Woman gives birth; doctors cut off all her limbs by mistake

[Darth Wong]

I think we've been reminded of three things here:

1. Any hospital surgery is potentially dangerous no matter how routine it is, simply because hospitals are where shitloads of seriously sick people (and their microbes) happen to be.
2. Never assume that a lawyer is fairly representing the situation, especially when he's filing a lawsuit and talking to the press at the same time.
3. Women have to stop taking C-section surgeries so goddamned casually. They are highly invasive operations where they cut open your whole goddamned belly and open it like a fucking soup can. Anyone who doesn't recognize significant risks attached to such a procedure is in dreamland. I've heard of some women who don't even try to deliver naturally, and schedule a C-section ahead of time. It's unreal.

My mother used to work in a hospital and told me that an awful lot of people go into a hospital and end up catching something as a result of being there. Her favourite saying about hospitals was that the operation was a success, even though the patient died afterwards.

[Edi]

*wipes egg from face*

Good thing that people had enough motivation to look further into it. Of course, I retract the idiocies I said earlier.

Edi

[Broomstick]

I'm sure the several recipients of successful hand transplants and that lady in France with her new face would disagree with your opinion.

More than a few hand transplant recipients have expressed regret and three of them have opted to have the transplanted hand removed.

I had heard only one of them opted for removal.

Even if they aren't all successful, some of them are and some recipients have expressed great happiness at what limited movement and sensation their new hand has. The sucess/failure ratio isn't out of line for such a complex and new procedure.

A new, limited-function hand in exchange for a lifetime of what amounts to immunosuppressant-induced AIDS isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Although the required immune-suppression is no joke, it's not as bad as AIDS. I've known several transplant recipients are they are far from invalids or people who must be protected in a plastic bubble.

As far as the face transplant recipient, I'm not too sure she cares that deeply about her new face, as she used her new lips to take up smoking again a couple of weeks into her post-op.

We have a whole 'nother thread or two about tobacco stupidity and addiction. I'm not getting into that here.

and I said "limb transplants", not "face transplants". I'm sure there are different, maybe more desirable benefits to having a face that don't register quite as high with limbs.

OK, limb transplants, then. Although I doubt anyone will be doing a leg transplant any time soon - the risk/benefit is really only justified for hands.

I wouldn't have a limb transplant it the price I had to pay was a permanently and severy immunodepressed state.

That is your choice and your decision.

I wouldn't do it for a leg, but if was a double hand amputee I might consider it - prosthetic hands are still extremely limited in comparison to a living hand. Even a re-attached limb with limited motion and sensation frequently has superior utility to a prosthetic, and a hand transplant is basically the limb re-attachment surgery using someone else's limb.

I really feel bad for the woman in this story, she has gone through a horrific ordeal. But this may be bad luck rather than bad medicine.

[Broomstick]

[*]Women have to stop taking C-section surgeries so goddamned casually. They are highly invasive operations where they cut open your whole goddamned belly and open it like a fucking soup can

I'm sorry - did I miss where she had a C-section? I don't recall hearing what sort of birth she had.

You don't have to have surgery to contract one of these infections. Although surgery certainly can increase your risk.

[mr friendly guy]

[*]Women have to stop taking C-section surgeries so goddamned casually. They are highly invasive operations where they cut open your whole goddamned belly and open it like a fucking soup can

I'm sorry - did I miss where she had a C-section? I don't recall hearing what sort of birth she had.

You don't have to have surgery to contract one of these infections. Although surgery certainly can increase your risk.

According to the article Lonestar linked to, she had a normal birth, although they also performed a hysterectomy after her condition turned critical. The first signs of the infection seemed to have occurred shortly after giving birth.

[Cairber]

Women have to stop taking C-section surgeries so goddamned casually. They are highly invasive operations where they cut open your whole goddamned belly and open it like a fucking soup can. Anyone who doesn't recognize significant risks attached to such a procedure is in dreamland. I've heard of some women who don't even try to deliver naturally, and schedule a C-section ahead of time. It's unreal

The AMA has recently come out with an article that says that up to 20% of women (depending on region- the USA is split into 4 regions in the article) choose an elective Csection. It's nuts.

Read this in Fitpregnancy, last months issue.

[Andrew J.]

Should the thread title be edited to remove the "by mistake"?

[LauraG]

More than a few hand transplant recipients have expressed regret and three of them have opted to have the transplanted hand removed.

I had heard only one of them opted for removal.

One is enough, to be honest.

Even if they aren't all successful, some of them are and some recipients have expressed great happiness at what limited movement and sensation their new hand has. The sucess/failure ratio isn't out of line for such a complex and new procedure.

Sure. I can understand that.

Although the required immune-suppression is no joke, it's not as bad as AIDS. I've known several transplant recipients are they are far from invalids or people who must be protected in a plastic bubble.

...and far from being able to effectively resist infection, which puts their life at risk to the point that life expectancy is reduced. It's up to each individual to decide if that's a price they're willing to pay.

We have a whole 'nother thread or two about tobacco stupidity and addiction. I'm not getting into that here.

OK... but it speaks volumes on the value this woman assigns her new face.

OK, limb transplants, then. Although I doubt anyone will be doing a leg transplant any time soon - the risk/benefit is really only justified for hands.

...not that prosthetic legs are that functional.

I wouldn't do it for a leg, but if was a double hand amputee I might consider it - prosthetic hands are still extremely limited in comparison to a living hand.

