Kristina King’s life journey has taken her down many paths. She has boxed professionally, labored in prisons and been a part of a search and rescue crew. Now, she is a farmer. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
King boxed professionally in her late 20s and early 30s. She traveled to China for a televised combat with Laila Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
King credit her spouse, Guess, with serving to get her via latest well being challenges. She additionally credit robot-assisted surgical procedure with relieving her of the ache. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
Again in her boxing days, King had ruptured her diaphragm in a combat. The scar tissue precipitated growing ache for greater than 20 years. Among the scar tissue fused to her coronary heart. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“I used to be on the level the place I might hardly stroll at instances,” King mentioned. “I used a walker to get round and I needed to relaxation so much because the ache grew to become immensely severe.”(Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
Cardiothoracic surgeon Geoffrey Lam, MD, developed a plan that might assist cope with the scar tissue and, hopefully, enhance her high quality of life. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“I used to be up strolling that very same evening with my walker,” King mentioned. “And the following day … (the) tube got here out. And the following day, one other tube. I used to be out of the hospital inside 4 days.” (Courtesy images | Kristina King)
King remembers how unhappy she was due to her ache and inactivity. “I don’t know if Dr. Lam is aware of how a lot I admire him,” she mentioned. “He gave me my life again.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
King is as soon as once more volunteering with Ok-9 search and rescue groups. She and her working accomplice, Emma, helped regulation enforcement in lots of rescue eventualities. (Courtesy images | Kristina King)
“I can attain the world once more and contact the world like I needed to earlier than,” she mentioned. “And I am glad I took that threat with this surgical procedure.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“I hiked Canyonlands and met folks I by no means would have met,” she mentioned. “I simply retired in July. And I’ve numerous life left to reside.” (Courtesy picture | Kristina King)
Submit-surgery, King mentioned she’s again to 100%. “We work with heavy gear out right here,” she mentioned. “I’m in a position to bounce up on farming gear now.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
Kristina King’s spouse, Guess Dembicky, places it greatest.
“To say she doesn’t sit nonetheless could be an understatement,” Guess mentioned.
Right here’s a fast catalogue of the unimaginable forays King has taken to this point, at age 53, in her life’s journey:
- She boxed professionally in her late 20s and early 30s. She even fought Laila Ali, daughter of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.
- She labored in prisons throughout the U.S. for greater than 30 years. She dealt with rowdy inmates as a sergeant on a safety crew and even reached the rank of lieutenant in her profession.
- In her spare time, she volunteers on a search and rescue crew.
- Lately, she’s perfecting her routine as a farmer.
It’s an thrilling life, by any account.
But it surely hasn’t come with out severe repercussions.
Again in her boxing days, King ruptured her diaphragm in a combat. The scar tissue adopted her for greater than 20 years. Among the scar tissue fused to her coronary heart.
On account of three-quarters of her abdomen being pulled up into her abdomen, King mentioned, scar tissue had grow to be connected to her aorta and left lung.
With the broken diaphragm and the results of the scar tissue, her actions grew restricted.
“I had been on mild obligation for a while,” King mentioned.
Sooner or later, it affected her capability to work.
The place as soon as she might head into the jail yard to talk with prisoners, her bodily well being shortly put an finish to that. It was just too harmful, if ever she needed to bodily defend herself.
“I used to be on the level the place I might hardly stroll at instances,” she mentioned. “I used a walker to get round and I needed to relaxation so much because the ache grew to become immensely severe.”
It had grow to be a horrible state of affairs, she mentioned. It even affected her capability to eat stable meals.
Then, in June 2021, she met Geoffrey Lam, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon at Spectrum Health.
The highway to surgical procedure
When Dr. Lam met with King, he quickly recognized the issue and developed a plan.
“She had a recurrent hiatal hernia the place her abdomen was once more pushing into the chest cavity,” Dr. Lam mentioned.
King’s ache had been worsening and he or she had problem swallowing for years. She thought she would want to have her esophagus eliminated, however Dr. Lam mentioned that might not be obligatory.
