Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My niece is 29 years old. A week before her due date with her first child, we were going to meet for lunch. She and her husband were rear ended by a young guy texting while driving. Since she was so close to her due date, they delivered the baby by c section. Baby is in perfect health and so cute. Husband got a minor back injury, being treated with therapy and medications outpatient. After baby was delivered, the doctor did not bother to examine my niece for any injuries from the accident.
My niece didnt fare as well. The morning she and baby were to be discharged, niece went into septic shock. She nearly didnt survive. She has been in ICU for 3 weeks on a ventilator. They discovered that the accident caused her bowel to perforate. So they had to do an ileostomy, where your waste goes into a bag thing. Then she was too swollen inside to close up, so basically they put some dressing with a suction thing over the hole in her abdomen from the bowel surgery, and it will over time heal from the inside out. She will have to live like this at least six months to a year to give everything time to go back to normal. Then the surgeon will evaluate whether he can put the bowel back together and remove the bag, or whether the bag will be permanent.
While in the hospital, she got pneummonia. They had to do a tracheotomy today, basically she is still on the ventilator but it is breathing thru a hole in her neck.
She has a tube down her nose that they will use to feed her, stuff that looks like Ensure in a can.
So because of a very stupid driver, instead of being home being a new mom, she is bed ridden in a hospital, her abdomen sliced in half covered only with a sponge thing and suction, breathing out of a hole in her neck, eating thru a tube in her nose, and eliminating waste into a bag outside her body.
What quality of life can she expect? Any one of these I can imagine would be difficult. Has anyone here had any of these procedures or know anyone who has?
Many people survive whatever wound they have to use a wound vac on. I used to work in a hospital and it was not uncommon. People also survive ileostomies. Her issue is that she has a lot of major stuff going on. Hope she recovers fully!
I was an ICU nurse for many years and had patients with these issues. All have a possibility of full recovery.
That she has multiple issues at the same time is a bit worrisome. The trach is common with mod-severe lung issues, as long as she recovers from pneumonia, they will remove it in the future. The feeding tube is due to trach placement and will be discontined later. It most likely is Ensure.
Only time will tell about the ileostomy. People can and do live with one permanently with little to no problematic issues.
I do hope for the best so this young mom can get back home with her family and new baby. Best wishes~
Quote:
Originally Posted by ivanabacowboy
My niece is 29 years old. A week before her due date with her first child, we were going to meet for lunch. She and her husband were rear ended by a young guy texting while driving. Since she was so close to her due date, they delivered the baby by c section. Baby is in perfect health and so cute. Husband got a minor back injury, being treated with therapy and medications outpatient. After baby was delivered, the doctor did not bother to examine my niece for any injuries from the accident.
My niece didnt fare as well. The morning she and baby were to be discharged, niece went into septic shock. She nearly didnt survive. She has been in ICU for 3 weeks on a ventilator. They discovered that the accident caused her bowel to perforate. So they had to do an ileostomy, where your waste goes into a bag thing. Then she was too swollen inside to close up, so basically they put some dressing with a suction thing over the hole in her abdomen from the bowel surgery, and it will over time heal from the inside out. She will have to live like this at least six months to a year to give everything time to go back to normal. Then the surgeon will evaluate whether he can put the bowel back together and remove the bag, or whether the bag will be permanent.
While in the hospital, she got pneummonia. They had to do a tracheotomy today, basically she is still on the ventilator but it is breathing thru a hole in her neck.
She has a tube down her nose that they will use to feed her, stuff that looks like Ensure in a can.
So because of a very stupid driver, instead of being home being a new mom, she is bed ridden in a hospital, her abdomen sliced in half covered only with a sponge thing and suction, breathing out of a hole in her neck, eating thru a tube in her nose, and eliminating waste into a bag outside her body.
What quality of life can she expect? Any one of these I can imagine would be difficult. Has anyone here had any of these procedures or know anyone who has?
My niece is 29 years old. A week before her due date with her first child, we were going to meet for lunch. She and her husband were rear ended by a young guy texting while driving. Since she was so close to her due date, they delivered the baby by c section. Baby is in perfect health and so cute. Husband got a minor back injury, being treated with therapy and medications outpatient. After baby was delivered, the doctor did not bother to examine my niece for any injuries from the accident.
