Dr. Quinones saved my life twice

[zmdh39]

This story doesn't have much to do with my weight loss journey, per-say, but it is one that I felt was still worth sharing, for many reasons. It is still painful when I think about it, and something I am not sure I will ever get over, but I am healing and will continue to do so in my own way.

I wanted to share it because the experience of having gone through it really hit home for me, and gave me a renewed sense of gratitude for the people who helped me to change my life 3 years ago, the first time being with my weight loss surgery. I believe that their efforts and kindness should be something that is shared and acknowledged, because they didn't have to help, but they did.

In late October of this year, while I was at home alone with my son, I started having sharp pains that felt like they were coming from my ovaries. At first, I assumed that they were just regular cramps, and thought nothing of it. Then, by chance I happened to look at a calendar and realize that it was way too soon for me to be starting my period...that is when it hit me. My fiance and I had been trying to get pregnant for a few months with no success. After looking at the calendar, I knew something was wrong, so I calmly called my fiance and asked him to get home, and bring me a pregnancy test, as I thought I might be having a miscarriage.

He came home, I took the test and sure enough it came back positive. We both immediately started crying, we knew the baby was lost and there was nothing we could do. I had never had a miscarriage before, so I just assumed that my body would go through the process and nature would take it's course and that would be the end of it. It wasn't, a few hours later the pain continued to intensify, I could feel in my gut that this just wasn't a miscarriage, so we loaded up and went to a local hospital. Bare in mind that this all happened while we were spending time at our home in Mexico.

I saw a doctor at the local ER, we took a friend that spoke Spanish with us so that he could help us translate. The doctor examined me and sent me home with some medications to help with the pain and antibiotics to prevent infection. He also scheduled me for an ultrasound the following morning, just to check things out. That night, even with the pain meds the pain was unbearable. I didn't know what a miscarriage was supposed to feel like so I assumed that it was just normal and tried to get through the night. The pain was bad, but what I awoke to the next morning terrified me. Overnight my abdomen had swelled up, it looked as if I was 7 months pregnant...at this point, I knew this was not normal and that something was very very wrong. We went to my ultrasound appointment, the technician spoke English, but I could help but feel he wasn't completely understanding everything that I was saying to him. He informed me that I had fluid build up around my left ovary, which was why my abdomen was so swollen. I explained to him that I had taken a positive pregnancy test, and asked if their was any signs of a baby in there, he said there wasn't. He said I would need to follow up with a doctor, but was very vague on any real details, which naturally put me into a panic.

I am not going to lie, me feeling like the ultrasound tech wasn't completely understanding everything I was telling him, really concerned me, and I no longer felt comfortable leaving this situation to people that I felt may not be understanding my concerns, even with my friend translating for me.

I was terrified, and in a great deal of pain, and I needed the reassurance that the doctor who was dealing with this situation fully understood and could convey to me what was going on. So rather than following up with the doctor I had saw initially I decided to reach out to Dr. Quinones to see if he could refer me to an English speaking specialist.

When I contacted Dr. Q, he did refer me to someone that he knew, a guy named Dr. Herrera, but Dr. Quinones also asked if I would forward him the ultrasound and the report so that he would take a look at them himself. After viewing the ultrasound and report, Dr. Quinones called me back and said that I should go see Dr. Herrera immediately. Dr. Q is a very calm and collective guy, he handled that call with me really well, but I knew that he had seen something in that ultrasound that didn't look good. So I called Dr. Herrera's office and they told me they had spoken with Dr. Q, and for me to come straight down.

I got to Dr. Herrera's office, he spoke perfect English, which was a huge relief to me. He asked me what had been going on, I explained the situation and then gave him my ultrasound and reports. Again, I could tell from the reaction that something was amiss. He calmly said that he could see fluid buildup, but wanted to do a vaginal ultrasound to get a better look at what was going on. He perform this ultrasound, and explained to me that I had suffered an eptopic pregnancy, and that fluid was collecting in my abdomen. This fluid could be blood or infection, in either case this was not good for me. He asked me when the last time I ate was. I told him I had had breakfast and he said to not eat or drink anything else, this was an emergency situation and I need surgery immediately. I was speechless.