Sure. Personal choice.

Even a re-attached limb with limited motion and sensation frequently has superior utility to a prosthetic, and a hand transplant is basically the limb re-attachment surgery using someone else's limb.

Except for the pesky rejection issues.

I really feel bad for the woman in this story, she has gone through a horrific ordeal. But this may be bad luck rather than bad medicine.

Nosocomial infections are bad medicine. It's sad to see the hospital covering their collective butts instead of owning up to this woman's situation.

[Admiral Valdemar]

Nosocomial infections are bad medicine. It's sad to see the hospital covering their collective butts instead of owning up to this woman's situation.

With respect, such infections will always occur, though the degree to which they are present in a hospital is telling of how well they are dealing with the matter. The recent media frenzies here over MRSA and similar superbugs led to a massive crackdown on NHS trusts across the country with alcohol gels and additional ward separations being made available. The infection will remain around though, if only because environmental micro-organisms are impossible to eradicate, especially when you have drug resistant ones. What this woman had, however, is somewhat rare and definitely an ugly and unique incident.

As for C-sections, a friend of my parents has recently had a baby who was delivered by C-section I believe after being induced for a time. I don't know the specifics, but I imagine if it had been a personal choice rather than a necessity, my mum would have mentioned given as an RGN, she is wholly against stupid surgical procedures too. In this day and age of MRSA and similar pathogens lurking in the wards, despite increases in hygiene control, you can't be too careful. And that's even if the surgery goes smoothly, which is not assured (though I blame mainly the ever increasing trend in cosmetic surgery that seems to have somehow given the public the false impression that we're advanced enough now to rearrange your face via scalpel without any complications).

[Darth Wong]

I haven't seen any studies on this, but I wonder if induced labours have a sharply increased incidence of C-sections. Every single woman in the pre-natal class Rebecca and I attended who had an induced labour ended up being forced to get a C-section; the drugs cause so much pain and muscle cramping/exhaustion that the woman simply couldn't deliver naturally, and they ended up having to go for a C-section.

[Aaron]

I haven't seen any studies on this, but I wonder if induced labours have a sharply increased incidence of C-sections. Every single woman in the pre-natal class Rebecca and I attended who had an induced labour ended up being forced to get a C-section; the drugs cause so much pain and muscle cramping/exhaustion that the woman simply couldn't deliver naturally, and they ended up having to go for a C-section.

Mrs Kendall was induced for our second child and she had a natural birth. But her water had broken and the birth wasn't progressing fast enough. Not sure if this counts. She had an epidural and couldn't feel anything, but she was still able to push her out.

[Mrs Kendall]

Well I wouldn't say I didn't feel anything actually, I did feel a lot of pain while we were waiting for the anesthesiologist (is that how you spell it ) I also felt the pain when they didn't give me enough epidural, and then all of the sudden I had progressed majorly and was ready to push like probably a half hour after they gave me more epidural meds. I'm undecided as to whether I would have preffered feeling her come out or not but it's too late to worry about that now since she's 3 years old.
The point being that not all women who are induced have c-sections, it all depends on how wide their hips are and how much room there is for the baby to squeeze through. Maybe it was all just a co-in-ki-dink, Mike.

As for the story, this is insane. I still feel bad for this lady who cannot even hold her baby. That makes me incredibly sad to hear cause I know how precious those times holding the baby are. Hospital mistake or not it's still a sad story. And not only did she lose her limbs she also lost the ability to have more kids. That just makes the story all the more tragic. At least there were no deaths though.

[The Spartan]

I've had 2 friends deliver babies where I am aware of the specifics. The second, had planned an induction but ultimately didn't need one and delivered naturally, on the day it was scheduled.

The first however, was induced twice. And still couldn't deliver, which lead to a C-section.

Fortunately, both mothers and babies are fine but that coupled with what Mike just said makes me wonder. It's by no means definitive of course but it does peak my interest.

[Shadowhawk]

I haven't seen any studies on this, but I wonder if induced labours have a sharply increased incidence of C-sections. Every single woman in the pre-natal class Rebecca and I attended who had an induced labour ended up being forced to get a C-section; the drugs cause so much pain and muscle cramping/exhaustion that the woman simply couldn't deliver naturally, and they ended up having to go for a C-section.

My sister was induced about 2 weeks early. She has a pretty slight build, and they thought the baby would be too large to come naturally on the due date.
Her labor was somewhere around 6 hours, IIRC, and she tore (or was cut) and bled more than the doctor liked, but she didn't have to have a C-section. I seem to remember her also being exhausted, but, slight build and first birth...

[Broomstick]

I seem to remember her also being exhausted, but, slight build and first birth...

I'm not sure what your thought is here.... of course she's exhausted, she just gave birth. It wouldn't matter if she was an Olympic athlete with the physique of an amazon, she'd still be exhausted. I mean, there's a reason they call it "labor"...

[PainRack]

to, she had a normal birth, although they also performed a hysterectomy after her condition turned critical. The first signs of the infection seemed to have occurred shortly after giving birth.

An epistomony?

[mr friendly guy]

to, she had a normal birth, although they also performed a hysterectomy after her condition turned critical. The first signs of the infection seemed to have occurred shortly after giving birth.

An epistomony?

Nope. The article says hysterectomy.

Two days later, though, her condition turned critical. She was moved to intensive care. Soon after, doctors performed a hysterectomy.

They of course then went on to amputate the limbs.