OF BLOOD........loads of it!

So did I say I was doing what I do best and with a smile....? It ended on a very low note.... So this patient comes in, a referral from one of the sub district hospitals around which I personally think should be shut down and the keys thrown in the ocean. Woman had delivered well, to a bouncing baby boy then she developed severe post partum hemorrhage...(bleeding following delivery). We received her in labour ward and for like two hours she had a bevy of doctors doing this and that for her....fixing IV lines, drawing blood, examining her, writing notes you name it! Despite all our efforts, the bleeding persisted And we rushed her to theatre to remove her uterus, that really is the last resort in such situations. We talked to her husband, explained the whole situation to him and told him that we needed to do that operation and since she was not coherent enough, he had to give us the consent. Poor dude was so lost and confused in that moment he consulted the patients sister, I guess just for reassurance. He eventually signed the consent.


I got to scrub in with one of the greatest OBGYN consultants in this part of the world, and oh my, does he have a wealth of knowledge and he is so humble, down to earth and also quite humorous. His dexterity is also unmatched. So we do a sub total hysterectomy in like thirty minutes and we close the patient. When I was closing the skin blood was now bright red and we were all quite pleased.

One hour later, all hell decides to break loose. Our patient goes into shock all over again, on further examination, she was very pale. Conclusion, our patient had initially lost so much blood that all the factors that assist in clotting had disappeared. Se was in a state called DIC(most docs call this, Death Is Coming but medically speaking it stands for disseminated intravascular coagulopathy). My consultant is called back, patient is rushed back to theatre a second time, but she codes on the table.

My patient, at some point before we operated on her, she talked to her sister, she even talked to the anaesthetist and she was actually telling him to take heart, God is in control. I can't even begin to imagine how we break the news to her husband, to her sister, to the son she will never get to know....... <SIGH>