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<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Granite Falls senior Krisha Abbott-Sleister   ADVERTISEMENT   Related Stories • Graduates of 2008: School work kept Lake Stevens boy focused 6/8/08 • Darrington teen learned to use abilities 6/8/08 • Kamiak's dynamic duo head for Havard 6/8/08 • Path of Snohomish grad inspires father 6/8/08 • Sultan grad had to take charge 6/8/08   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, June 8, 2008 Illness put Granite grad's goal in focus E ven as she lay in her hospital bed last spring, her organs failing and a prickly head-to-toe rash beginning to infiltrate her mouth and throat, Krisha Abbott-Sleister worried nearly as much about school as her rapidly declining health. Second semester of her junior year had just begun at Granite Falls High School and she was on track to earn her diploma with her peers. The mysterious condition attacked slowly, with soreness and headaches. She would drag herself out of bed to get to school. Each day became harder than the day before. Then, the painful, itchy rash appeared on her hands and feet and began to spread. She was admitted to one hospital in March and then transferred to another, ending up in an intensive care unit. All the while, "I was pretty much freaking out about school," she said. "I just kept thinking, 'I need to get back.'" Doctors in masks and gloves hovered in and out of her room. Phlebotomists drew sample upon sample of her blood. She grew weaker and weaker. Her liver, spleen and gall bladder were giving out. Doctors concluded that she had Steven Johnson Syndrome, a rare and potentially deadly skin disease that usually results from a drug reaction. In January, before she became sick, she had been given a prescription for medicine to help her with anxiety. By the time she recovered, it was summer. Second semester was a bust. Abbott-Sleister was behind in school. Way behind. She also was determined. It wasn't until July that she was able to meet with a teacher to iron out a plan. This year, she took nine credits while most classmates took six. Her life-threatening ordeal has given her a career direction. She plans to enroll at Everett Community College and transfer with a University of Washington. Her goal is to become hepatologist, a doctor who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases. "I had liver failure," she said. "I want to study it. I want to see why it happened and I want to prevent it from happening to someone else." -- Eric Stevick

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