Gabby Cartwright, Felled by Mystery Illness, Out of Hospital After 8 Days

Released from a La Jolla hospital Tuesday, Gabby Cartwright’s eight-day ordeal is over.  But even amid severe headaches and bouts of paralysis that kept her from speaking, the Grossmont girls track coach held onto hopes she’d recover from the still unexplained illness.

“No, I wasn’t surprised,” Cartwright said by phone Wednesday while being driven to a doctor’s appointment.  “I knew it was going to get better.”

Her treatment at UCSD Thornton Hospital included walking, getting up, moving around in bed and even “brushing my teeth,” said Cartwright, 22, who is in her last quarter at UC San Diego as an international studies major. “Just getting back to routine.”

She also confirmed that she’s applied for a clerkship with the state Supreme Court, pending her health outlook.

Seen by perhaps 50 people—including doctors and medical students at the teaching hospital—Cartwright said the ailment that sent her to Thornton on April 11 is still a mystery, but “we don’t have to find a reason right now.”

She said she was aware of the theory that a cervical cancer vaccine called Gardasil was responsible for her frightening symptoms.

“A lot of my friends are saying that,” said Cartwright, who lives with a roommate in Lemon Grove. “I’ve heard stories about it.”

But she said she’s not familiar with the vaccine, and her doctors haven’t said anything about Gardasil, whose critics have launched a website.

 “They don’t know, really,” why she got so sick that she couldn’t open her eyes at times. “The good news is I’m feeling better, improved so much.”

Being unable to talk and take care of herself were among the most frightening symptoms of her illness, she said—“something I would never want to go through again.”

Like the one-time Grossmont High School hurdler and thrower (shot and discus) she once was, she said she “tried to stay relaxed through it.”

Cartwright said she’s taking 20 credit units this quarter—but mostly in elective classes. So she might have to drop some classes due to her absence.

“I’m trying to figure out if I’m cleared to graduate,” she said Wednesday morning.

Several days after her hospitalization, a fundraising account was set up to help defray expenses of her care and eventual follow-up treatment. As of Wednesday afternoon, friends and co-workers at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital had contributed $4,320.

Cartwright, who has coached girls track at Grossmont High School as a stipend staffer since 2007, was prepared to return to her team this week. But she gets a break, since the school is on spring vacation.

Although Cartwright won medals in league competition, especially the discus and shot put, she didn’t advance to the state track meet.

“My athletes go to state,” she said proudly—“but not myself.”

She’s also seeking clearance to return to her job at Sharp Mary Birch Hospital—not exactly in line with her academics (which includes an emphasis on politics).  Cartwright says she works there, and volunteers as a media staffer for the Miracle Babies group, because “I just like helping people.”

Cartwright is moved by how people came to help her, however.

“I’m shocked,” she said when asked her reaction to the outpouring of interest, which she termed overwhelming.

 “I can’t believe people would be so supportive. … It’s just been everything. … This past week seems like a rollercoaster.”