Dr. Herrera then explained to me that when he spoke with Dr. Quinones both of them were pretty sure that I would need to have surgery, so arrangements had already been made for me to be admitted to Dr. Quinones' surgical facility, and I was to head straight there. So still in tears and scared out of my mind I headed straight there and began the preparations for surgery. Dr. Quinones met me there, and explained that he had volunteered to perform the procedure with the assistance of Dr. Herrera, he spoke to me very kindly, and explained the procedure. He said that an eptopic pregnancy ruptures the Fallopian tube, and that they were going to go in and fix it. I expressed my concerns and asked him if the tube could be saved after a rupture like that, he said that he would try to fix it, but it may have to be removed.

The next thing I knew I was in the OR, in front of the people that I had first met 3 years prior, they all were very kind and reassured me that they were going to take care of me.

The next thing I knew I was back in my room recovering from the anesthesia. Once I was fully awake Dr. Quinones came in to talk to me about the surgery. He said that everything had gone well, the fluid in my abdomen had been blood, and not infection and that they had stopped it, but they did end up having to remove my Fallopian tube as it was not able to be repaired. I was heart broken. Next, Dr. Herrera came into to see me and explain how this would effect me getting pregnant in the future. I spent the next few days recovering in the hospital. The staff was amazing, so caring.

I am fully recovered from my surgery now, but naturally I am still dealing with some of the aftermath of the loss of my child. It has not been an easy road to say the least but I am taking it one day at a time, because what else can I do? This experience was not one I had ever imagined would happen to me, but it did and as horrible as it was I know that I should be grateful that people where there to help, and that things didn't go as bad as it could have.

Back when I was deciding to have my bariartic surgery with Dr. Quinones, I chose him because I liked that he had had 4 years training as a trauma surgeon, among many other qualifications...luckily, my bariatric surgery went well. I had no idea how important his trauma training would be to me one day, but as I stand here today I am thankful for it. I can't help but think that God was definitely watching my back on this one.

I wanted to share this story, even though it has nothing to do with my bariatric surgery, because before this experience, I knew that Dr. Q was a great surgeon when he performed my weight loss surgery, but my latest experience with him and his team has shown me that they aren't just a great surgeon, nurses or supporting staff, they are miraculous human beings as well. None of them had to lift a finger to help me during some of the most painful days of my life, but all of them chose to do so. They could have simply referred me out to someone else and that would have been the end of it for them, but instead they stepped up to the plate and took an active role in healing me as well. They CHOSE to save my life twice now and to me that is worth sharing...

[Ann2]

Melanie, what an adventure, and what a happy ending!

[thesinger]

I'm so glad they were able to help you out. That reassures me as my surgery is next Monday in Mexico with Dr Almanza.

[carla3]

Oh my what a story, I am so glad you are ok. God is good and He sure puts the people in our lives at the time we need them to be there!
Thank God you survived all of that, I hope you continue to heal emotionally as well.

[zmdh39]

Oh my what a story, I am so glad you are ok. God is good and He sure puts the people in our lives at the time we need them to be there!
Thank God you survived all of that, I hope you continue to heal emotionally as well.

Thank you Carla, I believe God puts people in our lives for a reason as well. I know that it will get better, but after surgery I was told I would have to wait a year before trying again. That was hard to hear from Dr. Herrera, as my 5 year old son continually asks us for a baby sister. I know that it will happen eventually, I guess I will just have to leave that issue in God's hands.

[zmdh39]

Melanie, what an adventure, and what a happy ending!

It was something to say the least, but I think the happy ending is yet to come. I am just glad that I can still have children, so I remain hopeful that my happy ending will get here eventually. Maybe just not on my time. Thanks for your optimistic posting, its always refreshing to interact with people who see the positive things in life and don't just focus on the negative. I hope you are doing well!

[cathbas]

Wonderful story about your doctor..just keep trying...maybe that baby sister is right around the corner

[zmdh39]

Wonderful story about your doctor..just keep trying...maybe that baby sister is right around the corner

Thank you Cathi, I am sure it will happen in its own time, I was just really hoping to provide my son with a sibling that wasn't so far apart in age. He will be turning 6 before Dr. Herrera and Dr. Quinones have cleared me to try again medically, which means he will be nearly 7 before have the chance to have a little brother or sister. To me that is a big age difference, and I just want my kids to have that bonding experience as they grow up. My brother and I are 5 years apart, we are really close now, but growing up that 5 year difference made a big difference in how we interacted with one another. In any case it is what is it is, but as a mom I worry about things like that. I guess all parents do in one way or another.