“Our plan was to cope with the scar tissue … and, hopefully, enhance her high quality of life after surgical procedure,” Dr. Lam mentioned. “She had little or no hope after we first met.”
Dr. Lam would use robot-assisted surgical procedure to sort out the difficulty.
Earlier than that, nevertheless, King would want to lose about 30 kilos.
She adopted a strict, low-carb eating regimen for just a few months and misplaced sufficient weight to get clearance for surgical procedure.
That got here in August 2021.
King underwent a number of procedures at Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, together with higher GI endoscopy, robotic video-assisted hernia restore and surgical procedure for gastroesophageal reflux.
Dr. Lam carried out the robot-assisted surgical procedure by utilizing small incisions between the ribs, which might assist reduce the post-surgery ache and restoration interval.
“We like to supply sufferers a minimally invasive method, if in any respect potential,” Dr. Lam mentioned. “There may be numerous knowledge wanting on the long-term results and enchancment in ache, high quality of life, quicker restoration and shorter hospital keep by utilizing robotic-assisted surgical procedure.”
Dr. Lam knew the operation could be lengthy and tedious. King had 20 years’ price of scar tissue inside her stomach.
Robotic surgical procedure would assist keep away from a giant incision, which might reduce the results on her physique and assist her get again on her toes a lot sooner.
“Conventional surgical procedure within the chest cavity entails a protracted incision, between 4 to six inches in size, the place we go in between the ribs after which should unfold the ribs,” Dr. Lam mentioned. “You possibly can think about this may be very painful, with a for much longer hospital keep and longer restoration.”
Within the robot-assisted process, the physician made 4 small incisions, every about 1/2 inch in size.
The surgical procedure itself concerned small, delicate devices and a digicam.
“The robotic platform permits us to do operations way more exactly, even in comparison with minimally invasive surgical procedure,” Dr. Lam mentioned. “We had been in a position to do the operation safely in as in need of a time as potential, with out massive incisions or lengthy restoration instances.”
Up and shifting
After surgical procedure, King discovered she might get off the bed instantly.
“I used to be up strolling that very same evening with my walker,” she mentioned. “And the following day … (the) tube got here out. And the following day, one other tube. I used to be out of the hospital inside 4 days.”
It proved life-changing.
She had at all times been a resilient individual, at all times on the transfer.
When she grew to become a boxer in 1996, she went all in. She held 5 titles within the Toughwoman competitors, together with two runner-up titles and a state title in Michigan in 1999. She boxed professionally after that, together with the April 2000 combat in China towards Laila Ali.
When the game grew to become too bodily demanding, she moved to teaching. And when she might not coach, she moved to new challenges.
“That’s once I began to do search and rescue,” King mentioned. “I used to be in a position to deal with that. I had a bloodhound named Emma, and he or she and I saved a number of lives.”
She received into farming, too.
Even so, her well being challenges had saved her from the extent of exercise she desired. It had been a devastating blow.
“There have been instances the place I might simply sit and cry as a result of I wasn’t in a position to do something, and I used to be at all times so bodily,” she mentioned.
Her surgical procedure with Dr. Lam modified all that.
“I don’t know if Dr. Lam is aware of how a lot I admire him,” she mentioned. “He gave me my life again.”
‘I can attain the world once more’
Submit-surgery, King mentioned she’s again to 100%.
She’s farming frequently with Guess nowadays, driving the John Deere tractor up and down the 200 acres the place they have an inclination their crops.
“We work with heavy gear out right here,” she mentioned. “I’m in a position to bounce up on farming gear now.”
She will be able to stroll, hike and sort out lengthy flights of stairs, with none strain on her diaphragm. She and a buddy even hiked greater than 60 miles this previous spring in Utah, the place they visited 5 nationwide parks.
“I hiked Canyonlands and met folks I by no means would have met,” she mentioned. “I simply retired in July. And I’ve numerous life left to reside.”
She’s excited on the prospect of as soon as once more having fun with life on the go.
“I can attain the world once more and contact the world like I needed to earlier than,” she mentioned. “And I’m glad I took that threat with this surgical procedure.”
