My name is Crystal. I am 27 years old and a mom to two beautiful girls and a wife to an amazing husband. I am an artist and love to express myself through photography. I have a love for life and love living it.
In August of 2010 my life was turned upside down. My mom, my kids and I were in a car accident. Ever since the accident i had been struggling with excruciating pain in my lower back, hip, and down my right leg. It was unbearable. I tried everything from chiropractic care, physical therapy, and cortisone shots. Little did I know all the pain I was having was a blessing in disguise.
My doctor ordered an MRI of my lower back because of all the pain nI was in and discovered by mistake, what looked like an aneurysm. I was told very little about what an aneurysm was and was assured it was probably a misreading and no matter what, not to look it up on the internet. Of course i looked it up, and realized if what they had seen was indeed an aneurysm, my life would become very different.
Next on my list was a CT scan. I nervously make it through another test and awaited another phone call from the doctor. The day came and sure enough they had not misread my MRI. I did have an aneurysm. I had the most rare type of aneurysm. (.01% chance of every getting this type of aneurysm) A renal artery aneurysm; and to top it off, it was on a vessel to the only kidney I was born with. This created a very unique and difficult problem.
There are several options I have to choose from. First is watch and wait; and monitor. To me this is a gamble with my life. At any moment no matter if I am exercising or sitting on the couch relaxing, my aneurysm could rupture and I would have 5-30 minutes to get to the hospital before I would internally bleed to death. If I was lucky and made it to the hospital I would have my only kidney removed and be put on dialysis and a kidney transplant waiting list. I fear everyday that this may happen while im alone or with my kids.
The next option we were told was to do embolization. I later found out this was not an option because my solitary kidney and the surgery would risk me loosing part of my kidney tissue and I would end up needing a kidney transplant down the road. Once again I want to preserve my life and lice until Im old and grey. I want to be there for my family and my children. And live life to the fullest. This was not the right option.
My last option is an auto transplant. This is where the surgeon wil take my kidney out, remove the aneurysm, and transplant my kidney back into my body. More evasive, more recovery, more scars... yet this option gives me the best long-term quality of life. This was the right decision.
Sounds like this story has a happy ending. But there is a twist...Last year my husband was laid off from his job. Good insurance, retirement, and a steady reliable income. My husband found a job relatively fast. Such a blessing; but his new job didn't have any benefits and it was half the income that we made before. We have made it work. Time are tough but we had each other and that's really all that matters. We are lucky because our kids have health coverage and my husband and I have preventative coverage. Now to a healthy family this would be perfect; but to a rare out of the ordinary family this does not cut it. My bills will estimate around 170,000.00. I have looked into buying individual insurance; but don't qualify because of my pre-exiting condition. I have looked into government help but we have been responsible and have to many assits. Even if we were to sell everything it still would not cover the cost. That leaves one option,save and hope for help. I firmly believe things happen for a reason. Either to teach use or others and to grow as a person. Life is about learning and growing and this is definitely once of those times I have to remember this.
