Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Kovach.
Hi Samantha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was 6 months old, I had a blocked intestine or an Intussusception. An Intussusception is an intestinal obstruction that results when a part of the intestine folds into a section next to it. It is a medical emergency and can be fatal if left untreated. While at the hospital undergoing treatment, I was given dye that was injected directly into my intestine that caused my intestine to rupture. The Doctor’s had to remove 1/4 of my large intestine and 1/8 of my small intestine as a result.
My mom was 21, dad 23 when I was born. I was born healthy with no real complications. Life and technology was very different than it is now. Especially in the medical field. We lived over 45 minutes from the hospital. My parents realized there was an issue when I started vomiting. The Doctor’s at the hospital said I had a stomach virus and they sent me home. The next day though the vomiting got worse and the color was very dark and concerning. My parents took me back into the hospital, because they knew that this could not just a stomach virus. I went from a very happy child to being very quiet and not moving, very lethargic. The surgeon tried to say that my parents fed me something wrong that had caused this and insisted that it was just a virus. While in the back taking Xrays of me for over 2 hours, the Doctors were asking all sorts of questions from my parents when finally the nurse walked in and said that I was prepped and ready for surgery. That was the first time my parents were told that I even had to have surgery. The Doctor then told them that this was emergent and this surgery had to be done now. I went through surgery and spent 13 days in ICU. My dad had to go back to work because we didn’t have a lot of money and bills still needed to be paid.
On day 13, the Doctor came into the office and told my mom, “I need to speak with you and your husband.” My mom had to call my dad’s company on a payphone so that they could pull him from a job site and have him come to the hospital. This was way before cell phones! Once my father got there, the Dr. told them, “I’ve done everything I can do for your daughter, she is probably not going to make it.” My mom got so mad at the Dr. for saying this that she fired him on the spot. He was not to go anywhere near me and was no longer responsible for my medical care. If he was going to give up hope, then he was not going to be around me. At that point, the hospital brought in other doctors and nurses to care for me instead and my parents started calling local churches. They asked for different priests to come in and pray over me and to help, spiritually. If the Doctors had given up, what else were they supposed to do? The priests came in and prayed, several times a day. He prayed with them as a family, out in the waiting room. At that time, there was no other space within the hospital, other than the waiting room, for families. There was a pay phone on the wall and maybe a coffee cart, if you asked for it. It was a very different time.
Every time going into ICU, you only had 15 minutes inside the room each hour. So there just really weren’t a lot of resources for families. Things started changing with my health the 2nd day that the priests had come. The anti-biotics starting kicking in and they were able to remove the ventilator. My mom prayed “If you’re going to take my daughter, do it now. Don’t make her suffer.” My father was very upset with her for doing that. They eventually moved me back into ICU and then I was able to be moved to another room on the cancer floor once they took me off of the sedation. I was not medically released until 5 years after this happened. Each time I was sick, I was sent back to the hospital for xrays to make sure I was having any sort of complication and was not around other illnesses.
While the priests were at the hospital, there was a little girl in the crib next to me. ICU was just a big room with a lot of cribs all lined up. The little girl had been born in May with shaken baby syndrome. Her parents had just dropped her off at the ER and left her there. They never came back and the state took custody of her. The priest asked, while praying for me, if my parents cared if he prayed for her too. Of course, they said that was fine and to do whatever he felt was best. This past year, the little girl graduated from medical school. She came out perfectly fine. She’s absolutely a sign to never give up hope.
Today, the pediatrician is a very good friend of ours. He came from Mexico at a young age, joined the military and eventually became a pediatrician because his own son died from an illness that he shouldn’t have. So he became a Dr. so that he could save children. And he has done that many times over during his career. He is one of the very few doctors who is double board certified. He’s a very good Dr. and is still in practice today.
Things like this happen so quickly, in the blink of an eye really. My mother says to others that have children in critical care, “Don’t ever give up hope. If the doctors tell you there is nothing else they can do, don’t give up hope! Find another Dr. if you have to. Start your own prayer, find your own priest, and don’t be afraid to rely on the people around you for support and love. That’s the biggest thing, you can’t ever give up hope. You just can’t.”
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Since being medically released, all is well!
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Now, I am an insurance agent! I work for TWFG Insurance in The Woodlands, TX. I am specializing in commercial insurance, but was previously working in residential insurance.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Houston is truly a great place to live! 1 hour north, you have full country living and downtown you have the city life. There is always something fun to do!
Contact Info:
- Email: skovach@twfg.com
- Website: https://agentpages.twfg.com/GordyBunch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaKovachTWFG
