Take me to St. Mark’s Hospital — They find out why you’re sick
Take me to St. Mark’s Hospital — They find out why you’re sick
It started with a small accident. Sabrina Van Komen walked out of church beside her husband when he mistakenly bumped into her. Instantly, pain shot through her back and down her legs. A few days later, a physical therapist prescribed her an oral steroid for the pain — and that’s when more severe trouble started.
“The day after I stopped taking that steroid, all sorts of strange symptoms appeared — like blurry vision, going to the bathroom all the time, weight loss, vertigo and I was extremely thirsty and super lethargic,” Sabrina said.
Sabrina didn’t have an established primary care physician, so she called several local doctors in attempts to find out what was wrong. One physician suspected an inner ear infection and advised her to wait a couple weeks for improvement, others diagnosed her with a sinus infection — yet time and medications only worsened the situation. In fact, within hours of beginning an oral steroid for sinuses, Sabrina’s symptoms skyrocketed.
“I remember asking my husband what we should do. I was getting sicker and sicker. We decided to wait one more day and then do something about it. I crawled to bed … and the next morning, I was unconscious,” Sabrina said.
Discovering answers at St. Mark’s Hospital
Sabrina’s husband rushed her to St. Mark’s Hospital’s Emergency Room, where physicians performed a battery of tests that revealed she has Type 1 Diabetes.
“My body was pretty much dying. There were a lot of problems that the medical team was trying to reverse,” Sabrina recalled. “My kidneys were only functioning at 20 percent, my potassium was scary low, I was septic, and I couldn’t keep any food or water down.”
Thankfully, Sabrina was in the right place for life-saving care. During the first three days, the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) team focused on stabilizing Sabrina’s body, cleansing her blood from the sepsis infection, and regaining kidney function.
“The nurses in the ICU were wonderful! They made me feel comfortable and they were always willing to take care of me, in a time I couldn’t care for myself,” Sabrina said.
Learning a new normal from an expert team
Once stable, Sabrina advanced from the ICU to the main floor, where she gained vital education about Diabetes and how to thrive in her new normal.
“The diabetes educators came to my hospital room several times and spent significant time training me. It was the best thing for me! There’s a lot to know and learn about diabetes and taking care of myself. I left with relationships with the diabetes team, and I’ve continued meeting with them throughout this last year. They’ve been a huge support,” Sabrina said.
Collaborative care treats the whole person
It’s been two years since Sabrina’s scare, diagnosis and emergency care at St. Mark’s Hospital — and looking back, she says she’s thankful St. Mark’s was the place it happened.
“I say, ‘Take me to St. Mark’s Hospital’ because they take care of me the way I need to be taken care of. They get to the bottom of why you’re sick,” Sabrina said.
She also praised the collaborative, connective efforts between physicians at St. Mark’s.
“They communicate with each other! Now I have a primary care doc based at St. Mark’s Hospital. I also receive diabetes management care at the clinic there, I delivered two of my three of my babies there and I went to their spine center for my herniated disc. I guess I’m a St Mark’s advocate!” Sabrina said.