She spent nearly five months in the hospital and some 45 days on a ventilator; she had more than a dozen surgeries and a kidney transplant — all before she turned 4. Yet Jentry Prock is a bright and happy child. As she continues to heal, her perseverance, along with her parents’, serves as an inspiration to everyone in Fayetteville.
It started with a simple fever, one Tuesday in November when Jentry was about to turn 2. The pediatrician thought it was a little virus, but when she didn’t get better, she was sent to the emergency room, where they gave Jentry some fluids and sent her home again. — their daughter needed further care.
An overnight stay in the Huntsville Hospital for Women & Children was interrupted by a nurse coming in to prepare Jentry to go to Birmingham. The doctors thought she had hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a condition that can occur because of E. coli. They were shocked at the development, Samantha Prock said.
“They pretty much put her in an ambulance and tell us, ‘Hey, we got to go to Birmingham. She’s got to be at a bigger hospital,’” Samantha said.
Jentry’s condition got worse, and that Friday night trip to the hospital turned into a five-month stay in Birmingham. She had HUS, parainfluenza, and the Norovirus, what Prock said was a perfect storm of illness. By that Sunday, Jentry was on dialysis. Her kidneys were not functioning, and soon after, she went on a ventilator as well. Still, things were not getting better — so the hospital performed exploratory surgery to find out what else was wrong. A large portion of her digestive tract had died, and her pancreas was injured as well.
Even the doctors didn’t know if she would live or die, Samantha said. Jentry wasn’t breathing well, even on a ventilator, and HUS kept the dialysis from getting all the fluid out of her body. Samantha said they even discussed putting her on life support, taking decisions hour by hour. During that time, the Fayetteville community came to their aid. People across the town sent notes, letters, and Sunday school drawings to the family. Friends and neighbors fed their cows and dogs, and their mail lady made a point to play with them when she could. The community even held a benefit at the Lincoln County Fairgrounds.
“Our town and our community wrapped their arms around us,” Prock said. “They all came out, and they raised money for us to live on and pay medical bills while we were out with our baby. It was in a time that was so bad, we didn’t know if she was gonna make it or everything like that; we felt so blessed.”
Luckily, Jentry pulled through.
“That didn’t have to happen. She pulled out of it,” Samanatha said. “During that time, she had surgery every other day for them to stitch up and close up her stomach, so we’re probably looking at about 10 or 15 surgeries during that time.”
In March, the Procks came home from the hospital. Jentry was stable, but her kidneys still weren’t functioning — she was going to need a transplant. Besides that, she had to relearn quite a few things after her time in the hospital, and the Procks had to find out if there was any developmental damage as well. Once again, Samantha said they were blessed.
“We learned to walk, drink, and eat — she had to learn how to use her stomach again,” Samantha said. “She went back to being normal even though the doctors were totally concerned about that.”
While going through the preparatory surgeries and waiting for a kidney match, Jentry had a very strict life. She couldn’t drink more than 11 ounces of water a day; she couldn’t eat chocolate, cheese, or potatoes; and she couldn’t play outside in the heat for long or go swimming. Even five M&Ms could throw off her labs.
“Something as silly as vacation Bible school, I would love for her to go or go over to a little friend’s house or us go over to eat at another person’s house. I couldn’t let her go because she had such a strict diet,” Samantha said. “Her body had no way of filtering out all the stuff.”
Rain or shine or even through a snowstorm, the family had to drive two hours to the hospital for dialysis three times a week — until one day, they got the phone call that changed their lives. The hospital had found a match. Most children get adult kidneys, and that’s what happened to Jentry.
“It was a 22-year-old kidney,” Samantha said. “That’s all we know about it. We don’t know where it came from.”
Months later, Jentry only had to visit the hospital once every month, and that time was steadily decreasing. Samantha said she has bounced back well, and while it is evident she hasn’t had the most normal childhood so far, she is smart and has handled all the changes well.
“She’s my hero; she’s been so brave through all this,” Samantha said. “She’s an inspiration, I feel like — to me, to everybody — just how, through it all, she just kept going.”
Samantha has found a purpose through all of this, telling others their story and encouraging them to become organ donors.
“A 22-year-old … changed my life and changed my daughter’s life forever, giving her back her childhood,” Samantha said. “Something as simple as eating chocolate or drinking some water — they gave that back to her.”
The story of Jentry, Samantha, and Jimmy Prock is one of perseverance and faith, and it is one that everyone can learn from. After all, strength can be found even in the darkest of places, and eventually, things will become bright once again.GN
