Crohn’s Disease

Teen won’t let condition stand in her way

By Rob Cullivan

The Gresham Outlook, Jul 23, 2010, Updated Jul 23, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Jim Clark / Gresham Outlook

Christina Wohlers plays with family dogs, Molly and Khloe. Wohler, who has Crohn's disease, won a $10,000 college scholarship from the Crohn's foundation.

ADVERTISEMENTS

In September 2008, Christina Wohlers, then 16, a member of the cheer team at Gresham High School, came home from practice with “horrible, shooting pains — and it didn’t go away.”

In fact, the pains got worse, so she was admitted to Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center for one day, then sent to Legacy Emanuel Children’s Hospital in Portland where she waited three weeks as the staff attempted to diagnose her.

“They couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her,” says her mother, Julie Wohlers, who thought it might be Christina’s appendix. “It was a living nightmare.”

Cat scans and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) failed to yield any clues, and Christina began flirting with death. She continuously vomited, her 5-foot-6 frame dropping from 120 pounds to 90 pounds.

One night, the teenager woke up with a 104-degree fever, and was examined by a resident physician. The doctor sent her for an MRI.

“That particular radiologist flipped her on her stomach,” Julie says, noting previously Christina’s MRIs had only examined her topside. “That’s what saved her life.”

What the MRI showed was a perforated bowel leaking toxic fluid into her other organs. Christina then had surgery to remove a 2-inch section of her bowels, and was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, in which the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells in the gastrointestinal tract, causing inflammation.

For the next three months, Christina was in and out of the hospital for several procedures. Mom and daughter vividly remember how she struggled with self-pity.

“Every morning, I cried to my mom and said, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’” Christina, now 18, says.

Turning point

Eventually, Mom says she couldn’t take more of her daughter’s crying and told Christina it was time to think positive.

Although the Wohlers weren’t particularly religious, Julie says she remembers telling her child, “God has a plan for your life, and we’re going to figure out what it is.”

Humor played a role in her recovery, Christina adds. For example, at one point she was hooked up to a feeding tube that turned red, and she thought she was bleeding out, and frantically pressed the call button to summon a nurse.

“It’s Kool-Aid,” the nurse told her, as the mother and daughter broke down laughing.

Meanwhile, her father, Gary Wohlers, created a chart for Christina that rewarded her $5 whenever she got up from the hospital bed on her own and made it to the restroom.

“I made $300,” Christina says with a smile. In fact, she became so successful at getting up out of bed her dad dropped the reward from $5 per trip to $1.

She also credits such friends as Chelsea Johnson, her classmate and best friend since first grade, with helping her recover. Chelsea recalls weeping when Christina was gravely ill.

“She was almost like a sister to me, and it was like her being taken away,” Chelsea says.

However, she got all the school’s cheerleaders to decorate a poster board with quotes and photos designed to lift Christina’s spirits, and spent time helping the sick teenager walk around the hospital to help her get her strength back.

“If she missed something at school or something at cheer, I’d always joke about it with her,” Chelsea adds.

Back to life

Christina — who now boasted a 14-inch surgical scar on her torso — returned to Gresham High in February 2009, and credits the staff there with helping her get back on her academic feet.

“They were very understanding and compassionate in making sure Christina fulfilled all of her academic requirements,” Julie says.

Christina graduated with a 3.73 grade point average in June, and was one of 25 seniors to receive a Gresham Scholars Diploma. She also won a Dale Kruger scholarship, and will receive $2,000 per year for up to four years, totaling $8,000.

1 | 2 Next Page >>