Holly Marenic was born 6/12/96 and she died 5/8/17. Holly’s story actually begins before 6/12/96.
I had chicken pox during my 15th week of pregnancy, giving Holly the chicken pox at 16 weeks gestation, during the time her brain stem was developing. The varicella virus attacked and damaged her brain stem and the Vagus nerve was damaged. This is important to know because we now know that trauma/damage to the Vagus nerve is one of the onsets of Gastroparesis.
Holly suffered with GI issues her whole life, most of which were unexplainable. Sharp shooting pains, unable to tolerate her feedings, vomiting and nausea, constipation or diarrhea. She had emergency surgery Christmas Eve of 2003 for an interception. She was on TPN three different times due to her in tolerance of her feedings. The damage to Holly’s Vagus nerve also caused issues
with her ability to swallow. So the almost constant vomiting caused chronic aspiration pneumonias.
