Feb 4, 2009 11:10 am US/Central
Patient: Surgery Left Infections, Holes In Body
MINNEAPOLIS (CBS) ―
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Rebecca Eckes has had to undergo multiple surgeries after a standard procedure resulted in infections.
CBS
Rebecca Eckes first went to Woodwinds Hospital to have a hysterectomy to take care of sharp pains in her stomach. She hoped she get home just a few days after surgery, to see her husband and five children, but that surgery didn't go as planned.
In fact, she says the surgery at Woodwinds in Woodbury nearly killed her, reports CBS station WCCO-TV.
"I came real close to the kids not having a mom," said Rebecca Eckes. "This is hard to explain to them, especially when my 8-year-old keeps asking me when I'm coming home."
Eckes' first surgery was just last month. Because of the extreme complications, she's expected to undergo her 13th surgery on Wednesday. Eckes has holes throughout her body, and 80 percent of her stomach is gone.
After Eckes gained weight, got a rash, and her kidneys stopped working, she moved to the University of Minnesota Medical Center. Doctors there told her she had contracted a rare, flesh-eating disease at Woodwinds.
"They opened me up. Something got in there, and it made me sick," she remarked from her hospital bed. "They had to go in. They had to cut out all the infection because it was spreading all over, and if it would have kept going, I wouldn't be here."
She and her family mostly blame the doctor who did that original surgery, saying he was negligent, but they also blame management at Woodwinds Hospital, saying it should have taken better care of its patient.
Cindy Bultena, the manager in charge of patient care at Woodwinds, is now trying to figure out if the doctor messed up or if the hospital did. The doctor just does surgeries there; he's not an employee.
"Whenever something doesn't work right with a patient, we take responsibility to look at why not," Bultena said. "That case will be reviewed by colleagues of the physician caring for the patient."
The doctor who did that surgery at Woodwinds said there is always a risk that someone will get an infection during surgery.
In the meantime, Rebecca will stay at U Medical Center. More surgeries are planned.
And even though she has lost her job in the interim, she still retains her will to live.
"I absolutely want to get better," she remarked.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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