The Hospital Left Me To Die...

in #story6 years ago (edited)

If I had died on June 17, I would have left behind my 5 day old newborn baby.

In 2014, two different hospitals dismissed a life threatening infection, one of which is known as one of the best hospitals in my state.

I almost died...

Let me tell you why.

It all started in October of 2013, we found out some exciting news! We were going to be first time parents. As most expecting parents, both of us were beyond eager to hold our beautiful baby for the very first time. I did everything I could during the pregnancy to ensure that the baby would be as healthy as possible. On June 12th of 2014, the day had finally come. I arrived at the hospital around 1 in the afternoon. Before we all knew it, it was time to push!

During the delivery, I remember telling the nurse that something was wrong. The most excruciating pain suddenly started happening in my side. "Oh the baby is just turned a little, that is why you feel the pain", she said. Okay, you are the professional so let me just get back to my job of pushing out this baby. A few hours pass and I delivered a healthy beautiful baby girl! Shortly after the delivery my stomach was hurting immensely, I tried to move around in the bed to get a bit more comfortable but I couldn't move. My legs would barely work. I had to have my family pull me up in the bed. At this point we know that obviously something is severely wrong.

My family spoke to the nurse at least 10 times. Each time the nurse would say, "She just had a baby, of course she will feel pain." Are you kidding me? I just delivered a baby natural with zero medication, yes I know what the hell pain is. This, this was different. With absolutely zero help from the staff in the hospital, I assumed it was normal just as they had said. Around 2am, my husband was sleeping and I didn't want to bother the awesome nurses so I somehow managed to make it to the bathroom on my own. Bad Idea! I passed out in the bathroom. Do you know what I did when I woke up? I scooted my way back to my bed and climbed in.

I just had a baby. This is normal.

Repeating in my head, "I just had a baby, this is normal." I finally fell asleep. When I was woken up by the nurse, things had taken a turn for the worst. My bottom half of my body was swollen so bad and I was pale. So pale that they immediately knew something was wrong. FINALLY! They rushed the results from my blood work and sent me for a scan. A team of doctors and nurses come in to my room and say, "You are internally bleeding, we have an ambulance on the way to transfer you to Johns Hopkins. We are sorry that we did not listen to you last night." Oh, really?

This is just a nightmare. My now 1 day old baby is being released early from the hospital so that she can go home with her father. I'm a wreck. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. I just want my baby. I finally arrive to the second hospital, they tell me that I have a large hematoma. The pain that I felt during delivery was a blood vessel popping. I couldn't move my bottom half because the blood was collecting into one spot, which is why it was considered a hematoma. I was pale and I passed out because I was constantly losing blood. They immediately gave me a blood transfusion. My husband brought our baby to the hospital and stayed with her. That way I wouldn't worry as much and I could hopefully get some rest. They tell me that the hematoma should go away on its own and I just needed to be monitored for a few days. Awesome, I can do this. My baby is here and after the blood transfusion, my vitals leveled out a bit. A few days later, after denying us a second scan to check the size of this thing, they send me home.

By the time I got home, it was rather late at night. I was extremely weak but I assumed that was normal after what my body was going through. I go to sleep, wake up the next morning and my husband had already left for work. Oh, shit. It's happening again. I was so weak that I yet again could not even pick my baby up. I could barely even stand up. I called my husband and my sister hysterically crying. I was then rushed to a third hospital because there was just no way I was going back to the other two. We tell them everything that was going on and they checked my temperature. It was high! I was rushed back into a room.

This is bad, really bad.

They knew something that I didn't know, just from looking at me and knowing the history of what just happened. A nurse rushes in and immediately hooked me up to three large bags of fluid, raising the bags as high as the pole would allow them so that it would drip faster. The heart monitor that they hooked me up to is going off the wall, beeping non stop. My heart rate was so immensely high that I thought my heart was about to beat out of my chest. Two other nurses are at this point drawing several vials of blood from both arms. What is going on? Im only 22, I just had a baby. This shouldn't be happening.

She might not make it...

My husband, newborn baby, mother and sister are all waiting outside of the room. After the doctor comes in to speak to me, the nurse explains to my family what is going on. She told them, "She has sepsis which a very bad blood infection. Had she waited just one more hour to come to the ER, she wouldn't have arrived alive. You might want to prepare now because she still might not make it." Im so weak and so tired at this point, I don't shed a tear. This was a whole different level of a near death experience. My organs had started to shut down. My body was giving up. I will never be able to put into words what it feels like when your body starts to shut down, what it feels like when you're dying.

