Everyone is guilty of blaming back pain on stress stemming from work and life in general, but there becomes a point when one has to realize something might just not be right. Molly Harvell was in the same boat, she suffered from chronic pain that she continually justified, reported by WFAA 8 ABC. Yet, when the pain grew more consistent and intense even when performing simple every day tasks, she decided to seek help.
Molly Harvell suffers from loin pain hematuria syndrome (LPHS), an ultra-rare disease that attacks the kidney and often provides the patient with extremely excruciating pain. You can read more about LPHS here.
Harvell started feeling pain when she was only 25 years old and it only progressed over time, she’s now 42. She described the pain as sharp in the right side of her back. Many doctors believed it was related to her gallbladder or kidney stones, yet with continued misdiagnoses, Harvell had to resort to aggressive painkillers to get her through the day. Quickly, the effects of the medication started bleeding into her relationships at work and even at home. Harvell described this time in her life as extremely isolating and depressing. No one could diagnose her for years, and some people believe she was lying just to obtain drugs.
It wasn’t until Harvell sought out help away from the medical field that changed her life — she decided to go to a support group, and it was the best decision she could ever make. The first day she attended, she shared her story, discussing the feelings she experienced and the pain she encountered and suddenly, a woman named Andi March interrupted and said, “I’m sorry to interrupt you but I have what you have; I have LPHS.” Those words were the jailbreaking freedom she had had been desperately searching for.
Andi introduced her to Dr. Richard Dickerman, who was the Director of Kidney and Pancreas Transplantation in Dallas. Dr. Dickerman performs an a-typical procedure where he removes and re-transplants the patient’s same kidney. His objective is to place the kidney in a different location, but of course a location that is still functional. This would help avoid future nerve damage, which was causing the back pain.
Harvell had the procedure done and just like that her life was as close to normal as one can hope. Being able to work, drive and clean the house again was exciting — things people often take for granted every day. She expressed how thrilled she is to be active in nature once again. Something tell us it was meant to be that Andi and Molly met, whether it was fate or something purely divine, Molly was made to move pain-free and now she can.
