[MUSIC PLAYING] So my 50th birthday in 2014 was unexpected and the beginning of an adventure for all of us in terms of the meaning of what it was to be a Wahoo, to be surrounded by community and Zach's saga that took about 18 months really to resolve itself. 

I'm still here in Charlottesville, Virginia, over at Nau Hall to watch a Spanish requirement movie with the intentions of finishing that movie, driving home that night, and spending some time with my mom for her birthday and the weekend where I think we had a brunch planned or something like that for Saturday. Throughout the movie, started experiencing some pretty troubling stomach pains. So I monitored it, just kind of stayed on top of it. And finally the movie lets out. Pain has made it significantly worse. 

I give my mom a shout. I'm like, hey, you know, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it home tonight. I really think I need to try and sleep this off tonight, see if I can't wake up in the morning and get on the road first thing. And I'll be there for your birthday. 

The night that I got home from the Spanish movie was probably the worst night's sleep I think I've ever gotten before. On and off, hot sweats, cold sweats, 30 minutes of sleep here and there, really not able to fall asleep just because of how significant the pain in my stomach was. So Dr. Holstege was in and out of the emergency room. 

Zach very appropriately was referred and went to the emergency department to be seen. When a student is then taken kind of out of the norm-- it's pretty normal to go to Student Health. But when you go into the emergency department, that starts to raise bells for others. 

Zach had what we later found to be an extreme case of diverticulitis. And he went from having no symptoms to very extreme symptoms in a span of about 24 hours. 

Once the CAT scan was done, once radiology had read that, had said there's microperforations, that's a dangerous thing, antibiotics are given and surgery's consulted. 

Traci did a series of tests. And I remember very clearly, she came around the corner with my husband. And I was updating someone on the phone. And he said, hang the phone up. We have to go. She's afraid we're going to lose him. 

We had a very frank conversation about the fact that I was worried about the severity of how sick he was and that I was ultimately worried he was going to need surgery and that he was going to need surgery emergently. 

The seriousness of it did not really sink in until I saw my mom, I saw my dad. And I actually saw my dad walk out. 

He was in surgery about 5 and 1/2 hours. We had a terribly wonderful team of nurses who kept us posted. Pat Lampkin from Student Affairs, his mentor at the school at the time. Kirt von Daacke was here as well. And so I think it was one of those moments where we all knew he was going to be OK. And he had a larger community that was going to be with him every step of the way. 

Getting discharged from the hospital, it was obviously a large uphill battle that I knew I had to face. But I think setting three simple goals for myself and being able to recite them to myself every single morning when I woke up with a colostomy bag was really, A, why I achieved those goals, but, B, simplicity of those goals made them achievable. So those goals were to graduate on time, to finish the semester on time, to attend my fourth and final national championships for USCSA. 

Zach's prognosis long term is quite good. The recurrence rate of diverticulitis after surgery is very low. 

So long term, life is back to normal. I've already played golf a couple of times this year, been out to Vail as well as Utah. Life is definitely back to normal.