Some folks think Friday the 13th can be a day of bad luck.
Krysten Coughlin, 21, says she was dealt a bad hand from the get-go but is beginning to see the light.
“I don’t pity myself,” Coughlin said. “I want to inspire others.”
She said she hopes her story will inspire folks to donate to Make-A-Wish Foundation, an organization that makes dreams come true for sick children.
Coughlin was a Make-A-Wish kid three years ago when she was fighting cancer.
Many young people like her don’t get the chance to thank the organization for getting to meet a rock star, visit Disneyland or toss out a first pitch.
Coughlin was terminally ill in high school and appreciated her fantasy trip.
Cancer wasn’t her first challenge. A move from Marysville to Arlington when she was in the seventh-grade didn’t go smoothly.
“The transformation was horrible,” Coughlin said. “Everything went downhill.”
Unhappy on campus, she said she skipped school and rode city transit all day, just to waste hours. At Arlington High School, she still felt ostracized. She dropped out and then enrolled at Weston High School, an alternative program.
In 2003, five of the 80 students had cancer.
She was one of them.
After shaving her legs, she said she noticed they were red with tiny spider webs of broken blood vessels. She said she felt like she had the flu, then got bloody noses and nausea.
After a blood test, her doctor called at night to tell the family to get their daughter to the hospital immediately. She had acute lymphocytic leukemia.
She was told she had two months to live.
Coughlin underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments for more than two years. She left school for three months during her illness. Coughlin needed 22.5 credits to graduate and had only 11.07.
“I returned to school my senior year with cancer. My counselor, teachers, family and friends told me I would have to stay another year and that I would graduate in 2005. I was determined and worked very hard to graduate on time. I would stay at school from 7 in the morning until 5:30 every night and take home extra credit.”
She was also the vice president of her school. Right on schedule, in June, 2004, she joined her class at graduation.
“I walked down the aisle,” Coughlin said. “It was the most amazing feeling in the world.”
Life went on, but there were devastating turns. Her dog she called her best friend, Shadie, died four months ago of cancer.
In February, Coughlin and her boyfriend were expecting a daughter. She was two weeks overdue and labor was induced.
Taylor Marie was born at 7:07 a.m. weighing 6 pounds 15 ounces, and she was 19 inches long.
“The doctors threw her on my stomach and washed the blood off,” Coughlin said. “She didn’t cry.”
Her baby was stillborn, from an infection in the placenta.
“It was the hardest day of my life,” she said. “From there, I hit rock bottom.”
While Coughlin battled cancer, Make-A-Wish sent the family to Disney World, where she swam with dolphins.
“To see the happiness in my family was the most amazing thing,” Coughlin said.
She was particularly pleased for her younger brother.
Michael Coughlin, then 15, has Tourette syndrome, which can cause speech difficulties.
“He never had friends,” his sister said. “To see his smile was the most amazing thing in the world.”
Coughlin wanted to share her story so folks would think about donating to Make-A-Wish. For more information, call 800-304-WISH or go to www.northwestwishes.org.
My wish for Coughlin is for brighter days ahead.
“I feet like I was dealt a bad hand of cards, but now that I look at it, things happen for a reason,” she said. “God knew I could take it on and I did.”
Columnist Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451 or oharran@heraldnet.com.
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