CHERI'S STORY

It happened in October 1993.  She was only 24 years old, mother of a 2-year old son and considered herself to be in great health.  So Cheri was badly frightened when, with no warning, she started passing large quantities of blood.  She remembers thinking she had an upset stomach, but nothing to alert her to major problems.

As soon as she realized how much blood she was losing, she rushed to see her doctor, Kirk Jacobson, MD.  He wasted no time upon examining her before sending Cheri to Sacred Heart Medical Center where she was immediately admitted on October 28. 
However, doctors could not figure out what was going on even though she underwent many tests, including an MRI.  On October 30 Dr. Daniel Phillips performed emergency exploratory surgery and she was finally diagnosed as having Crohn’s Disease. 

When Cheri was first admitted, she was given two units of red blood cells.  She resisted the idea of a transfusion because she, like so many others, had the mistaken belief that receiving blood transfusions was a dangerous procedure.  However, when her nurse told her that if she didn’t receive the blood, she might die, Cheri quickly changed her mind.

In all, Cheri was hospitalized for 7 days and was released on November 4 to return to her family.  Thanks to the immediate medical care and her ongoing treatment, Cheri’s disease has been in remission for more than 3 years.  She and her husband, Jeffrey, now have another son, Alexander, who is 11 years old.  The little boy who faced the possibility of losing his mother is Brandon, who is now nearly 16 years old.