This article appeared in Saturday's editions of the Marietta Daily Journal and is being republished on AccessWDUN with permission. Eliza Paris and her family are originally from Gainesville, although the family now lives in Vinings in Cobb County. Eliza is a 2010 graduate of North Hall High School and a 2014 graduate of the University of Georgia.
As the world continues to battle COVID-19 and the unknowns surrounding the illness, one Cobb family credits Wellstar Kennestone Hospital workers with saving their daughter’s life. They hope their story brings inspiration to others.
In March 2018, Eliza Paris, an outgoing and driven 25-year-old, was diagnosed with appendix cancer, a rare and aggressive cancer that had already reached stage 4 before it was discovered. Her father, Vinings resident Trey Paris, said for his daughter to have been diagnosed with the stage 4 cancer at her age was slimmer than a 1 in 100 million chance.
Eliza Paris was living in New York City at the time and working for an investment firm on Wall Street. She said she was initially terrified as she sat alone in an emergency room when she learned of her diagnosis.
But with help from her doctors, friends and family, who stepped in to encourage her, Eliza Paris said she had hope.
She immediately began an aggressive cancer treatment regimen at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, which lasted most of that year. The treatment culminated in a cutting-edge and nearly 20-hour surgery in October of 2018, which removed her appendix, ovaries, gallbladder, spleen and portions of her colon and small intestine to remove the cancer. She spent 20 days recovering in the hospital.
Eliza Paris spent most of 2019 with no evidence of cancer until it reappeared in August. She began targeted chemotherapy to address the recurrence, but when the coronavirus outbreak began in the U.S., her doctors and family agreed it would be best to take a break from treatment and move the immuno-compromised Eliza Paris away from what seemed to be becoming the virus’ epicenter of the country.
‘Our absolute worst fears realized’
After about a month in full isolation at home in Vinings, Eliza Paris became ill. She was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance on April 3, where she was told she not only had an E. coli infection and kidney failure, but also showed possible signs of COVID-19. That diagnosis would be confirmed when a test returned a few days later, though she’d been isolated at home for at least 25 days and hadn’t previously showed symptoms of the virus.
“When this happened, this was our absolute worst fears realized,” Trey Paris said.
Eliza Paris said from the moment she entered the hospital, she was surrounded by doctors working to stabilize her, as well as comfort her. She said she’d developed pneumonia with fluid buildup in her lungs and was having trouble breathing, but the staff were “very comforting and just amazing,” keeping her calm and giving her emotional support throughout the ordeal.
“I felt more for my family than for myself, because I knew that I was OK, but convincing them that I was OK was hard,” she said. “But I thought to myself, ‘If I can beat cancer, I can beat (COVID-19).’”
Kennestone internists Dr. Ashenafi Tassew and Dr. Gunter Kurrle were two of the physicians who were part of her care team. Both doctors said they were flattered to hear the family’s thanks for their work and the work of their staff, but said treating and ensuring the recovery of their patients was a team effort.
“We’re trying to do our best, and it’s nice when it turns out like that,” Kurrle said. “Even when we do our best, it doesn’t always turn out with a positive outcome, so we cherish the ones that have a good outcome and on top of that have a good experience.”
Beyond their care, both doctors said, it was Eliza Paris’ positive attitude and strong spirit that saw her through her recovery.
Tassew said when Eliza Paris showed up at the hospital, she was fighting a range of infections, as well as sepsis, all with a weakened immune system from recent chemotherapy. He said patients with cancer are among the high-risk groups for complications if they contract COVID-19, but Eliza Paris never stopped fighting.
“I think she is a very special girl ... and she’s gone through lots of things,” Tassew said. “Every day, despite her pain — she was dealing with significant pain, significant cough from the COVID — you could see the difference every day. And it’s not only the treatment. If you’re not strong enough mentally, (whatever) treatment you get, it’s very difficult to recover from such serious illnesses.”
Overcoming isolation
Among the most difficult aspects of fighting the virus, Tassew said, is the need to isolate the patient from all family and friends.
That, the Paris family said, made for an especially hard first few days of Eliza Paris’s illness. The family said before she was allowed her phone again, about two days after being admitted to the hospital, they were sitting on pins and needles, waiting for any news from hospital staff.
“When we put her in the ambulance, we could not be with her at all until she came home, which is gut-wrenching for her mom and me,” Trey Paris said.
“The toughest thing was not being able to be there. ... Her having to be in that room alone was really tough for us,” added brother Thomas Paris, who has been a dedicated caretaker through his sister’s treatment, flying up to New York City on weekends while she underwent treatment at Sloan Kettering.
A law student at the University of Georgia, Thomas Paris said he’s been used to traveling with his sister or working on schoolwork by her bedside overnight, so not being able to be with her this time was a shock for the whole family.
But when she was able, Eliza Paris said she began to FaceTime with her family, updating them on how she was feeling, chatting and carrying on the tradition of gathering around the TV at 7:30 p.m. for “Jeopardy!”
“That was a little way of letting them know that I was OK and making me feel like I was around them,” she said.
An ‘unbreakable spirit’ and elp from health care heroes
There were similarities in all the Parises’ comments, including the unpredictability of COVID-19, how it affects every person differently and how important it is to stay isolated at home as much as possible to prevent unknowingly spreading the illness. But the one point that the family made again and again was that the medical staff at Kennestone saved Eliza Paris’ life.
The Parises said it wasn’t just the medical care that she received, but the round-the-clock genuine care hospital staff showed for the entire family that got them through what was a terrifying week.
Eliza Paris said the staff — many dripping in sweat behind masks, gowns and plastic shields — not only tended to her medical needs while she stayed alone in the loud, vacuum-sealed isolation room, but they tended to any and every need, from water to ice cream to pancakes.
“They never showed any frustrations or any annoyance by any means. They were just so caring and so giving,” she said, adding that she tried to help them consolidate their trips by telling them everything she might need in one visit. “You would never know that we were in the middle of a pandemic by the way they acted.”
Trey Paris said the staff’s quick action to treat his daughter as if she had COVID-19 before they knew for sure was key to her recovery, and the constant communication and obvious care for Eliza Paris and the entire family was nothing short of amazing. The Parises also said the hospital staff spoke every day with Eliza Paris’ primary and surgical oncologists at Sloan Kettering to make the right decisions and to ensure continuity of care.
Trey Paris said his daughter came home last Saturday, just in time for Easter, and was welcomed with a special dinner with all her favorite fixings. He said thinking about having her home again brings him to tears.
He had this message for others who are fighting COVID-19 or have a loved one who is: “You’ve got to have faith and you’ve got to realize that it’s a tough fight but that it can be overcome. Certainly I think our daughter is evidence of that,” he said. “She is a fighter, and she has got an unbreakable spirit, and to have her back in our midst is just — it uplifts us and inspires us even more to recognize that every day is a gift and every day is precious. And that’s how we get up every morning.”
For her part, Eliza Paris, who is still self-isolating in her bedroom, had this advice to anyone who would hear it: “Continue to self-isolate for those who can’t fight it and know that it’s a bigger picture than just you and your health. You’re doing this for your loved ones and for others.”
