WICHITA, Kansas -- In the summer of 2009, while most kids were off playing with friends, Mackenzie Pounds was confined to the four walls of a hospital.
"It was prison for me. I mean all these wires attached always doing surgeries. Half the time I was blacked out can't remember anything," said Mackenzie.
Just barely a teenager, Mackenzie had been diagnosed with systemic lupus, a condition that leaves the immune system to attack the body's cells and tissues.
Since the diagnosis, it's been a blur of trips to and from the hospital, with a cabinet full of medication to take. Mackenzie says it all seemed too much until she got a visit from her grandpa in the hospital.
"He had gone and done chemo, and that was probably my lowest point he was dying and he was so strong to go from chemo over to see me. And I know that if he could fight it, I could fight it, and that was probably how I'm here today. He was probably my strong point," said Mackenzie.
She's been through a lot and had to grow up fast, but next week, for Mackenzie's sweet 16, she'll be able to forget her problems for a little while. Dream Factory surprised her Sunday morning, and she and her family will be going to an all-expense paid trip to Disney World.
"The trip came along and I'm just really thankful she is going to go and have fun and experience things we probably wouldn't be able to do without them," said Michelle Nagy, Mackenzie's mom.
They say they'll visit Epcot Center, Universal Studios, and Mackenzie's favorite, Harry Potter World.
"Just to kind of forget about being sick and just have a blast and just get away and try not to think about it and have some fun from all this for awhile," said Nagy.
It's a much-deserved trip to help Mackenzie and her family on the road to healing.
