's face: Fungus leaves hole, but faith, friends and family sustain woman

[Guest guest]

's face: Fungus leaves hole, but faith, friends and family

sustain woman

BY LOUIS MEDINA, Californian staff writer

Bakersfield Californian - Bakersfield,CA,USA

lmedina@... | Saturday, Dec 20 2008 10:07 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, Dec 18 2008 5:09 PM

This story is not so much about Hoschele's face as it is

about her faith.

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/642750.html

And about her loving son, , whose future inspired her with

undying hope when she was standing on the threshold of death.

And about her three " angels " : friends who cared and prayed for her

during her slow and painful recovery.

Her greatest solace was her church.

" They're not a big church, but they're a very loving church, " said

Hoschele, 51, about First Congregational Church. " How could you not

survive something like that with all the people that are out there

praying for you? The love of God was there. I could feel it. "

The " something like that " survived is called mucormycosis, a

rare fungal infection as nasty as its name sounds. It usually enters

the body through the nose and spreads to the areas around it with

gangrene-like effects, killing tissues by depriving them of blood.

" I lost my eye and the entire orbital area behind it, "

said. " If I take off my prosthetic, my sinuses are open to where I

can see them. It's not a pretty sight. ... I just have a hole

basically. I can see down to where my throat is. "

Those most at risk are diabetics and people with compromised immune

systems. is diabetic and believes fatigue from working two

jobs plus volunteering at her church had greatly lowered her body's

defenses.

BRENDA'S COURAGE

talks matter-of-factly about the disease that ravaged her

face in less than a month, in November 2006.

At first she thought she had a sinus infection, but the entire right

side of her face swelled so badly she had to pry open her eyelid

with her fingers. Her head pounded. She was dizzy and nauseous. Her

chin went numb and her nose turned dark purple.

Local doctors gave her pain medication and an antifungal drug.

's blood sugar level shot up to five times normal and her

kidneys began to fail from the antifungal drug. Another drug,

Posaconazole (trade name Noxafil), was given to and it saved

her life.

" I had three strikes against me and managed to come out of it, " she

said.

After a biopsy at Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, her doctors sent

her to Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles just before

Thanksgiving.

There, Dr. gave her grim news: The fungus had spread

to her right eye and parts of her facial bones. He had to cut away

those parts of her face to keep the infection from getting to her

brain. " It's treatment that is in necessity mutilating ... to save a

life, " he said.

Still, could have died in the process.

" I've never, ever seen my mother so calm, " said , 24 at the

time and just starting as a film student at UC Santa Cruz. " I

remember that was the first time ever that I got really weak in the

knees. " Dr. said, " She's a very tough, optimistic, outgoing

patient. "

BRENDA'S FEAR

As faced the worst, her mind was on her son.

" Who's going to be there for him? " was the thought that plagued her

as she planned her funeral with . Her biggest regret, had she

died during surgery, would have been missing 's graduation,

she said.

But at that darkest hour, as she prepared to go into the operating

room, was when her faith took over. " I know God's going to take care

of me, " she told her loved ones.

" I never doubted my faith, " said. " If I woke up (after the

surgery), I knew that God wasn't finished with me — that he still

had a plan for me. Well, I woke up. And I'm not finished. "

ANGELS

Peghi Webb took time off work to be at her friend's bedside at Good

Samaritan. She slept on a cot next to , moving it and all the

get-well cards the children from the church had made whenever she

had to change rooms.

She and friends Louise Brummett and Bobbie Hulson updated the church

on 's condition, sending e-mail prayer requests.

When she came home, the three women took turns cleaning her wound

until could do it on her own. It took her months to be able

to look at herself in the mirror.

Fortunately, numbness on that side of 's face provided a

blessing.

" It made it easier for me (to clean her wound) because I didn't feel

like I was hurting her so much, " Louise said. " I wasn't squeamish

about it at all and I knew that it had to be done. "

LAUGHTER

Humor is 's hallmark.

" She knows she's received blessings and she's ready to share them, "

said Rev. Steele, interim pastor at First Congregational.

even jokes about her prosthetic eye, Rev. Steele said, while

appreciating it at the same time — she got it just in time to

fulfill her dream of watching her son graduate last summer.

" Getting this eye made me feel whole again, " said , who works

for State Farm Insurance. " At least I look a little more normal when

I look in the mirror. "

Bobbie recalled how her friend joked when she celebrated her 50th

birthday, just three months after her operation: " `I'd always

dreaded turning 50. But now I'm so glad!' "

Rev. Steele said is involved in many of the church's

activities: She sings in the choir, helps with midweek fellowship

suppers, organizes craft shows and is the keeper of the keys,

opening and closing the church on Sundays.

Recently, when Rev. Steele celebrated a " Blue Christmas " service to

help those who are facing grief and loss over the holidays,

got up in front of the congregation and sang a solo.

" Many people have come up to me and told me how inspired they were

by my positive attitude. "

Dr. calls her his " miracle girl, " Bobbie said. Other patients

he has treated have not survived.

is grateful that the mucormycosis spared her palate. She

still enjoys food, she said, and " I'm happy that God still gave me

my voice to sing. "

Inevitably, sometimes battles negative feelings. But with her

optimism and humor, she always finds her way back to hope.

" If you don't think about the positive things and look forward, all

you're going to do is cry every day and be depressed, " she said.

" I can't blow my nose like I used to blow my nose. I can't smile

like I used to smile. But I'm alive! "