ForeverMissed
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Her Life

Psalm 37: 5-6

August 4, 2014

Psalm 37:5-6

5 Commit your way to the Lord;   trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,  your vindication, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 

Psalm 37: 5-6

May 17, 2014
 

Psalm 37:5-6
5 Commit your way to the Lord;   trust in him and he will do this: 6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,  your vindication, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. 

May 3, 2014

Chelsea was a near perfect child, angelic in beauty, inside and out; at 5'10 with stunning green eyes, gorgeous thick hair and a beautiful complexion.  She was a humble, compassionate and caring young woman.  She fought battles in her young life no young person should endure.  She stood up for others and never judged a soul.  She stood her ground, despite adversity; she was a leader, not a follower.   God knew her heart.  We will tell her story and those involved to raise awarness of the issues bestowed upon her with the hope of saving another young life, as Chelsea would surely have done.  You Lit up the Sky everyday here on earth and you now Light up the Sky in Heaven.  Let Freedom Ring, Let the White Dove Sing...We will SEE you again, our BEAUTIFUL Angel...Too Beautiful for this earth.

Chelsea's Story-In Writing

April 27, 2014


There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.

Maya Angelou 

Response to Peoria, IL Journal Star Newspaper Feature Story-Nov. 2, 2014

I'd like everyone to know regarding Chelseas' powerful story in the Peoria Journal Star that I'm grateful for the reporters' time and great effort in writing it and know the deep impact it had on him, as a young father.  Yet-it's not entirely accurate, as it dismisses the medical negligence that occured, including the denial of a life saving transplant and then downplays the severe bullying that she endured (over nothing more than pure jealousy) and lastly, to say she drank herself to death is completely unfair, medically speaking.  Addiction is a disease like any other life threatening illness and likely contributed to her extensive illness.  Myself and other physicians believe we will never know with certainty what contributed to her illness, as testing through Mayo and other extensive testing could not be completed before she acquired a hospital infection.  

She sought medical help three times presenting severe physical symptoms with the hope of entering into a medical detox unit only to be sent home by a Peoria GI specialist with anti-anxiety and pain meds when she should have been immediately hospitalized.  Within days, I no longer believed her symptoms didn't warrant hospitalization and after calling this GI to explain her symptoms were the same, they discouraged me from taking her to the ER, but I demanded otherwise and that the physician meet us there.  Upon arrival at the ER, we were told she was in double organ failure with a ten percent chance of survival without a transplant.  

She entered detox at the age of 19 for a short 28 days-it wasn't enough and there's much more to the story in regard to seeking addiction help including lack of support, denial and therapist advice to let her hit "rock bottom" and I will elaborate with her full story. 

Ten days into her ICU stay, the next wrongful decision was removing her from ICU, placing her on a non-acute floor, encouraging me to "go home" for the first time in ten days. The next morning she coded/arrested as she was not monitored closely.  She coded within minutes of begging for help in not being able to breath and the nurse on duty explained to a family member that she had a call in to the doctor.  She was then intubated for the next nine days, losing her only chance of hope for survival-a life saving transplant during this most critical time and then acquiring a hospital infection-MRSA.  The second worst day of our lives. 

Stigma played a role in her care at OSF/Peoria and Northwestern/Chicago hugely, though she had many caring and compassionate doctors and nurses; some, forever touched by Chelsea. She wanted to get healthy and be free of the disease of addiction that took a tight grip on her at such a young age due to the severe bullying/mob attack and understand that Chelsea was strong minded to tolerate for nearly two years, but the planned attack that also included football players/cheerleaders "supposed good kids" and peers Chelsea considered friends and thankfully her close friends were not a part of it.  The others intentionally drove to this location to witness, after the plan was put into place well in advance unbeknownst to Chelsea while working at her job.  Keeping in mind she was only sixteen and some of these bullies, aka, criminals (bullies is way to light of a term for what they carried out) were eighteen and older.  Not one person tried to stop it even as she tried to escape with her car blocked.    

This proved to be too much for her. It shattered her, yet she pulled herself up and found the courage to transfer back to the same school because she yearned to graduate with her lifelong class. Anyone that knew Chelsea, knew what a great kid and young teen she was; not a troubled child by any measure. She was well rounded, heavily involved in sports, Girl Scouts and more all of her young life. Teachers and coaches spoke highly of her. I saw her get beaten down every day for nearly two years by these monsters. We didn't even call it bullying back then-we didn't know what to call other than harassment (thus another reason to bring awareness). The parent of the ring leader knew of the awful plan, yet did nothing. A light needs to be shed on these people, as well. This was all too much for a 16 year old girl. These were her most formative years, as the reporter stated.  Our forgiving Chelsea made the decision not to press charges, but mostly feared further retaliation. We have much awareness to raise from bullying-the root cause in Chelsea's addiction, to reducing the stigma and shame associated with  addiction.  We went forward with her story because we know, without a doubt, she would never want another young person to endure what she did. She was truly a kind, compassionate child and young woman with a heart of gold despite what she endured in her young life and in knowing this, we will work tirelessly to make a change-for Chelsea. We will Live Loud for you and every other young person touched by these issues.  Youth Health Matters-Chelsea's Story is truly making a difference in the community.