay I was given much more IV to the point where I was swollen like baymak from Big Hero 6. My veins were so tired that they began to roll so they inserted a pike line all the way to my heart so that that could draw blood. I had another ultrasound to check for blood clots in my arms and then they decided to give me lasiks to help relieve the swelling, meaning I had to pee every 5-10minutes. We also began IV/IG treatment which really seemed to help. After all the tests the Doctor decided my condition was polymyositis but to be sure they did another biopsy this time on my thigh. I left feeling weak and strong at the same time. The prednisone had just started a rash and I had a bit of a sore throat but they gave me medication. A couple of weeks later I noticed that the sore throat was not getting better. My voice changed and my primary doctor just said to give it time, that my body was under a lot of stress. I went back to work only half days with a million follow up appointments but with hope. My ck levels were going down and I was doing physical therapy. The problem in my throat started worsening to the point where I was carrying around a spitting bottle as if I did dip! After a vist to my rheumatologist and 3 infusions he suggested a visit to the ent. The problem is that all these appointments were too spaced out so my mom managed to get something better. The ent checked everything out and said it looked like an infection, gave me medication and told me to come back on Monday. We saw a different ent and he agreed about the infection but also recommend following up with a speech therapist to help my voice. At this point it's been about 4-5 weeks of voice loss, excessive phlegm, loss of muscular strength in the throat, not eating and coughing up everything I ate. Finally, I decided to contact the doctor that had taken the best care of me, he was concerned. We decided to go back to the er on Sunday, I had lost too much weight and was basically wasting away from lack of nutrition. In the er they did a ct scan ( they were worried I'd had a stroke) and did several other tests. When they admitted me we requested the same doctor. When he saw me he was extremely concerned and was honest that my case of polymyositis and everything he had researched was the worst he's ever seen especially in a young person. Immediately he began a plan and reminded me not to listen to any of the specialists who were talking about neurological problems, strokes, and other scary things. He reminded me that they don't know my case. We did a swallow test and found that my epiglottis was completely closed, anything getting through was because of gravity and within seconds it was coming up. I'd need a feeding tube inserted into my nose. It was painful and short term. My doctor really thought that the permanent feeding tube in the stomach would be better because it's discreet and I'd be with a feeding tube for the foreseeable future. On Friday they placed the feeding tube, removed the nose tube and started feedings. While all this was going on I was also being treated for my polymyositis, more IV/IG treatments, which really seem to work for me, speech therapy, fluids with electrolytes and vitamins. Each day seemed to get better, my color was coming back to my face, my eyes weren't as sunken in and my voice was stronger and clearer. I have since been discharged and although I don't know how long it'll take for me to get better or to be able to actually eat a cheeseburger, I know that I can even though there will be bad days.
#ThankATeacher
Ms. Santiago is a Spanish teacher at Belton New Tech High School. At only 25 years of age she has recently been diagnosed with Polymyositis (an uncommon inflammatory disease that attacks the muscles). In only 3 short months Ms. Santiago has endured many hardships with 4 hospital stays and countless Dr. visits and testing. Ms. Santiago is currently at a state where she is unable to eat, swallow, bathe, drive, or move around on her own. She has had a permanent feeding tube placed in her stomach. Dr.'s have stated that this is one of the worst cases of Polymyositis that they have seen.
Despite these conditions and challenges, Ms. Santiago has constantly maintained a positive attitude. She has not allowed these medical hardships to take control of her life or personality. She continues to place top priority on her students. Ms. Santiago is one of the most selfless individuals and has a wonderful personality! Her students adore her!
PLEASE HELP FUND OUR CAMPAIGN!
Let's show Ms. Santiago how much this community appreciates her!!
Below is a note from Ms. Santiago with more information pertaining to her diagnosis.WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!!!!
A note from Ms. Santiago:
Nicolle Santiago
25
I live at home with my parents
High school Spanish teacher at Belton New Tech
I've been diagnosed with polymyositis.
