Krista Hayes’ Story in her own words.

I asked Krista Hayes to tell her Story in her own words:

WELL “MY STORY” OR (OVERVIEW) IS THIS, I AM 32 YEARS OLD, I WAS MARRIED WITH MY THREE CHILDREN UNTIL MY HUSBAND AND I FILED FOR DIVORCE. I TOOK GREAT PRIDE IN COMING FROM A BROKEN HOME AND OFTEN IN FOSTER CARE OR THE SYSTEM AS THEY CALLED IT AND SOCIAL WORKERS WERE ALWAYS TRYING TO PLACE MYSELF AND SIBLINGS IN SEVERAL PLACES UNTIL I BECAME A TEENAGER AND THEN I PRETTY MUCH GOT TO CHOOSE TO STAY WITH MY CLOSEST OF FRIENDS AND THEIR MOM’S TREATED ME LIKE I WAS A FOSTER CHILD, WHICH WAS A NICE HONOR AND I WAS LUCKY TO HAVE THIS WOMEN THAT WERE LIKE ADVOCATED PLACED IN MY LIFE TO NOT ONLY LOOK AFTER ME BUT TO MAKE SURE THAT I WAS MAKING GOOD JUDGEMENTS CALLS FOR MYSELF.

I HAD DECIDED EARLY ON THAT I WANTED TO BE A GREAT PARENT AND HELP OTHER PEOPLE WITH THEIR CHILDREN TOO. I BEGAN TO HAVE MY CHILDERN ON TIME AS I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL ON TIME AND THEN BEGAN ATTENDING COLLEGE I WAS SUCCESSFUL TO GET MY A.S. IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND THEN LATER MY B.A. IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, I WAS VERY PROUD WITH THREE CHILDREN WORKING FULL TIME OVER NIGHT AS A CHILD CRISIS WORKER AND A FULL TIME STUDENT FINISHING MY DEGREE…..

APPARENTLY I RAN MYSELF INTO THE GROUND SO TO SPEAK………I PUT ALOT OF STRAIN ON MY BODY, I WAS NOT EATING OR SLEEPING WELL AND I GUESS I JUST WAS PUSHING TO HARD IT SEEMS I GOT SICK WITH LIKE A FLU OR COLD AND IT JUST LINGERED I IGNORED GOING TO THE DOCTOR’S FOR THE LONGEST TIME, I GUESS I JUST FIGURED IT WOULD GO AWAY!!

I WAS GREAT ABOUT TAKING MY KIDS TO THE DR FOR THEIR REGULAR CHECK UPS AND HAD TAKEN PARENTING CLASSES TOO BUT I NEVER TOOK MYSELF FOR CHECK UPS OR WAS USE TO TAKING CARE OF MYSELF THAT WAY, MAYBE BECAUSE NO ONE DID IT FOR ME. ANYWAY I GOT TO THE POINT OF A REALLY HIGH FEVER, SO WEAK IT COULD HARDLY WALK, I FINALLY AGREED TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL, I WAS ADMITTED FOR SEVERAL REASONS, MY VITAL SIGNS WERE BAD MEANING I HAD A 103.5 TEMP MY BLOOD PRESSURE WAS 200/110 MY HEART RATE WAS OVER 160 AND I HAD A VERY HIGH WHITE CELL COUNT ALL THE SYMPTOMS AND MY VITALS DIDNT MAKE SENSE AND AFTER A DIAGNOSIS OF A BAD CASE OF PNEUMONIA I WAS STARTED ON STRONG TREATMENT OF ANTIBIOTICS, DAYS WENT BY WITH LITTLE TO NO IMPROVEMENT AND THE DR’S WERE CONCERN ABOUT WHY MY BODY WAS NOT WORKING WITH THE ANTIBIOTICS TO GET BETTER…..FURTHER TESTING REVEALED THAT I HAD A POSITIVE BLOOD CULTURE TEST DONE FOR BACTERIA, WHICH MEANT I TEST POSITIVE FOR BACTERIA IN MY BLOOD STREAM, NOT GOOD.

LATER AFTER SEVERAL OTHER TEST INCLUDING A CT SCAN I WAS TOLD THAT I HAD LYMPHOMA.  I ASKED WAS THAT NOT A TYPE OF CANCER??? HOW DID I GET IT I DONT SMOKE OR USE DRUGS I AM JUST BUSY ALOT AND WELL I TRIED TO KEEP MY LIFE THE SAME…BUT AFTER TREATMENT STARTED I BEGAN TO BE SO WEAK AND WHEN I TRIED TO RETURN TO WORK AFTER ONE OF MY FIRST SURGERIES I REALIZED THE DR WAS RIGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE TO DO WHAT I FELT WAS IMPOSSIBLE, WHICH WAS TO STOP WORKING ALTOGETHER BECAUSE I WAS NO LONGER ABLE TO DO WHAT MY JOB REQUIRED OF ME.

THEN I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT PROVIDING FOR MY CHILDREN SO I APPLIED FOR UNEMPLOYMENT, DISABILITY AND SOCIAL SECURITY, SO FAR NO MONEY HAS COME FROM ANY OF THESE SERVICES, THEY ARE DELAYED (BAD ECONOMY) AND SO MANY PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO GE THE SAME BENEFITS.  I HAVE BEEN TOLD IT CAN TAKE UP TO 120 DAYS.

SO IN THE MEAN TIME I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIND HONEST TO GOODNESS HELP.  I JUST WANT THE ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO FEED MY KIDS, KEEP THE UTILITIES ON AND TO KEEP A ROOF OVER OUR HEADS, THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN MIND BLOWING AND I AM SO OVERWHELMED DEALING WITH THE FACT THAT I HAVE ALREADY BEEN THRU SO MUCH, STILL DONT HAVE ALOT OF ANSWERS AND NO IDEA WHAT TO DO FOR MONEY OR RESOURCES AT THIS POINT, IT SOUNDS TERRIBLE I KNOW….

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I AM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FENCE AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT I AM SCARED…………NO TERRIFIED IS MORE LIKE IT…………..HOW AM I GOING TO GET THRU THIS AND EERYTHING BE OK???? I NEED HELP, I REALIZED I NEED TO SWALLOW MY PRIDE AND JUST ADMIT THAT I NEED HLEP FOR MYSELF AND CHIDREN!!!! SO IF YOU CAN IN ANYWAY PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU CAN HELP ME, I AM SO GRATEFUL….GOD BLESS YOU!!!!!

Krista Hayes