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Hi everyone. I'm Morgan, Macy's sister. Please read her story below and consider donating to ease the stress of the piling medical bills.
From Macy:
From September 7th through September 9th, I started having stomach pains and nausea on and off. However, On September 10th around 10:00 AM, I was at work and a sharp, shooting pain started piercing my lower abdomen. I thought it was either hunger pains or I was developing a stomach bug. I decided to keep working and wait to see if the stomach pains would pass. An hour later, though, the pain had only gotten worse. I left work and went home to lay down for the rest of the afternoon, with hopes the pain would go away on its own. Driving home, I didn’t think I was going to make it because of the pain. When I finally got home, my parents had to help me get out of my car, into the house, and into my bed. I could barely walk because of the pain. As I waited throughout the rest of the day, the pain didn’t subside, and by 5:30 PM, I decided I needed to go to the ER. When I got to the hospital, I thought my stomach was completely ruptured and coming out of my body because the pain was so unbearable. I sat in the ER alone (because of COVID-19) for 8 hours waiting to be seen. The doctors had already taken a little bloodwork and could tell something was wrong, but they wanted to perform a CT scan to determine what was happening. After a CT scan, they discovered my right kidney was significantly enlarged. The ER doctor thought I had a severe case of kidney stones, so they put me on an IV and pain medicine and scheduled an appointment with a urologist the next morning. I didn’t leave the hospital until 5:00 AM on September 11th. When I went to the urologist that same morning, he told me that the problem wasn’t kidney stones. He immediately saw that my right kidney was swollen from a ureteropelvic junction in my right kidney, which means where my kidney meets my urethra is blocked my blood vessels and urine cannot filter out of my kidney to my bladder. According to the doctor, this has been going on since birth and has just now been completely blocked to the point of barely functioning. The urologist, Dr. Rusty Shappley, stated he would need to complete two surgeries – one to put a stent in my kidney and down my urethra to my bladder so urine could filter out and the swelling in my kidney could go down, and another surgery called a laparoscopic pyeloplasty to remove the blood vessels blocking my right kidney so it can drain and function properly. I had the stent insertion surgery on September 17th, and the laparoscopic pyeloplasty is scheduled for October 6th.
After the stent insertion surgery, I was in so much pain that on September 20th, I was rushed back to my surgeon, where he administered a shot into my kidney and performed more scans. Dr. Shappley said the reason I was in so much pain is because my kidney was so enlarged it could have easily ruptured. If it would’ve ruptured, he would’ve had to remove the kidney completely. Since the kidney shot, I’ve been feeling much better, but the stent in my urethra is extremely uncomfortable, and it hurts to walk or sit straight for long periods of time. At my pre-operation appointment, on October 1st, Dr. Shappley informed me that my kidney function isn’t good – my kidney function only operates at 43%, and my left kidney operates at 57%. This puts me at Stage 3 Kidney Disease. Dr. Shappley is hopeful the surgery will help to where my kidney function doesn’t decrease. However, if my kidney function ever drops below 13%, my kidneys will have to be removed.
Dr. Shappley said as much as he plans to do a laparoscopic procedure, he could possibly have to open me up, depending on what he finds during the surgery. I will have to stay in the hospital overnight for observations and am hoping for a smooth recovery and a properly functioning kidney. Dr. Shappley said with today’s technology, this could’ve been caught at birth, but since I was born in the mid-90s, the technology wasn’t as good and this wasn’t seen then.
In between these two surgeries, I have had many hospital visits, which include CT scans, ultrasounds, labs, x-rays, and kidney function tests. And over the past month, I’ve been to many hospitals, doctor’s appointments, and surgeons to have a variety of different tests, labs, and scans run. Now that it has been a few weeks, I am receiving lots of medical bills. Even though I do have insurance (which I am beyond thankful for), insurance only covers a portion of the costs for all the doctors, surgeons, tests, scans, and medical procedures. If you would please consider donating to help me fund these medical bills and surgeries so I can focus on healing, that would be such a huge help!