They had already given me a high dose of antibiotics, they admit me to the hospital and take me to a room. They tell me that the only thing that they can do is pump me with antibiotics. The gave antibiotics through my IV for three days, I was weak but I wasn't giving up. I was told that I couldn't leave until I was fever free for 24 hours. I'm emotionally a wreck because I was away from my newborn. I'm scared and my family is scared, I have nothing left that I can do but pray. After 5 days in this third and final hospital, my fever is gone. Still weak but I was up and walking. I eventually made it home to my husband and our baby. Still to this day I am absolutely terrified to even think about having a second child but I am forever grateful that I am still here with my family. I am still here to share my story with Steemit.


Never Give Up!

Of course, we will face difficult times in life that we cannot change. No matter how much we fight for what we want. However, we should still make that fight worth it. I never gave up the fight and my family never gave up hope. You shouldn't either.

Never, never, never give up hope.
-Winston Churchhill

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Thank you for stopping by and reading my story!

If you would like to read another personal story from me that also goes rather deep into thought, please check out When She Took Her Last Breath.

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such a moving story. Very happy it had a happy ending. Your story really put things into perspective. May you have a long and healthy life ahead of you. Thanks.

Thank you so much. It doesn't matter what our situation is, big or small, we should never lose help!

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As a mother of 2 today, I am very moved by this story. I’m glad that you and your baby are okay in the end. Takes great courage to share a story like that.
My mother almost died giving birth to me because the nurses ignored her as well. It pisses me off that some medical personnel are so careless with peoples lives and well being.
Advice my mother told me when I was pregnant: If you feel something is wrong, be persistent and forceful. It’s safer to be an annoyance than the alternative.

I wish you and your family a long and healthy life.

Thank you so much for your kind words. It really means a lot. I'm sorry to hear that your mother had a similar experience. I'm glad you both made it safe as well. They seem to think that because they have so many healthy deliveries, emergency aren't often thought of for them. It blows my mind. I hear so many stories of mothers and babies hurt by neglect in some way.

I'm so grateful we made it safe because unfortunately some mothers and babies dont. I really hope it was a lesson learned for all of the hospitals involved. I never want someone to go through what I did. Your mother gave you great advice. That is what I do with my daughter now, if something is wrong and I know its not something small, she gets checked no matter what.

Thank you for reading my story!

@magicalmoonlight

Thank you for sharing your story. So many times medical personnel needs to listen more to their patients. They may have the schooling and training, but we have the hands on training with our own bodies. Glad that you came through this and are able to share the story here.

Thank you for stopping by and reading my story. You are very right. They should listen to their patients more. I really hope it was just a lesson learned for them so that they can save another mother from going through this.

What a terrifying story. I don't have much faith in doctors for chronic illness, but know that we need them for this sort of trauma. But when they let you down like that... So lucky there was a third hospital and that you are still with your family, and with us.

You are so right. To be let down by two hospitals was unbelievable. The second being one of the best and ironically the third hospital typically has a bad rep. I am very grateful though. Hopefully at least the first hospital learned a lesson through what happened to me. I forgot to mention that they actually called me while I was in the other hospital so that they could tell me sorry again. Thank you for stopping by and reading my story.

I'm sorry this happened to you :( No one should have to go through that. The first two hospitals sound horrible. If you ever have another baby, go to the 3rd hospital!

Thank you for reading my story! The crazy thing is that hospital one and three are typically pretty bad but one used to be good for delivery. The second one is over an hour away and its known as one of the best hospitals around my area. I know they make mistakes sometimes, I just hope the other two learned a lesson so that it doesn't happen to another mom.

Wow! What an extremely scary experience!! I can understand being fearful of trying to have another child! And the fact it took 3 different hospitals for you to go through! Wow!!

I am so terrified to have another baby. At least we would know what to look out for this time but that doesn't change my fear! The second hospital had students helping at the time and although they sent me home with a blood infection, I hope the students were able to learn something to help save someone else. Thank you for reading my story :)

I bet you are! I chalk part of your experience up to how our society treats women. "Oh she's ignorant and just had a baby and we know better". I've run into the same and it's inferioriating! Them not listening almost got you killed!😡

That's exactly right. It is extremely frustrating. That is what they kept saying, without even looking at me. Yes, it did! Lesson learned for all of us. Next time I wont shrug it off if I know something is wrong.

Good! I am glad.

Wow! Look at that payout too! Amazing story and such well deserved attention! Way to go!

Thank you! It would have looked nothing liked that if I had tried to write this post before #dolphinschool. I still have a lot to learn here on Steemit but that course really helped me go towards the right direction.

HA! Just don't forget me when you're steemit rich and famous. Drop me a vote from time to time and keep it up!

Wow, I can’t believe they didn’t listen to you earlier! I think its amazing you are sharing this story--you’re not the first woman I’ve heard of who hasn’t received the proper care after delivery. Thank goodness your family is safe, sound, and healthy now. <3

Yes you are right. I was going to add more into that but I figured I would save that for another day. I'm sure they are fooled often which is why they do that but they should never dismiss pain from anybody even if they believe it is nothing. Thank you for the kind words.

Thank you for sharing your experience so openly. :)

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