Surgeon moves up appendectomy, nurses do hair, makeup so Portland High senior can make her prom

It's probably fair to say that Mackenzie Schindler was more excited than most girls for her senior prom. Last year she was unable to attend prom due to a knee surgery, and she had big plans for the evening of April 13. So, when the Portland High School student started to feel sick the week before the big day — and later learned an appendectomy would mean she’d likely miss the prom again this year — she was devastated. 

Schindler’s mom, Melonie Martin, told The Tennessean that her daughter started feeling sick the Wednesday before prom, but insisted it was nothing.

But as the days passed and she wasn’t feeling any better, Martin said she grew concerned. The two were doing last-minute prom shopping Friday and decided they’d better get Schindler checked out. So, they drove to the emergency room at Sumner Regional Medical Center in Gallatin.

That’s when they learned she’d need an appendectomy the next morning — the morning of her prom.

“I was really devastated at first,” Schindler said. “He (Dr. Brian Reed) told me there’s no way he could move me up. This was my first prom. I was like, ‘I’m not missing my senior prom for another surgery!’ ”

Unbeknownst to Schindler, Reed worked to rearrange his schedule so she could go into surgery earlier in the day. 

When he came to tell her he moved up her surgery with the hopes she could attend her prom, Schindler said she couldn't believe it.

“I cried at first because I was so excited,” she said. “And then I was like, ‘Wow, this is actually happening!’ ”

Moving the surgery up didn’t mean she could automatically go to prom, though, Martin explained. After surgery, Schindler had to show that she could eat and keep something down.

Once the nurses told her she could be discharged, the two started thinking about all the details they’d have to get to in a short amount of time.

Schindler’s sister was planning to do her hair and makeup, but by that point, she was already at work and couldn’t get off, Martin said.

That’s when one of the nurses, Ashley Middlebrook, stepped in and said she could do her hair, Schindler said. Middlebrook then enlisted the help of Tabatha Whitlow to do Schindler’s makeup and Brittanie Wood to help with her hair.

“It was amazing that all these nurses came together to do this,” Martin said.

While Schindler was getting ready, Martin ran home to get her dress.

And Schindler’s prom date, Alex Mann, who had been waiting at the hospital with her all morning, got ready at the hospital, too.

Martin said that Mann got ready in the bathroom while Schindler got ready in her room. And they surprised each other in the lobby.

“She hadn’t even seen his tux,” Martin said. “I was crying like a baby … when they walked down that hall, everyone was saying how gorgeous" they looked.

Mann was a gentleman, by Schindler's account.

“He was like, ‘I’m here for you 100 percent,' ” she said. “He said, ‘I’m going to be here with you until you’re out. I’m not going if you’re not.' ”

But they did get to go, and Schindler said it was just as she hoped it would be.

With her friends there to support her, she was able to enjoy the night, even if she did just come out of surgery.

“I loved it,” she said.

In a Facebook post, Martin thanked the hospital for helping her daughter.

“To see these nurses and surgeons come together to help my daughter go to her senior prom meant so much to me and her,” she wrote. “It really touched my heart then to hear her nurse say that they felt as if she was sending her own child to prom really teared me up. … This has really touched our family to have such great people help my daughter.”

Sumner Regional Medical Center also shared Schindler’s story on its Facebook page. “What a privilege to be a part of stories like this,” the post states. “We're so happy Mackenzie was able to attend her high school prom!”