Thank you for reading!
From Macy:
From September 7th through September 9th, I started having stomach pains and nausea on and off. However, On September 10th around 10:00 AM, I was at work and a sharp, shooting pain started piercing my lower abdomen. I thought it was either hunger pains or I was developing a stomach bug. I decided to keep working and wait to see if the stomach pains would pass. An hour later, though, the pain had only gotten worse. I left work and went home to lay down for the rest of the afternoon, with hopes the pain would go away on its own. Driving home, I didn’t think I was going to make it because of the pain. When I finally got home, my parents had to help me get out of my car, into the house, and into my bed. I could barely walk because of the pain. As I waited throughout the rest of the day, the pain didn’t subside, and by 5:30 PM, I decided I needed to go to the ER. When I got to the hospital, I thought my stomach was completely ruptured and coming out of my body because the pain was so unbearable. I sat in the ER alone (because of COVID-19) for 8 hours waiting to be seen. The doctors had already taken a little bloodwork and could tell something was wrong, but they wanted to perform a CT scan to determine what was happening. After a CT scan, they discovered my right kidney was significantly enlarged. The ER doctor thought I had a severe case of kidney stones, so they put me on an IV and pain medicine and scheduled an appointment with a urologist the next morning. I didn’t leave the hospital until 5:00 AM on September 11th. When I went to the urologist that same morning, he told me that the problem wasn’t kidney stones. He immediately saw that my right kidney was swollen from a ureteropelvic junction in my right kidney, which means where my kidney meets my urethra is blocked my blood vessels and urine cannot filter out of my kidney to my bladder. According to the doctor, this has been going on since birth and has just now been completely blocked to the point of barely functioning. The urologist, Dr. Rusty Shappley, stated he would need to complete two surgeries – one to put a stent in my kidney and down my urethra to my bladder so urine could filter out and the swelling in my kidney could go down, and another surgery called a laparoscopic pyeloplasty to remove the blood vessels blocking my right kidney so it can drain and function properly. I had the stent insertion surgery on September 17th, and the laparoscopic pyeloplasty is scheduled for October 6th.
After the stent insertion surgery, I was in so much pain that on September 20th, I was rushed back to my surgeon, where he administered a shot into my kidney and performed more scans. Dr. Shappley said the reason I was in so much pain is because my kidney was so enlarged it could have easily ruptured. If it would’ve ruptured, he would’ve had to remove the kidney completely. Since the kidney shot, I’ve been feeling much better, but the stent in my urethra is extremely uncomfortable, and it hurts to walk or sit straight for long periods of time. At my pre-operation appointment, on October 1st, Dr. Shappley informed me that my kidney function isn’t good – my kidney function only operates at 43%, and my left kidney operates at 57%. This puts me at Stage 3 Kidney Disease. Dr. Shappley is hopeful the surgery will help to where my kidney function doesn’t decrease. However, if my kidney function ever drops below 13%, my kidneys will have to be removed.
Dr. Shappley said as much as he plans to do a laparoscopic procedure, he could possibly have to open me up, depending on what he finds during the surgery. I will have to stay in the hospital overnight for observations and am hoping for a smooth recovery and a properly functioning kidney. Dr. Shappley said with today’s technology, this could’ve been caught at birth, but since I was born in the mid-90s, the technology wasn’t as good and this wasn’t seen then.
In between these two surgeries, I have had many hospital visits, which include CT scans, ultrasounds, labs, x-rays, and kidney function tests. And over the past month, I’ve been to many hospitals, doctor’s appointments, and surgeons to have a variety of different tests, labs, and scans run. Now that it has been a few weeks, I am receiving lots of medical bills. Even though I do have insurance (which I am beyond thankful for), insurance only covers a portion of the costs for all the doctors, surgeons, tests, scans, and medical procedures. If you would please consider donating to help me fund these medical bills and surgeries so I can focus on healing, that would be such a huge help!
Thank you for reading!
Organizer and beneficiary
Macy Pruitt
Beneficiary