Teresa Dvorak

2005 Ina Brudnick Award Recipient

“This experience made me want to be a nurse, to help people. I want them to understand that you don’t have to rearrange your goals and dreams because you have an ostomy," says Teresa.

In some ways going home from the hospital on the fourth of July after Teresa’s emergency surgery was a signal: Would this be the beginning of her independence or would the ulcerative colitis and ileostomy have a vice grip on her life and her future? For Teresa, the ileostomy meant freedom. Freedom from pain, freedom from that debilitating disease, and the freedom to start anew.

For two years, she went through a physical and emotional roller coaster ride, including exacerbations, mild osteoporosis from steroid treatments, pancreatitis and, ultimately, a perforated colon leading to emergency surgery. The support from her family made a big difference in her recovery. “My mother was the reason I would get out of bed and walk after my surgery. My whole family pitched in. That was the best part.”

Teresa earned her Associates Degree in Nursing at North Central Texas College and is planning to pursue her Bachelor’s in Nursing. She intends to pursue a career as an Enterostomal Therapy Nurse. “This experience made me want to be a nurse, to help people. I want them to understand that you don’t have to rearrange your goals and dreams because you have an ostomy. After all I have experienced, I think I can help people in similar situations.”