Hi,
I believe I have a Medical Malpractice case. It all started this past summer when I was told that I had a prolapsed uterus and needed a hysterectomy. I was told that it was a very simple surgery and I should have no complications or scars. They were going to do the procedure vaginally so I would have minimal pain and healing time.
Well, I went in the hospital and had the surgery on June 24th, 2005. I came out of surgery fine and went home 2 days later. soon after I started to feel really ill, had a very high fever (103.4 or higher) and couldn't get out of bed or eat. I then went back to see my doctor and she ordered a C-Scan. They found a pelvis abscess, which ended up being a Staph Infection from when they did my hysterectomy. So, I was once again admitted to the hospital (oh yeah, I went to St. Mary's Hospital In Madison) (I only went to St. Mary's because our Dean Care insurance was supposed to pick up the bill 100). Anyway, I was put back in the hospital, and hooked up to IV antibiotics (2 of them) to treat the bad infection. I ended up having a horrible reaction to one of the antibiotics and broke out in hives all over my body! Unfortunately, it didn't work so they again, I had another C-Scan and they had to do surgery to open up my vaginal cuff to remove and drain the abscess. I went home with 2 different oral antibiotics. 3-4 days later I went home again. My abdomen felt really soar and I felt ill still. I didn't eat and I just wanted to sleep. The fever showed to be a problem and again climbed to over 103. I once again had to call my doctor and have her fit me into her schedule to see me. I didn't want to go anywhere or even open my eyes, let alone go out in public looking that bad. I saw her and as usual, she ran blood work, urinalysis and anything else they thought of. My white blood count was very high, my hemoglobin levels were very low and I was highly anemic at this point. Again my doctor advised that I have yet another surgery. This time, she wanted to do it as an outpatient surgery at the Dean Outpatient Surgery Center in Janesville. This time the surgery was performed Laproscopically, so I had 3, 1' incisions in my abdominal area. I was told that when the doctor went in this time, she flushed the abscess with antibiotic solution several times and did everything possible to get rid of this horrible infection. I was again placed on 2 oral antibiotics and sent home. Again I was breaking out in hives from the antibiotics and still not healing. I did nothing but sleep, take ibuprofen and antibiotics. My fever was still at 103.4 and I was miserable. I was again loosing this battle and needed to see my doctor. She got me in to her office and they ran a sterile urine test with a catheter. It was found that I still had this infection and it was only getting worse. I was again admitted to the hospital but this time it was Mercy Hospital in Janesville. After all we had been going through, as a family, I was NOT going back up to Madison. My husband was running all over the place and from Janesville to Madison up to 3 times a day when I was in the hospital the last 2 times. We have 3 small children who didn't understand why their mommy wasn't coming home and were confused. My husband was trying to work, take care of the 3 kids and see me as much as he and they all could. With this whole thing now taking up the whole summer, he was loosing income to be there for the kids and me.
So, I went back into the hospital but here in Janesville this time. I was again hooked up to 2 IV antibiotics and they ran several tests. My hemoglobin levels were so low that I needed a blood transfusion. The white blood cell count was off the chart and I was still very anemic. They tried to give me the transfusion but I had a really strange reaction and my blood pressure was very low. They stopped the transfusion and tried it again in the morning. It seemed to work this time but I wasn't making much progress. They ordered another C-Scan and I ended up having not only 1 abscess but 2! They then did an ultrasound which was so painful that I cried during the whole thing. The technician then asked to try a pelvic ultrasound by inserting a wand into me vaginally but I couldn't tolerate it and made her stop. They found that I had the 2 abscesses and something was now covering one of my ovaries. Once my doctor reviewed all blood work, C-scan and ultrasound results, she told me that I needed yet another surgery! This time they were going to cut me wide open and have to remove and drain the abscesses. When doing this, they had to give me another blood transfusion with antibiotics. When they went in, they had to literally, scrape all my close by organs of adhesionsscar tissue which