While new students at Hastings High School were adjusting to the new school environment, Freshman Tasia Theoharis was sitting in a hospital bed. Tasia missed her first weeks of school due to being hospitalized at Omaha’s Children Hospital with a life threatening infection in her system that caused her kidneys to fail.
“I was in Mary Lanning for five days and was in Children’s for two weeks and two days, so a total of three weeks,” Tasia said.
Tasia had been getting ready for school season to begin like any other incoming freshman. One night, a week before the school year kicked off, she found herself in the local hospital. For days they did not know what was causing her to be so sick. After realizing she had a version of E. Coli called HUS, they transported her to Omaha’s Children Hospital.
“The first couple of weeks I was just really, really sick and tired,” Tasia said.
While Tasia was fighting this infection, Hastings High School was preparing to start with open house, freshmen orientation, and more, all of which she had to miss.
“I know she cares a lot about her education, so she was stressed about missing school,” Pete Theoharis, Tasia’s father, said.
Tasia did her best to deal with school work.
“At first I was very miserable, so I wasn’t mad about missing the first couple days of school, but I got really sad about missing the Under the Bridge Dance and everything happening to my friends,” Tasia said.
Because she was missing class, her dad talked to her teachers to get homework she could work on while in the hospital.
“It’s hard just to be given work and expected to get it done because sometimes you need help, so it was very difficult to get some of it done,” Tasia said.
Her family had many worries involving missing school work.
“The teachers had been telling me not to worry about things. They would help her catch up,” Mr. Theoharis said. “It was hard because you know as a freshman at the start of the school year you are excited.”
When Tasia was finally able to return to school, it was the third week into school.
“I was sitting in my bed that morning like, ‘I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go!’,” Tasia said the morning of returning to school. “At first it was tricky to adjust, but I had friends in a lot of classes so we could walk together.”
Tasia takes a variety of honors classes, as well as German.
“German was hard to get caught up because I was learning a new language,” Tasia said.
It took her health some time to catch up to where she is now as well.
“The trickiest thing was how tired I was,” Tasia said.
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Tasia has now adjusted back to the school year and has to go back to the hospital every couple weeks for check ups.
“I feel normal now, but after three weeks of something you feel like sick is the normal,” Tasia said.
Her dad has been happy with the recovery.
“We were very lucky in terms of not having any long term effects and being able to resume quickly. We are blessed,” Mr.Theoharis said.
“Sometimes I think about how miserable I was in the hospital and I’m so much more happier here,” Tasia said with a smile.
