It was about two weeks ago when 14-year-old Maggy Whiles was experiencing extreme abdominal pain. She couldn’t keep anything down, not even a cracker or a sip of Sprite.

After spending four days in a Nashville hospital and receiving a puzzling diagnosis, Maggy returned to Ascension Saint Thomas River Park Hospital in McMinnville where she had surgery less than two hours after seeing a doctor.

“Maggy had an appointment at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday and she was in surgery at 2:45 p.m. that same day,” said her father Rodney Whiles. “I might be the only person to say this but we had to leave Nashville and come back to McMinnville to get the quality of care we needed.”

River Park general surgeon Dr. Robert Christenson diagnosed Maggy with an appendix problem almost immediately upon examination. That was on Tuesday, June 21, the day she had surgery.

“It was kind of like a stabbing pain,” said Maggy. “It was above my belly button to the right and it was constant. I felt dizzy and nauseous and it got continually worse.”

Feeling bad is unusual for Maggy, who is athletic and very active. She’s a rising sophomore on the WCHS Lady Pioneer softball team.

Maggy’s abdominal pain got her admitted to a hospital in Nashville, which Rodney says he would rather not identify. He says Maggy was admitted on Friday, June 17 and was released on June 20 after a questionable diagnosis.

“They did two ultrasounds and drew blood twice,” said Rodney. “They told us the ultrasounds showed nothing and the blood work came back fine.”

Rodney said the physicians told the family that Maggy was suffering from some type of eating disorder where her brain wasn’t properly communicating signals to her stomach and that she would have to re-learn how to eat. That diagnosis was not well-received.

“She was in pain and would throw up after eating one Goldfish cracker,” said Rodney. “When we heard that, I asked if Maggy could be released. I said we’d like to get care somewhere else.”

That care was at River Park where Rodney says the family is well-pleased with the quick diagnosis and the surgery.

“As soon as Maggy came out of surgery she said, ‘The pain is gone,’” said Rodney.

Maggy has about two more weeks before she can return to physical activity and describes sitting around the house as “terrible.” But she’s happy to be on the mend and looks forward to smashing her next home run for the Lady Pioneers.