Another Chance (Part two)
In the last issue, we met Joseline, a young mother who was going through a harrowing delivery and post-delivery experience. Just when she was settling into the ward after her not-so-easy C-section, a nurse noticed that she was losing too much blood, and called for a doctor to attend to her). Here is what followed.
Joseline was rushed back to theatre. After which Robert, her husband, made his way to the nursery to check on the baby. He grew more restless when a one and a half hour’s operation turned to five hours! His efforts to inquire about her met deaf ears, and a nurse who frequently propelled him back to the nursery to bond with the baby, amid lots of encouragement about Joseline’s status.
When he could not bear it any more, he summoned a female doctor who admitted that there was an anomaly-his wife had developed Postpartum Haemorrhage (PPH), that is, excessive bleeding after the birth which they had been trying to control. He was asked to buy some medicine that would assist in contracting her uterus so that the bleeding could subside.
Back in the theatre, Joseline’s tears had continued flowing as the doctor got rid of more blood clots. Worse, the pain from her fresh wound was excruciating. The process continued for an hour until the drugs were administered and the bleeding finally subsided. Joseline was wheeled back to her room at 3pm, pale and weak- wanting to see her child, whose sex the nurses had not revealed to her yet. Robert was waiting for her in the room. Joseline, remembers him blinking off some tears when their eyes first met. ‘Is it a baby boy or girl?’ she finally managed to ask. ‘It’s a girl. You will see her. For now, just rest: Robert soothed.
But no sooner had Joseline, settled in her bed than she started gasping for oxygen. Robert banged the bell-button. A nurse rushed in and, according to Joseline,, dashed out wailing, ‘Doctor, doctor! Please come, we are losing a patient!’ All the while, Joseline frantically continued groping for elusive oxygen. She prayed, ‘God I’m not dying, not now. What will happen to Donel?’ She made a plea for another chance to take care of her babies.
In a flash, the doctor came and placed an oxygen mask on her. They made her lie on her side.,.-apparently for easier blood circulation and for to get as much oxygen as possible into her system. Meanwhile, another doctor realized that she had started bleeding again, and what’s more, her bladder was full. They quickly ordered for another catheter and inserted while the lady doctor went about removing the clots. ‘I was still screaming from pain: she notes. She could hear the doctors ordering for a four-pint blood transfusion.
Joseline recalls this as one of her most uncomfortable moments in life. She had a catheter on for days and her friends and family were barred from seeing her because she was weak and swollen allover from the blood transfusion.
Joseline finally saw her baby two days later. ‘It was a long wait: she says smiling, ‘I was very happy that God had answered my prayer-a baby girl!’ Her family and friends were allowed to see her then as well. After six days, she was finally given the green light to go home.
At home, dividing her attention between her two babies was a challenge. Donel made it evident that his mother was not giving him the time he was used to.
Now, happily attending to her dear ones every so often as we converse, Joseline says she cannot understand how her fibroids (which caused the PPH) were not detected in her scans; yet the doctors described them as massive.
END: BL 33 / 22