Mylin’s Angry Pancreas

05/04/2026

School can be one of the toughest parts of it, all, especially when you have a very self motivated high achiever.

After Mylin’s biggest episode in late summer of 2024, Mylin went on to miss over half of their freshman year of high school. They were starting a new school where they knew only a couple kids. They had signed up to take a very rigorous class load filled with AP and college classes. . I remember sitting in a meeting with the principal and their teachers. We were discussing whether we were going to continue the back-and-forth of Mylin coming for a few days and being back out for more than a few days, or if we would begin home hospital. Mylin was crying as they watched students walk between classes saying they just wanted to be a normal kid and attend in person. Their body was dwindled to bones before we found that their pancreas was no longer doing its digestive work and they became failure to thrive. They slept about 15 to 20 hours a day sometimes more. Constantly in pain, crying for me to do something to help. We spent several days a week in the ED. One or two times a month would be hospitalized. Amidst all of this when they were awake for any amount of time, they would self teach and push themselves to get their work done. They finished the school year with a 3.98 average, despite barely getting to attend. This year they have decided to push through the pain no matter how bad as much as possible (which is so super hard). They have still missed quite a few days of school. Many days they have to come home early. There are times they go and lay in the nurses office until they feel like they can collect themselves and go back to class. When they are able to make it through a full day of class, they come home and most days sleep all the way until morning. Occasionally, they’ll wake up for a dinner (if it’s a lucky day where we can actually get them to eat as that continues to get worse ) or to use the restroom, but going to school takes every bit of energy they have left. 

Less than eight weeks ago in March, Mylin spent a full week in the hospital. It was the week of finals. Leading up to that week we knew Mylin was getting hospital sick. They refused to let us take them to the hospital. They said they at least wanted to try and attempt to do finals. That Sunday before final week they said I need to go to the hospital, but I really wanna try to take my tests. I explained to them the school could help us figure out tests, and that their health was more important. They insisted on staying home, and said that they were in so much pain that they were just afraid to be alone. I stayed in their room and watched over them that night. The next morning they went to school. They finished every single final that day. Teachers begged them to go home or to go to the nurses office. One teacher even had the nurse come in and watch over Mylin as they completed their testing out of pure anxiety of how Mylin looked.

When Mylin finished testing that morning they text me I’m ready to go to the hospital now. Now I don’t know if the hospital system being this much of a mess is special just to San Diego or if it is this bad everywhere in the US, but even this part wasn’t easy. We had called our G.I. line like we’ve always been instructed to do to let them know what was going on. They agreed it was time to be hospitalized for pain treatment, and to give the pancreas a break. They said they would inform our doctor, and also let the emergency department be aware that we were coming and that would need to be hospitalized. Upon arrival, the ED said they had no notes about us coming. They did get us in a little faster than a lot of the other people waiting. We got in in about 4-5 hour wait many of the other people were awaiting at about 8 to 10 hours.  After administering intervenous narcotics, IV fluids, and doing blood tests and visuals, they tried to send us home. I had to explain we were there to be hospitalized. The narcotics would wear off and we would be right back where we began. It’s frustrating because you really do have to know your stuff, or you’ll get pushed to the side and your child will be less than properly treated. The nurse asked me if I was saying I wanted my kids be hospitalized, and she insisted if it continued to be a problem I could just come back in through the ED again tomorrow. To which I said nobody wants their kid to be hospitalized. However, that is why we are here. I could also show her my current bill which was estimated to be $550 to $850 after insurance just for the visit to the ED alone and not including all the add-ons of visuals and everything else. So if we were to do it again, we’d be paying that fee all over again, so let’s just cut to the chase and get this kid hospitalized, which is why we came here in the first place the pancreas needed the break.

I bring up this hospitalization because after returning back to school, being hospitalized for that full week, Mylin missed four days in total of school (since it was spring break the following). Most of Mylin‘s teachers were very understanding. Except one. As I said, Mylin is a very high achieving student. They are currently dual enrolled and congruently enrolled in college and in high school. So they attend college on the high school campus for one class and then at the college campus for one class. The class they attend on campus had told Mylin that all of the students in her class had been doing terrible and that she was going to be basically ripping them all hen the day came for the teacher to rip into the class, she included Mylin. She told the entire class to write a paragraph about what they could be doing better to get a better grade. Before being hospitalized, Mylin had an a, so they wrote a paragraph about how if they could be healthier they would have a better grade in the class. It angered the teacher she went off on Mylin until Mylin was in tears. Mylin is on the spectrum, so Mylin thought perhaps they had missed something socially with the teacher and went to the counselor‘s office to get help. They had the counselor go over grades and comments. “Am I missing? Something are my grades bad?” The counselor insured them the teacher must just be having a bad day, that they did have an A before the missed work. They came home still upset. I told them the teacher must not understand how serious their medical condition is. I said you should explain to her how sick you are and that you are currently looking at getting a surgery that would remove at least 4 organs in order to even to have a chance at getting better. I told My to explain to the teacher how serious they are about school and how much their grades matter. So Mylin did, and when they did, the teacher yelled at Mylin. She told Mylin that sometimes in life, we have to allow our disabilities and illnesses to actually hold us back and realize that we aren’t always capable of everything everyone else is or that we think we are. She told Mylin maybe it’s time that Mylin realized that. And just totally went off on Mylin. Mylin cried for 2 hours straight. I said the hardest part was that through it all they have pushed. Mylin said that was the hardest part that they have never let this illness to define them. We, as parents, have always told Mylin do not let the hardships of life hold them back from what they want out of life. This was a slap in the face. This is the stuff that makes me as the mom beyond upset. I emailed that teacher twice and haven’t heard back. I even tried to keep it very neutral. I said I just had a clarification question. That this is what I was hearing from Mylin and I would love to hear her side because it just didn’t seem right. When you see your kid already hurting from physical pain and see that people are willing to hurt them mentally even when they see the kid is trying their hardest. 

Mmmm mmmm mmmm… our job is never done and is always being added to.