Temporary or Permanent?

Late Summer/Fall 1999
 I was supposed to start my core Education classes this semester at UF, but because I failed that Anatomy & Physiology course (along with dropping another education pre-requisite), I had to postpone my plans one semester. Instead, I took Teaching Diverse Populations, Western Civilization in the Middle Ages, General Anthropology, and Age of the Dinosaurs (yes, this was actually a real college science class). I was probably somewhat bitter about having to wait an entire semester to take my education courses, so I didn’t put forth too much effort this semester – 3 B’s, 1 B+.

When I first moved to Gainesville, I instantly had a big group of friends. My childhood best friend graduated high school a year before me (she was c/o 1996), and she had made a big group of friends who lived in her dorm freshman year. I moved to Gainesville in August 1997, and I felt so welcomed and surrounded by interesting people who were fun to be around. But two years later, my best friend moved back home, and I grew apart from her friends. This semester, I made two new friends named Kelly. I don’t think I would’ve remembered their names had they not had the same name. One of them was in my Middle Ages course, and the other was in my education course. They were very different, but both were native Gators. Kelly from Middle Ages had piercings and tattoos…and drove like an absolute maniac in the most beat-up car I had ever driven in. I swear to you, she’d drive through intersections with cars about two feet away from hitting my passenger side. It was so scary, yet so thrilling. Kelly from my Education course was the daughter of a doctor. Even though her parents lived nearby, they got her her own apartment, equipped with a big screen TV. She drove a brand new SUV and had enough money to go where she wanted, when she wanted, without ever having to work. I used to envy people like that when I was in college. People who didn’t have to work or whose parents bought them clothing and televisions and new cars. But I lived in Gatorwood Apartments (if you are not familiar, that’s where the infamous Gainesville murders took place, so the rent was only $470/month), had to work, shopped from the JCPenney clearance racks, and I drove a used ’95 Nissan Sentra…oh, wait…just remembered another story from this semester!

Okay, so since I didn’t want to return to my Mexican fast food restaurant job, I had to find a new one. I decided to be a sales person at Gatorland Toyota-Kia. Only they put me in the used car area across the street. And I didn’t do sales. I did some job where I had to ask people their names when they entered the building, and then I had to give their info to a sales person, who then had to give the info back to me in order for me to get paid. I guess I was some type of glorified Wal-mart greeter. All I really remember about the job was that I had to answer the phone “It’s a great day at Gatorland Toyota-Kia.” Why was that all I remembered? Because on my first day at work, I threw up repeatedly in the bathroom, until I had to ask to leave. I drove home hastily, and a car hit me (T-ed me, and I spun around at a MAJOR intersection). Yeah, had to quit that job. No transportation – and the $1000 I had saved waitressing over the summer to spend on furniture for my apartment? Now spent on car repairs.


Late Summer/Fall 1999
So finally the gastroenterologist discovered what he thought was the problem – Abi was diagnosed with delayed gastric emptying, which meant the milk she ingested was actually sitting in her stomach so long that it was curdling. She was given a drug that finally helped her reflux and gastric emptying, but shortly after, the drug was taken off the market. She was given another medication instead, but that drug didn’t work like the other, and Abi was suffering from dehydration, stuffy sinuses, and a sore throat. She would get so backed up, that when the mucous and milk finally drained, it drained everywhere – on her parents, bedding, the floors – everywhere!

In September, Abi completely shut down. She wouldn’t breastfeed or drink from a bottle. Her parents begged her to eat, fed her drop by drop, but after two weeks of this, Abi was back in the hospital. She had been given so many IVs already that her poor little body could not handle one more. The only place they were able to get a vein was in her head, so that is where they placed her IV. This would hydrate her, but it did not nourish her.

This led to one of the first big decisions they would have to make for Abi. If she wouldn’t suck from a breast or a bottle, they would have to insert a feeding tube. Just five months earlier, they were thinking about cute baby clothing and toys and nursery decorations… and now they had to decide whether they wanted a temporary tube in their daughter’s nose, a permanent tube in her stomach, or a permanent tube in her intestines. This was almost too much to handle, but a decision had to be made. Additionally, they had to determine if they would tie off her stomach so that she couldn’t throw up because they constantly feared she’d aspirate on all the fluid she was throwing up.

Still clueless about what was actually going on with Abi, they opted to place a feeding tube in her nose temporarily and transfer her to a new hospital in Miami. They spent a total of two months in the hospital this time, determined to remain there until they had answers. They met with every geneticist, gastroenterologist, neurologist, medical student, nurse, etc. until they found an answer. They drew blood, swallow tests, EEG, MRI, seizure workup, etc. Time was passing, data collected, but no one knew what was actually happening. One term they threw around a lot was "failure to thrive." That made it sound like everyone was just giving up. Like Abi had no chance at a future. But they couldn't give up on their daughter. They had to believe they would get answers - real answers. What was wrong with their beautiful little girl? When would they figure things out? How long must they remain in the hospital? When would they get to take Abi home?