In today's episode of This Hits Different, Shelby Cassesse tells the story of Union sophomore Kya Wetzel, who is using experiences from health issues to now help other kids going through similar struggles
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Union sophomore Kya Wetzel was a healthy three-sport athlete. She woke up one morning last May, and that all seemed to change.
"I started getting a really bad stomach pain," she explains. "We really didn't know what was going on. We kind of thought it was just stress."
GI issues with few answers were soon part of her daily life. Even taking over in the middle of the batting order.
"I'd be like, 'mom, when am I up next?," Kya says. "And she goes 'in about three batters.' And I'd run to the bathroom in between innings and then, in between games, I'd just sleep the whole time."
Still, she played softball through the pain and the distractions, all while undergoing testing off the field. In the middle of a tournament, her mom Renee got a call.
"They called me and were like, um, we need her in the hospital Sunday night," Renee says. "I was like, 'um, she's playing softball and she's in Ohio.' And they were like, 'no, we're not asking you, we're telling you that she needs to be in the hospital Sunday."
Nothing seemed to work. But none of it broke Kya's spirit or kept her away from sports. She barely missed, even as she entered volleyball season that fall.
"I just knew stress was a big factor of UC and can make it ten times worse than what it is," she says. "So I knew just staying cam and listening to the doctors would help with the pain I was being put through."
Eventually Kya's condition worsened. She dropped 30 pounds. She even began to turn grey.
Surgery was the last option, complete removal of her colon. Doctors told Renee it was severely damaged.
"Why didn't we do this earlier," Renee asks "Because it was such a huge turnaround in just a 24-48 hour period after surgery."
That was November. By January, she was back on the basketball court. Cleared in essentially half the time doctors thought.
"It was definitely a goal I wanted to achieve to be back .And I knew the coach wanted me back. So that was pretty good to hear that you can go back January 1."
She now wears an ostomy bag as a result of the surgery, and does so with confidence and poise.
"She wears tubes with an ostomy," Renee says. "She wears clothing that shows her ostomy. She tells people about it. She wants to educate people on it."
Educating and relating to others is the next step in her journey, she has joined several UC and Chron's related organizations and is hoping to be a leader at a camp for kids facing similar health issues — all in an effort to share her story to let others know they're not alone.
"Really to just go and spread my story to other kids and see how they were being put through the same situation I was, and to compare our stories," she says.
Renee adds: "She's really advocating for kids, and showing kids that you can do this and still play sports and do everything."
