Top: The Fletcher Family (Christy, Bart, MK, and Austin) endured years of challenges while MK fought her disease. Bottom: After 18 months in a wheelchair, MK walked to join her school’s homecoming court.

Regions Tradition Touches Lives

Posted May 6, 2011

MARY KATHRYN FLETCHER first thought she just had a bad case of the flu. She was lethargic—way less energetic than she should have been as a 14-year-old 9^th grader. Her symptoms worsened, and she eventually lost her strength and feeling on her right side. Her doctors at Children’s Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. ordered an MRI and discovered that Mary Kathryn (MK to her friends and family) had a lemon-sized brain tumor.

The surgery was difficult and life threatening, (she actually had a stroke on the operating table) but it was successful. And MK’s family found her in the recovery room talking and smiling.

“Her eyes were all bright and shining,” says MK’s mother Christy Fletcher. 

Her doctors predicted she would need 15 days of physical therapy and in-patient care before she could go home. She accomplished every goal in five days and was back at her house, en route to recovery, in 10. She was strong. A fighter. 

But MK’s story wasn’t finished. Her mettle would be tested again.

One of Many Miracles

MK’s is one of countless stories at Children’s Hospital of Alabama, a not-for-profit teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Alabama School of Medicine. Since 1911, it has treated thousands of cases (nearly 700,000 last year alone).

The hospital continues to offer care to children in Alabama, as well as from surrounding states, with help from charitable contributions. One of the chief contributors is Regions Financial through its sponsorship of the Regions Tradition golf tournament, held May 3-8 at Shoal Creek in Birmingham.

Last year, Regions, title sponsor of the Regions Charity Classic golf tournament, designated Children’s Hospital as the primary charity beneficiary of the event, a stop on the Champions Tour. This year, Regions is again the tournament sponsor and has tapped Children’s Hospital as the tournament’s main beneficiary. 

“Children’s Hospital of Alabama is grateful to Regions and The Champions Tour for designating Children’s as the primary charity of the Regions Tradition,” says Mike Warren, President and CEO of Children’s. “It will magnify the impact Children’s will make on the lives of children and families throughout our state.”

MK and her family certainly felt that impact.

Overcoming Her Biggest Obstacle   

About three months after her brain surgery, MK noticed a weird sensation in her left foot. Her doctors said this was abnormal and not connected to the tumor. After many tests, they diagnosed her with Guillian Barre Syndrome (GBS), an autoimmune disease, and began treating her. 

She checked back into Children’s on December 10^th, a few weeks before her 15th birthday. Instead of getting better, her symptoms got much worse.

She had adverse reactions to the medicine and treatments. She became completely paralyzed, except for three of her fingers.  She came very close to death on separate occasions. Her doctors checked her out on Christmas Eve. They later told MK’s parents they made this decision, because they wanted her to spend what they feared would be her last Christmas at home.

In all, MK spent almost 50 mostly-immobile days in the hospital. 

Despite her dire and often frightening diagnosis, her fighting spirit and her network of family and friends kept her going.

“All the people who came to see me were holding my mat,” she says, making a reference to the story in the Bible about men who carried their paralyzed friend on a mat to see Jesus. “When I was lying in the bed, I was ready to get better. I was ready to go on with my life.”

And her medical team of doctors, nurses, and therapists played a huge role in sustaining her spirit as well. They sensed her desire to get better and some would even stop by her room after finishing their shifts just to hang out.

“It felt like a sorority dorm room,” says Christy.

“We gossiped about the cute doctors and reality television shows,” says MK. “It was honestly the most fun I’ve ever had with people.”

MK began improving after high doses of intravenous steroids, and the doctors eventually determined she didn’t have GBS. She actually had a new disease they labeled MK Disease, named after her. They prescribed chemotherapy, and that seemed to boost her progress and made her healthy enough to go home.

“That worked miracles for me,” says MK.

From Wheels to Walking And Beyond

When she finally returned to high school her sophomore year, she motored herself down the halls in an electric wheelchair. As a junior, she gained enough strength to start walking with a cane. 

When she graduates this May, she’ll accept her diploma wearing only ankle-supporting leg braces. No cane. No wheelchair.

These days, MK truly appreciates the little things, such as being able to sit outside with her friends at school during lunch.

“I’ve realized how much I used to take for granted and how easily it can be taken away in a second,” she says. “And when I see my friends stressing, I say, ‘It doesn’t matter. Everything’s going to be fine.’ I look on the positive side of things.”

And she’s also looking forward and already thinking about how she can give back. When MK attends Auburn University in the fall, she plans to study psychology. 

“What my therapist did for me was amazing,” she says. “This whole experience made me want to be on the other side helping children.”

MK’s parents, Christy and Bart Fletcher, actually wrote a book entitled Holding Her Mat, which chronicles her story. For more information, check out holdinghermat.com.

For more information on the Regions Tradition golf tournament and its affiliation with Children’s Hospital, visit RegionsTradition.com.

Everyone has a story.