- S
- J
Hello, my name is Aleesha and my mom Paula had surgery mid-July 2021. She had a gastric sleeve and hernia repair done at that time. What was supposed to be a simple overnight stay has turned into a nightmare. The day after surgery she was supposed to be discharged home but instead I got a phone call that she was unresponsive and her blood pressure was critically low. She had an internal bleed at the surgical site. Her surgeon didn’t treat her properly at that time just with IV fluids. After going to the hospital and talking to other doctors I know she ended up in the ICU with a central line and A-line on medicine to keep her BP up, she also received blood at that time. We found out one of her kidneys wasn’t working anymore and the other had several stones it. A different surgeon took her to surgery and tried to salvage the working kidney-with success. A couple days later she was sent home and never should have been. Two days later we convinced her to go back to the ER because she was so sick and couldn’t even stand much less care for her self. There she was diagnosed with Septic Shock related to the hole in her stomach allowing all gastric contents to just free flow in to her abdomen. Once again she was placed in the ICU where she stayed for several weeks. During her ICU stay she was started on IV antibiotics, TPN, and was given numerous meds/blood products, she also had a chest tube placed for a pleural effusion. They took her for a simple procedure in Endoscopy to place a stent where the leak was and a drain. The physician described the surgery to me saying they would place a stent that would keep everything away from the hole so it can heal but allow things to flow and I gave consent. The day after she had that done, they ordered a barium swallow study and nothing would pass the stent. The doctor then said that is what it’s supposed to do-block anything from going beyond the stomach into the intestines. She suffered through many weeks with this stent vomiting constantly even while on the vent and constant pressure/pain in her chest. She wasn’t able to get up out of bed and became very weak/deconditioned. Once again her surgeon said she was ready to be discharged from the hospital. She couldn’t come home because of the stent along with needs for TPN, IV antibiotics, and intense physical therapy. She was transferred to a “specialty hospital” where she was supposed to get good care. While there she didn’t get treated properly and developed 2 bed sores and continued to decline. She was transferred back to the regular hospital per her surgeon so he could removed the stent since it had been the 6-8 weeks he said he needed to leave it. He once again went in endoscopicly and pulled the stent. Repeat scans showed the hole was now bigger than when we started. He wanted to go back in at that time and do surgery again. We requested a transfer to a different facility because we no longer trusted him. He initially refused to transfer her then only would try to transfer her to Cleveland Clinic which is over 4 hours away. Everyday he would come in and try to persuade her to let him do it. He went as far as getting in her face and yelling at her after family had gone home after visiting hours. We asked how the transfer was going and he kept beating around the bush not giving any updates. I asked who her accepting physician is at Cleveland and he gave me a fake doctor’s name. I myself called Cleveland Clinic and they said he hadn’t even reached out to them at that point. I spoke with her surgeon once again he said due to COVID they weren’t accepting transfers at that time. I explained to him that they in fact were because I asked them, then we got a real accepting physician. She was placed on a long waiting list for a bed there. Everyday he would come to try to convince her to stay. At this point she still hadn’t been out of bed since July. Physical therapy was working with her and pulled her drain in her side out twice. Each time she would have to go back to get it replaced. The most recent time the drain wasn’t really draining but around it was. Her whole bed would be saturated constantly in foul smelling drainage and if she took a sip of water she could feel the cold run out her side. The surgeon continued to document/say the drain was in place with little to no drainage. Cleveland Clinic finally called and said they had a bed ready for her. We waited all day on ambulance transport but they were busy. That night Cleveland asked if she could be flown. She agreed and an order was obtained for Ativan because she was nervous about flying. Her surgeon then said he didn’t feel it was necessary and he refused to let her fly. The next day I went to the hospital to find out what was happening and it was her surgeons day off. He didn’t even sign consent for her to be transported via ambulance. Cleveland Clinic couldn’t hold her bed forever and said she needed to get there. The surgeon refused to come in and sign for her transport once again delaying her care. Another physician in the same practice ended up signing off on her transport. The ambulance was there within the hour to take her to Cleveland Clinic. Once she arrived there they have repeated/done all new tests. Her drain that was supposedly in the correct place is actually in her spleen which apparently can be life threatening so they are making a plan on how to remove it safely. She has pneumonia and blood clots in both legs. Her physician team in Cleveland Clinic is working to create a game plan at this time to repair the initial surgical complication along with all the other issues she now has as a result of it. She has missed out on so much from my bridal shower and graduation from college to family time and wedding planning. She misses her family but is too weak to FaceTime beyond a few minutes. She is a special education teacher aid and hasn’t been able to go back to school yet this year and she misses her students. Her birthday is in a few short days and she is over 4 hours away with only 1 visitor per stay allowed. My dad plans to go see her and stay for a few days since it is such a long drive. My mom is my person and I want her by my side on my wedding day more than anything. I couldn’t imagine losing her. I feel like she is in the best place possible now for her to get proper care and heal. It’s going to be a long road that will include lots of travel, treatments, and loss of income. If you are able to help in any way to get our family and her through this we would eternally grateful. Thank you.