Harmony's Heartbreaking Hell

Seventeen-year-old Harmony laid on the floor of the UNBC Hospital, Prince George, B.C. crying out in pain. Her mother, Melissa, desperately trying to get anyone to listen to her that her daughter needed help. No one did and it almost cost Harmony her life. Here is the painful and unnecessary journey of Harmony.

April 25, 2022, started out like any other day until Harmony came home saying she was having severe stomach pains and started vomiting. Initially Melissa thought her daughter just had the stomach flu, but the next morning quickly realized something more was going on once Harmony began saying she felt like she really needed to have a bowel movement but couldn’t go. Immediately Melissa got on the phone with their family doctor and was told to take her daughter to the hospital and get an ultrasound done.

Melissa followed the doctor’s instructions. Once there, they were quickly brushed off by the ER doctor on duty, being told they needed to make an appointment for the ultrasound. Melissa explained what was going on and how their doctor had instructed them to come in, but all the ER doctor would do is prescribe a stool softener, anti-nausea, and pain medicine. No examination, no bloodwork, no care taken. Not knowing what else to do when the people who are supposed to help you weren’t helping, Melissa and her daughter went home. Melissa felt helpless as she watched her daughter worsen and the next morning decided she had to take her daughter back to. Just before leaving, the ultrasound place called. Melissa explained what was going on, and they booked her in for 1:30 p.m. that day. Melissa and Harmony decided to wait for the ultrasound to be performed and then immediately went back to the ER. Melissa’s heart sank when she realized it was the same doctor who had brushed them off the night before. However, she knew she had to stay and try to get someone to listen as her daughter lay curled up on the hospital floor, crying out in pain. (The examination room had no beds at this point, and she was literally on the floor!)

Finally the doctor came in and explained one of her ovaries had a cyst that had ruptured and this is why she was in so much pain.

Soon a nurse came in and gave Harmony a shot. At this point, Melissa asked if bloodwork could be ordered, and the ER doctor agreed to do so. Blood was drawn and they waited for over an hour; Harmony continued to lay on the floor in extreme pain, begging her mother to take her home so she could at least lay in her own bed. Melissa tried several times to get the attention of the ER doctor and was simply ignored. They decided to head home. About an hour after leaving, Melissa received a call explaining her daughter’s white blood cell count was concerning, and Harmony was prescribed oral antibiotics.

This was supposed to make things better, but it didn’t. Harmony began throwing up brown bile, still couldn’t have the bowel movement she felt she needed to have, and the pain she was in was relentless. Once again, Melissa called their family doctor and explained all that was happening. She was told to take her back to the ER right away, and he would let them know they were coming. By the time they got there, she was in complete septic shock. Harmony had a bowel obstruction and required emergency surgery right away. It turns out that a surgery she had when she was 13 years old to take out her appendix caused internal bleeding and scar tissue that rubbed on her small intestine, causing the blockage. If someone had just taken her daughter’s pain seriously when they initially went to the ER, the surgery could have been avoided, and she could have been given a 3-day course of IV medicine. Instead, Harmony had 30cm of her lower intestine removed because of gangrene.

Following the surgery, they were told that everything had gone well. It had not. Harmony continued to get worse over the next two weeks with high fevers, worrisome bloodwork and a heart rate that stayed between 130-160- mostly sitting at 145. They kept Harmony drugged up, but ignored everything else. At this point Melissa had lost all faith in the UNBC Hospital and begged over the next 5 days for them to transfer her daughter to the Children’s Hospital. They refused, stating Harmony was almost 17 years old. Melissa felt helpless. It was then her daughter began throwing up about a liter of blood. Another ultrasound and CT scan was done, but it wasn’t until 6 days later they finally decided to transfer Harmony by helicopter to the Children’s Hospital. It was during this transfer that Harmony went into septic shock once again. Upon arriving at the Children’s Hospital, they took a look at the CT scan that was done 6 days prior and took Harmony back in for surgery- where she lost another large portion of her intestine and an eil-ostomy was performed.

The neglect, mistreatment and flat-out incompetence at the Prince George Hospital almost killed her Harmony, not once but twice. Now, seventeen-year-old Harmony’s intestine is literally sticking out the side of her stomach. To make matters worse, she continues battling fungal infections in her bladder and incision from being on many antibiotics. She also had E. coli.

They stayed at the Children’s Hospital from May 12th till July 20th as her daughter literally had to be rehabilitated. When they were finally sent home under HomeCare, they were supposed to have a nurse come for 4 hours a day. No nurse ever came. So, for 9 weeks, Melissa and her daughter struggled alone. About three weeks after being home, Melissa was able to secure a community nurse who came once a week for about 30 minutes despite Harmony’s care involving 14 hours of IV nutrition, a stoma to care for and an open wound that hadn’t healed from her incision. On top of it all, Harmony began losing her hair and had to shave her entire head. This whole ordeal has left both Melissa and Harmony with so much trauma. On several occasions Harmony has expressed to her mother she does not want to continue living being hooked up to a machine for 14 hours a day and having her feces go into a bag from the side of her stomach. She even asked Melissa, at one point, if they had died on the way to the hospital and were now living in hell. She is traumatized. They both are.

They are now back at BC Children’s Hospital in PICU. They were told they were going to be at Children’s Hospital for a month. However, it will be longer. The cost of all of this, as well as being a full-time caregiver to her daughter, has drained her savings. Melissa has no idea when she can get back to work or how she will make ends meet. She has to pay rent for a home they are not in and the cost of a house sitter for their animals. Melissa never asks for help, but she is always the first to help others. She is desperately worried about losing her home.

Melissa and Harmony desperately need your help financially so they can both be together at Children's Hospital, as they are all they have. Harmony can't do it alone. If you could find it in your heart to send something to help take the financial burden off Melissa and allow her to focus her time and energy on her daughter and her recovery, they would be forever grateful.