Katey's Story

I walked up to the sliding glass doors and out rushed an odor that made me cringe. It was a weird but familiar scent, like a mixture of rubbing alcohol and sickness mixed together. As I walked in I felt a chill go down my spine and tingle in my toes. The same smell lingered through the waiting room, only now I could also smell cherry flavored cough syrup. The sound of crying, sniffling, moaning, and coughing tempted me to turn around and walk back out the door. If it was not for the excruciating pain that I endured, that is exactly what I would have done.

I'm Katey Huber, and six years ago I was a happy healthy 21-year-old young woman, and the next day I was doubled over in pain begging God to let me live. After multiple tests, my doctor finally sat me down and told me that I have a disease called Ulcerative Colitis. My first question to him was, what is that? I had never heard of such a thing. He said technically, Ulcerative Colitis is the inflammation of the colon, which causes the interior lining of the colon to bleed continually. About 20 to 25 percent of ulcerative colitis patients eventually require surgery for removal of the colon because of massive bleeding, chronic debilitating illness, perforation of the colon, or risk of cancer. If you decide to do this you will have a bag attached to the outside of your stomach where your entire body waist will go and you will have to empty it frequently.

The risk of colon cancer is greater than normal in patients with widespread ulcerative colitis. The risk may be as high as 32 times the normal rate. The disease itself causes massive abdominal pain, shortness of breath, loss of appetite, and bloody diarrhea. The alternative to surgery is medication. However, the medications associated with the disease, which are mandatory for survival have many side effects. They can cause vomiting, insomnia, deterioration of your bones, swelling in the face, hair loss, and massive change in weight, just to name a few symptoms. This disease has no cure nor does it have any warning signs. It's a chronic disease, which is very dangerous if not treated.

There was silence for what seemed like a long period of time while I was mulling over so much information in my head at one time. I guess a part of me was waiting for a cast member of Candid Camera to jump out or something. The other part of me was telling myself, this can't be true, I'm so young, and no one in my family has anything like this. Finally I looked at him and said, are you sure? He said, "yes," with no hesitation.

Since that day I have been hospitalized five times at three different hospitals ranging from a few days, up to a month at a time. It's funny how life works; I never really appreciated my health until I found out that I was sick. Then I realized that not everyone has the luxury of a healthy body and mind; those people are the fortunate ones.

Following my most recent hospital stay (I spent Christmas & New Years in bed) I was 60 pounds lighter, my body was so weak, and I could not walk. My legs had dwindled down to almost nothing, and would buckle under me without help. My hands were swollen with IV holes and my veins wer e blown up everywhere. Bruises were all over the insides of my elbows from the blood being drawn every morning for testing. Sticky spots were all over my body from the stickers that had previously been attached to my body for the heart monitor, and a small tube was still hanging out of my arm from the pick line that had not been removed yet.

After a few weeks I started to feel better and was able to lift my 2-year-old son Darius who I had missed so much the past month. I was ready to head back to work, and I started to go from a pure liquid diet to some soft foods. However, because of the medications my face blew up like a chipmunk with food in his cheeks, and my hair started to fall out. It was a little at first, but then, I would brush my hair and the entire brush would be filled with hair. I would take a shower, and the drain would be clogged up full of hair, and I would wake up in the morning and my pillow would be covered with hair. I started wearing hats to try and cover all the bald spots, or try to make it really frizzy so that no one would notice my scalp showing through what little hair I had left. I bought a few wigs, but they didn't look right on me, and they were very itchy in the heat of the summer.

That's when I heard about Klassics International. I immediately went on their website and took a look at some of the before-and-after pictures. I saw how great the women looked and how happy they seemed. After looking in the mirror ever morning crying because I felt ugly, and having people look at me funny, I decided to give Helen a call. I made an appointment for a consultation that same day. I decided, "I don't care what the cost, if it will make me feel better about myself, then I would pay anything."

I made an appointment and had it done a few days later. Helen and her family, who are also her staff, made me feel right at home. They showed me before-and-after pictures of other women. They showed me clips of their salon on the news, and let me talk to other clients and ask them questions. I now feel much better and look great. I love my hair and the way it makes me feel. I'm sure that Helen loves my business, however she is more concerned about me. She wants my natural hair to grow back, and be healthy and beautiful again. So my thanks goes out to Helen, Dondrea, Jo and Bear.

At age twenty seven, I can't even count the amount of times that my vital signs have been checked and IV's have been stuck in my hands and arms. Words like heart monitor, hair loss, endoscopic exam, biopsy, colonscopy, proctocolectomy, enema, anima, liquid diet, prednisone, dilaudid, Asacol, Imuran, and blood count are common every day words for me. The scary thing is, there is no end to this. I'm happy to be out of the hospital, but I know I will have to go through this all over again when my colitis decides to flare up again.

I leave you with my last thoughts to think about. God will never push you past your limit, he hand-tailors you trials. God knows, and he alone knows what you can bear. So I say to him, God enable me to bear up under my burden by your grace. Help me to remember that you have handpicked my circumstances to accomplish your purposes for my life. May I humbly submit to your choice for me? Have faith in God, and you can get over any obstacle that is thrown your way.

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