I've been treated with IV solutions, IV IG solutions, solymydrol infusions, prednisone, methatraxate, anxiety medication , Pepcid, iron, folic acid, I've had a feeding tube in my nose and I currently have a permanent feeding tube in my stomach
4 hospital stays
I can't eat or swallow on my own, bathe by myself, move around in bed, drive,
In February I noticed I had a swollen ankle and no matter what I tried the swelling wouldn't go down. After 3 days I decided to go to urgent care where they thought it was a blood clot but my primary had already checked my leg (for a hematoma) and it was negative. The doctor at urgent care said there was nothing he could do and that I should get to the nearest er (next door). There with my mom they ran tests and found that my ck levels were high (normal is in the 200's, I was at 3000) and they asked if I was a marathoner or if I did cross fit, I laughed. I worked out but nothing intense like that. They admitted me with rhabdomyolisis. All they could do was give me IV's. I felt fine, was eating fine (chick fil a, cheeseburgers, anything I wanted)
They discharged me after 5 even though my ck was still high and told me to check with my primary doctor.
The next day my primary looked me over and ordered labs. The very next day she called during breakfast and ordered me to get to the er, they already knew I was on the way my ck levels were at 5000.
When I was admitted the second time they began asking more questions and running more tests that kept coming back normal for autoimmune disease . Initially they believed I had some type of virus that became myositis and attacked my muscles. I endured a muscle poke test ( they stick a needle in your muscle and jab around looking for abnormalities), and a muscle shock test. They found an abnormality in my shoulder. They decided to do a biopsy of my shoulder and send it to mayo clinic. My ck levels went back down to about 3000 so I was discharged. After two weeks of resting at home I went back to work for a day. At the end of the day I started feeling chest pain. My mom was super worried and convinced me to go to the er. They did an x Ray, gave me some medicine and ran labs. The good news was that my chest was ok, just heartburn, but my liver enzymes were high so they admitted me again. My ck levels got to 10000. Doctors were worried that my body was so dependent on the prednisone even if it was affecting me. For this stay I was given much more IV to the point where I was swollen like baymak from Big Hero 6. My veins were so tired that they began to roll so they inserted a pike line all the way to my heart so that that could draw blood. I had another ultrasound to check for blood clots in my arms and then they decided to give me lasiks to help relieve the swelling, meaning I had to pee every 5-10minutes. We also began IV/IG treatment which really seemed to help. After all the tests the Doctor decided my condition was polymyositis but to be sure they did another biopsy this time on my thigh. I left feeling weak and strong at the same time. The prednisone had just started a rash and I had a bit of a sore throat but they gave me medication. A couple of weeks later I noticed that the sore throat was not getting better. My voice changed and my primary doctor just said to give it time, that my body was under a lot of stress. I went back to work only half days with a million follow up appointments but with hope. My ck levels were going down and I was doing physical therapy. The problem in my throat started worsening to the point where I was carrying around a spitting bottle as if I did dip! After a vist to my rheumatologist and 3 infusions he suggested a visit to the ent. The problem is that all these appointments were too spaced out so my mom managed to get something better. The ent checked everything out and said it looked like an infection, gave me medication and told me to come back on Monday. We saw a different ent and he agreed about the infection but also recommend following up with a speech therapist to help my voice. At this point it's been about 4-5 weeks of voice loss, excessive phlegm, loss of muscular strength in the throat, not eating and coughing up everything I ate. Finally, I decided to contact the doctor that had taken the best care of me, he was concerned. We decided to go back to the er on Sunday, I had lost too much weight and was basically wasting away from lack of nutrition. In the er they did a ct scan ( they were worried I'd had a stroke) and did several other tests. When they admitted me we requested the same doctor. When he saw me he was extremely concerned and was honest that my case of polymyositis and everything he had researched was the worst he's ever seen especially in a young person. Immediately he began a plan and reminded me not to listen to any of the specialists who were talking about neurological problems, strokes, and other scary things. He reminded me that they don't know my case. We did a swallow test and found that my epiglottis was completely closed, anything getting through was because of gravity and within seconds it was coming up. I'd need a feeding tube inserted into my nose. It was painful and short term. My doctor really thought that the permanent feeding tube in the stomach would be better because it's discreet and I'd be with a feeding tube for the foreseeable future. On Friday they placed the feeding tube, removed the nose tube and started feedings. While all this was going on I was also being treated for my polymyositis, more IV/IG treatments, which really seem to work for me, speech therapy, fluids with electrolytes and vitamins. Each day seemed to get better, my color was coming back to my face, my eyes weren't as sunken in and my voice was stronger and clearer. I have since been discharged and although I don't know how long it'll take for me to get better or to be able to actually eat a cheeseburger, I know that I can even though there will be bad days.
#ThankATeacher
Organizer and beneficiary
Marsha Updyke
Organizer
Belton, TX
Nicolle Santiago
Beneficiary