Posted on 01/21/2006 4:15:11 PM PST by Popman
ORLANDO, Fla. -- A Sanford mother says she will never be able to hold her newborn because an Orlando hospital performed a life-altering surgery and, she claims, the hospital refuses to explain why they left her as a multiple amputee.
The woman filed a complaint against Orlando Regional Healthcare Systems, she said, because they won't tell her exactly what happened. The hospital maintains the woman wants to know information that would violate other patients' rights.
Claudia Mejia gave birth eight and a half months ago at Orlando Regional South Seminole. She was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando where her arms and legs were amputated. She was told she had streptococcus, a flesh eating bacteria, and toxic shock syndrome, but no further explanation was given.
The hospital, in a letter, wrote that if she wanted to find out exactly what happened, she would have to sue them.
"I want to know what happened. I went to deliver my baby and I came out like this," Mejia said.
Mejia said after she gave birth to Mathew last spring, she was kept in the hospital with complications. Twelve days after giving birth at Orlando Regional South Seminole hospital, she was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center where she became a quadruple amputee. Now she can not care for or hold her baby.
"Yeah, I want to pick him up. He wants me to pick him up. I can't. I want to, but I can't," she said. "Woke up from surgery and I had no arms and no legs. No one told me anything. My arms and legs were just gone."
Her 7-year-old son, Jorge, asks his mother over and over what happened to her. Neither she nor her husband has the answer.
"I love her, so I'll always stick with her and take it a day at a time myself," said her husband, Tim Edwards.
The couple wants to know how she caught streptococcus, during labor or after. She doesn't know. She knows she didn't leave the hospital the same.
"And why, I want to know why this happened," she said.
Her attorney, Judy Hyman wrote ORHS a letter saying, according to the Florida statute, "The Patients Right To Know About Adverse Medical Incidents Act," the hospital must give her the records.
"When the statute is named 'Patients Right To Know,' I don't know how it could be clearer," Hyman said.
They aren't with holding her own information.
She wants other peoples information.
It was a 6 hour operation so losing about 1.5 pints an hour is reasonable when I was only 4'0 tall and about 80 pounds.
You are assuming incorrectly.
Being a nurse and having taken care of a patient with the flesh eating STREPTOCCUS...I was scared to death as was everyone else that took care of them.
We scrubbed meticuluously, gloved gowned and left everything in the isolation room.
We didn't want it ourselves and didn't want to take it home to our families.
MRSA...Staph...is endemic in the hospital.
Flesh eating Strep is not...It is community acquired and statistically she is far more likely to brought it in with her.
It is not staph. It was caused by Strep.....
If that's true and I don't have any reason not to believe what you're saying, then the hospital should not have any qualms about sharing if anyone else had it at the hospital.
If that's true and I don't have any reason not to believe what you're saying, then the hospital should not have any qualms about sharing if anyone else had it at the hospital.
"George or Jeb? Or both?"
My god! They're both at fault!
Thank you. I just learned something new. Let me ask you then...you think this woman brought it in to the hospital? What's the incubation time...Would it be possible for her to have a normal delivery and then two days later have this happen???
our friends' son caught this after he went to the hospital for splitting open his knee... they billed them for the knee treatment and also for the streptococcus treatment... our friends' refused to pay for the streptococcus treatment since he caught while in their care... they backed off...
oh please... then why not do a full investigation to find out whether or not she caught this in the hospital or came in with it? that's the least they could do... saying that "perhaps" she already had the disease is not good enough... she ought to be able to find out as much as she can...
Most all hospitals have Mersa and other hospital borne infections.
they ought to report their story via the website I linked to earlier in the thread. this is going on in hospital all over the country apparently, and is being hushed up.
I just went back and read post #16.
You're right this was not staph but sounds like streptococcal toxic shock syndrome.
Viruses have incubation periods bacteria do not.
Bacteria are present everywhere. Your skin is covered with them. You have multiple varieties. You also have varieties of fungus.
They keep each other in balance...Your intact skin is the barrier that keeps them out.
Body cavities have mucus to trap and drain them out.
Stomach has acid.
Then there is the Immune system with White Blood Cells that eat this stuff.
You can't live without E.Coli in your gut.
A bacterial colony was to overwhelm all your natural defenses and build up a colony count before you become ill.
The reason yeast infections (fungus, candida) are so prevalent after a course of antibiotics is because you knock off the bacteria that keeps the yeast in check.
2 days would have been plenty of time.
Interesting. So what happens in cases like this? Is there an investigation by outside agencies? How would the hospital ever be able to prove they weren't at fault?
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