After Overcoming Childhood Health Challenges, Bengochea Is Now Full Of Energy
The girl who often couldn’t make it to her first-grade and second- grade classes because she was constantly ill is now one of the most physically active people in Culbertson.
There’s not a person in Culbertson who seems to have more energy than recent high school graduate Anissa Bengochea. Whether it’s leading aerobics class as a swimming pool lifeguard, racing around the bases in a softball game or keeping a hard spike in play during volleyball season, Bengochea is there with a great deal of enthusiasm.
It wasn’t always the way. For most of her very early years, the daughter of David and Leslie Bengochea struggled greatly with her health.
“I was born super sick,” Anissa said. Her health issues included a series of infections and fevers. Although she was so young during those difficult times, one thing she remembers was spending way too much time in hospitals.
“They kept sending me back home because they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me,” Bengochea said. “Hospitals were my home away from home for a long time.”
She said one surgery in 2008 involved removing about 25 percent of her right kidney. “But it kept causing problems.”
Then in 2011, a bit of a breakthrough happened when she started having strong stomach pains and her body was shaking in her second-grade classroom. She was rushed to the emergency room in Culbertson and then transferred to Williston. It was determined that one of her kidneys was shutting down. She was sent to Billings for further treatment of ureteral duplication.
One surgery involved removing another 25 percent of her kidney and then a third surgery removed part of her bladder.
“After the second one, I started to feel better,” Bengochea said.
About a year after the final operation, she was moving around as quickly as a normal elementary school student much to the delight of her parents, grandparents and other community members.
“I’m extremely thankful everything went well,” Bengochea added.
There was little to slow her down once she reached junior high and high school. Along with athletics, her list of activities included student council, FFA, Science Olympiad and National Honor Society. She has recently returned with incoming senior Autumn Bergum from representing Culbertson High School at the Montana Girls State conference.
“My parents are amazed that I recovered so well,” Bengochea said. “For a time, people didn’t know if I was going to make it or not.”
She thanks her parents and grandparents for everything they’ve done throughout her life. “And the teachers who understood what I was going through and didn’t fluke me,” she laughed.
She admits all those IVs and blood tests took their toll on her. “I now hate needles,” Bengochea said.
The 2021 high school graduate is looking forward to attending the University of Providence in Great Falls. She plans to major in forensic science and minor in criminal justice.
“I’m very interested in the criminal sign of things,” Bengochea said.
With many hospital nights in her background, the medical field didn’t interest her. “I know how hard they work and how tough it is to figure things out,” she explained.
