i read an article this morning about
a 21 year old mother of two, and her husband decided she would go through with the routine procedure of a tubal ligation.
after her surgery, she was told that everything went fine and was sent home. two days later her husband woke to her blue and purple, unable to talk or move.
she was rushed to the hospital where doctors discovered that her bowel had been sliced open during the initial operation, and toxins had leaked throughout her body.
after emergency surgery to repair the womans bowel, she was airlifted to edmonton. meanwhile the high doses of medication needed to stabilize her had reduced circulation to her extremities.
once in edmonton both her hands were amputated as well as her legs just below the knee.
the one thing that keeps running through my mind is, that poor woman, 21 years old and can’t even have the hands to hold her 10 month old son… has to live on welfare because her husband, a trucker, is her sole support… can’t even talk to her boys, tell them she loves them, until she learns to speak again.
“If anybody wants a sheep, that is proof that he exists.”
There is no defense for this case unless you failed to mention some unusual particulars. Was this performed from an abdominal incision where the uterus, ovaries and tubes were all visible…or was it performed by laparoscopy with the use of an electrocautery to burn the tubes? Either way, it sounds like the Dr. who performed the surgery will say: Where do I sign? And hope his malpractice insurance will cover.
That is really sad. I feel for this woman.
While in England on vacation, I read about the horrors of a) menningitis and b) National Health Care.
There was a young woman who had flu like symptoms that wouldn’t go away. Went to the hospital and told she still had the flu. Went back feeling worse a couple of days later, told the same thing. This goes on a few more times and her health is getting worse. She notices in the mirror that her nose is filled with black heads and feels extraordinarily crappy. Goes back to the hospital and the doctor on call in the ER ( or Casualty, as they call it there) takes one look at her and admits her.
A few minutes later she is in a coma from the menningitis. The blackheads in her nose was actually her blood about to ooze out her pores there. While in the coma the infection spreads rapidly and to save her life, her arms AND legs are amputated.(Two seperate operations.) She lived, but can you imagine her reaction when she woke up from the coma.
I think she was only 19 or 20.
I have never let schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain
it was never mentioned if the procedure was performed from an abdominal incision or by laparoscopy. and the doctor refuses to answer any questions regarding his medical insurance… (his new office is in bc btw.)
and yes, the family has filed a lawsuit against the doctor, a nurse, and other staff at the hospital. it turns out that the woman had been complaining of some abdominal pain and nausea, but nobody had any concern so they sent her home anyway.
“If anybody wants a sheep, that is proof that he exists.”
Wow! What a tragedy for the woman and her family.
It could have been avoided, however, if her husband had gotten a vasectomy. She went through major surgery, risking her life, losing her limbs, to avoid making more babies, when he could have gone through a 1/2 hour office procedure. It’s so sad.
Well at least he didn’t have any loss of virility. He can still feel like a man…?
I’m sorry for the sarcasm, but this kind of thing really gets me angry: Women opting to have major invasive, risky surgery because their loving husbands don’t want have to get a vasectomy.
I have a friend whose wife is going to do this because he refuses to get a vasectomy. He said, “She loves me so much, she’s willing to do this for me”. I said, “It’s too bad she can’t say the same thing about your love for her. You love her so much you’ll let her.”
Mega the Roo:
Thanks for the story-I looked it up and forwarded it to my friend.
Wow, I’ve never heard of a tubal ligation being botched that badly. My prayers toward the woman and her family.
My sweet mom nearly died having a tubal after the birth of my younger sister. One of the Fallopian tubes was wrapped around an intestine, and they had to go “digging for it”. She nearly died of shock from the blood loss. I’ll never forgive my father for his selfishness.
My husband knows that I refuse to ever have this done to me, and he’s already cheerfully offered to have a vasectomy when we don’t want any more kids. Several of his friends have had it done and said it wasn’t a big deal, and that the “gun” worked even better afterward. I think that might by psychological- knowing you can’t get her pregnant unintentionally again might spark a guy’s libido.
The article also said that, compared to a vasectomy, the risk of complications is much higher with a tubal ligation compared to a vasectomy. doctors point this out to patients, but 8 out of 10 people still get the tubal ligation done. BTW the reason she isn’t able to speak is that they placed her into a medically induced coma. She needs extensive therapy in order to regain her ablility to speak. So sad.
This is so depressing. Here’s a story that shows what good husbands some guys can be. About 8 1/2 years ago, my mother had kidney troubles that landed her in the hospital. She could have died. The doctors explained to my dad that she could neither endure another pregnancy nor continue to take oral contraceptives (my kid sister was ten at the time–they weren’t planning any more little ones). Concerned that my mom couldn’t handle a tubal ligation (sp?), my dad made an appointment that day to have a vasectomy(sp?). By the time my mom knew the whole situation, my dad had already had the procdure done. And, no, my mom wasn’t upset that he did it without consulting her. We all thought it was one of the sweetest things he’d ever done.
Substitute “pneumonia” for “meningitis” and “to a private doctor” for the first couple "hospital"s and that’s what happened to me while living in England. It was the National Health Service hospital that knew what was wrong with one look at me after the private GP’s misdiagnoses (note: plural) nearly killed me. So I get a bit testy when people talk about the “horrors” of the NHS.
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Anyway, what okatym said. And I really would like to know how the hell the decision was made for a 21-year-old to undergo tubal ligation. When I was that age, a good friend of mine went to three different doctors trying to get a vasectomy and they all told him to come back after he was 25. And that’s a reversible procedure! I’d really like to know if anyone tried to talk her out of it. If not, they should have.