engulfed my whole pelvic cavity. They had to have another surgeon assist to help in doing this so he could set up drain tubes through the staples when they closed me up. While cleaning this mess up, they found that my ovaries were also covered in this mess, so they had to remove them as well. (The original hysterectomy was only removal of the cervix and uterus, so I would be the same but wouldn't have a monthly period.) Now, I was not only missing everything that makes me a woman, I now was thrown into Surgical Menopause at the age of 36! Menopause naturally is gradual and the side effects are bad. But when you have it happen in an instance, through surgery, the side effects of Menopause come at you 1000 times worse than they should! Also, when they doctors were scraping my organs of scar tissue, they perforated my bladder and had to call in another doctor, in order to fix that.
I was still very anemic and my fever wasn't getting any lower. Of course, now I had a whole new problem, a huge incision in my abdomen, tubes sticking out of it draining stuff and pain like I have never had before. My recovery was slow and stalled. When I was released from the hospital, I was retaining so much fluid from the Hormone Patch they put on me for the Menopause problems, that I had NO clothes that fit and I was depressed and didn't care if I was supposed to go home. I also had to go home sporting a lovely catheter to carry with me or strap onto my upper thigh. I'm sorry but I didn't feel happy to be alive at this time. I had to wear the catheter for a week before they tested me to make sure it was water tight and if they could take the catheter out. Of course the test was in the morning and I had to then wait yet another 3 hours before the doctor could fit me in to get the damn thing out of me! Yeah, nothing had gone right since this whole thing began and I was ready to just go to bed and not wake up! I ended up having a ton of pain whenever I had to go to the bathroom (urinate or defecate). This is still going on and it is 4 months after the surgery. I am also still having really bad pain in my incision area and that too isn't going away. I asked my doctor about this pain and she said, she had no idea what it could be??? She never said anything else about it or how or what I should do. I personally think she was so sick of seeing me that she just wanted it to be over so I would go away.
With all of this going on, I lost my job due to the fact that I was only allowed 3 weeks LOA and I was unable to go back to work within those dates. So, I took a 3 week UNPAID LOA which turned out to be 13 weeks. I tried to explain it and had medical records to back it up but they fired me just the same. I then had to wait to recover and get cleared from my doctor in order to apply for a new job. I missed out on 2 of my children's birthday's due to being so sick and in bed. I lost my whole summer and time with my children and husband. I am in a depressive state and cannot seem to feel any better. The Menopause symptoms alone reek havoc on my body. I have to take hormone replacement therapy everyday now and have to deal with mood changes unlike I have ever had. One minute I will be fine and happy and the next I am a bear to deal with and sometimes I don't even want to be around myself! I had lost about 35 lbs this past spring right before I had my (1st) surgery. Now, I have gained it all back plus some. I don't know if it is due to the fact that I am in Menopause, depression from the whole ordeal or what!
Anyway, I am sure I have forgotten some of the details but I have been trying to remember things. I have obtained a copy of my medical records from Mercy Hospital and the Dean Riverview Clinic. I have them from St. Mary's but they want to charge me 89 for them! I should also tell you that this includes 5 doctors, 1 clinic, 1 surgery center and the 2 hospitals. I want to sue every last one of them for as much as I can.

Since this has all happened, we have been living paycheck to paycheck and falling into a huge hole of debt. We have a judgment against us from our landlord and one of our vehicles. As of today they are working with us, but if we cannot pay what they want by the date they expect it, they will pursue the judgment and evict us or repossess the vehicle. I just got a new job and started to work. It will however, take a long time to get caught up on all of these bills and creditors we now have. PLUS, the fact that Christmas came and went with little for our 3 children due to all of this over our heads.

PLEASE tell me you can help me. I don't know what to do otherwise.

Thanks for listening,
Sarah M Hanson
806 Hawthorne Ave
Janesville, WI 53545
608-563-4511
608-359-6106 (cell)