My niece didnt fare as well. The morning she and baby were to be discharged, niece went into septic shock. She nearly didnt survive. She has been in ICU for 3 weeks on a ventilator. They discovered that the accident caused her bowel to perforate. So they had to do an ileostomy, where your waste goes into a bag thing. Then she was too swollen inside to close up, so basically they put some dressing with a suction thing over the hole in her abdomen from the bowel surgery, and it will over time heal from the inside out. She will have to live like this at least six months to a year to give everything time to go back to normal. Then the surgeon will evaluate whether he can put the bowel back together and remove the bag, or whether the bag will be permanent.
While in the hospital, she got pneummonia. They had to do a tracheotomy today, basically she is still on the ventilator but it is breathing thru a hole in her neck.
She has a tube down her nose that they will use to feed her, stuff that looks like Ensure in a can.
So because of a very stupid driver, instead of being home being a new mom, she is bed ridden in a hospital, her abdomen sliced in half covered only with a sponge thing and suction, breathing out of a hole in her neck, eating thru a tube in her nose, and eliminating waste into a bag outside her body.
What quality of life can she expect? Any one of these I can imagine would be difficult. Has anyone here had any of these procedures or know anyone who has?
It is possible that the hole in the bowel had nothing to do with the accident. It may have been an extremely rare complication of the Cesarean itself:
So sorry to hear about your niece and can understand your frustration. Yes, her life will be extremely challenging for atleast the first year. Any new mom has enough to deal with already but your niece - she will need most of all a LOT of support and encouragement from those close to her. These things can be overcome. It is scary to see the contraptions in the ICU and see the ileostomy and tracheotomy - but, these are her temporary aids, learnt and used properly they will let her come home soon and continue life while her body heals; rather than wait in a hospital. I don't know the exact situation but I speak from experience here. My father had both of these after a surgery complication. He was much older but both were temporarily needed only. Our family dropped everything to be at his side. Positive attitude can work wonders. It is very difficult to stay positive in adversity but it is worth the try.
If the accident had caused the bowl to perforate she would have shortly gone into pain and the shock pretty quickly. A large per centage can have it reconnected and I have a friend who just had her's reconnected and doing fine.She too almost died as it acts very quickly.
I'm so sorry that someone stupid caused this. I agree that it sounds like the hospital had something to do with the bowel because you'd think she would have had symptoms faster.
She has age on her side; hopefully she will recover from all of it.
I have a link for a really good message board for tube feeding if it gets that far.
I'm not sure if they are giving her "ensure" usually it's a Nestle product that does not have as much sugar as ensure. There are many different formulas; someone should ask.
Thanks. Her mom (my older sister) is an ICU nurse, now a CNO. They believe the perforation was from the shoulder seatbelt in the accident based on where it is vs where they would be in a c section. She did have discomfort and swelling and was not able to pass gas or have a bm. They attributed this to the c section. Then she started getting loopy and blood pressure dropped. They gave her a ton of stool softeners, laxatives and anxiety meds. Her mom caught a glimpse of the charts the day after they delivered and told the dr she suspected a perforation and that she was going septic. The dr basically told her she was an overprotective mom with a lot of medical knowledge. She was right tho.
The bug that came back in her cultures from the pneummonia sent my sister ballistic. She said it comes from DIRT and is very hard to get rid of, that someone didnt wash their hands or clean properly. That healthy people dont get sick from it but it can be very bad in someone who is already compromised.
Appreciate the prayers and wishes, and hearing that she can eventually do ok.
My husband had a ileostomy reversal surgery 9 weeks after having his colon removed and some re-sectioning of the small intestine. He wasn't septic, so he may have been able to have the reversal sooner. His surgeon believed in getting the reversal sooner than later because of the muscle memory in the bowels to re-start sooner and because having a bag is a livable option but not an easy one.
I hope she recovers quickly and is able to enjoy her new baby and her wonderful family.
Have had an illeostomy for 23 years - due to severe Chron's disease. Am not quite 40 yet. For the most part (for me) - its no big deal and I *almost* forget it even exists.
An illeostomy is not the biggest worry she faces - getting healthy again is. If she has to have the illeostomy for a short period of time (or even a long period of time) - it should be no barrier to living a "normal" life.
Best wishes to your niece in her recovery
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
