Everything Happends for a Reason

I believe “everything happens for a reason.” When I was in kindergarten, I continually was sick with strep throat, colds, and even mono. In the spring of my kindergarten year, the doctors thought it would be best to take out my tonsils. So, in March of 2001, my out patient surgery was scheduled.

My parents tell me that all the important questions were asked and answered. At 8:00 am I entered the clinic on Wednesday morning for a routine surgery. However, by 8:15 am the doctors were meeting with my parents asking if they knew why I might have woken up paralyzed?! My parents said no and the surgery went on. I woke up, I couldn’t move, thank goodness there was a nurse close by, and noticed what had happened. The nurse gave me some more sedative so I would sleep until they could figure out what was wrong.

That morning I was admitted into intensive care unit at Washington regional. The doctors could not figure out what was going on. Several of the doctors and nurses were looking in books trying to figure out what was going on with me. As I laid in the intensive care unit, with my grandparents and parents by my side, the doctors were researching. Finally, Dr. Pete Ball, a friend of the family, asked if this had EVER happened to anyone else in our family. The doctors came to the conclusion that I was allergic to the anesthetic that was used during the surgery.

Now I have pseudocholinesterase deficiency. Yes, it is very long word; just say I am allergic to a certain type on anesthetic. I am supposed to wear a bracelet, or some form of identification, letting people know about my deficiency.

The reason I truly believe that this happened for a reason is that the doctors say that this deficiency is hereditary, so it is passed down through families. My family has all been healthy and would have never known about this deficiency. It could have been a lot worse. I was paralyzed for eight hours; however, now my family knows about the deficiency and will be careful when having surgery.