URGENT--Malpractive victim takes a turn for the worse

 NEW UPDATE 11/10  
Elyda, the 30yr old mother who suffered terrible problems after a botched surgery and was in a critical condition, last night had a four hour operation.
It was unsure whether she would survive the surgery but she did.  The medical team have been providing her with wonderful care. They are disgusted with the original medical treatment she received which has left her in this state.

Elyda is still not out of the woods, she is in a critical conditon.  But the amazing thing is that she is still alive and her kidneys are working. She has been urinating and she is conscious.  Her husband and sister have been by her side day and night.

 

We are told now that her most serious threat will be respiratory problems.  Please keep Elyda in your thoughts and prayers.....she has suffered so much....and none of it was necessary. 

I want to thank the wonderful team of volunteers we have here, Jessica and Stephanie who have been helping Elyda and her family.  

**NEW UPDATE...11/9 .....Elida has been taken to a private clinic in Panajachel
yesterday and is in critical condition.  The doctor wanted to send her to Intensive care in a hospital in the city but the traveling conditions were so rough that it was feared she would not survive the trip.  This afternoon her situation worsened and she had fecal matter coming out of her wound.  The doctor felt that she would die and that there would be a very slim chance for her if he operated and tried to close up the wounds in her intestine and clean out the infection.   Elida's husband, who has been by her bedside constantly, agreed that he would like his wife to have this chance.  Stephanie and Jessica organized blood donors this evening and Elida is being operated on tonight.   Please keep Elida in your thoughts and prayers. We are hoping for a miracle for Elida.

UPDATE** Elida (read original post below) was sent home from the hospital last week because she could no longer pay to stay.  She has been at home in bed, with three tubes draining wastes out of her abdomen, trying to recover from the botched surgery that took the life of her unborn child and left her organs leaking bile.  Even after one surgery to try to repair the damage, she will need at least one more operation, as well as follow up care.  Her husband, Marco, has been by her side the whole time, but this morning he came to Mayan Families with some bad news: Elida has taken a turn for the worse--she has a severe infection that has most likely spread to her intestines, and she needs to get to a doctor right away.  Unfortunately, the last several weeks have completely wiped out Marco's savings (and more--he has taken on nearly Q40,000 in debt to pay for her care), and he can't afford to get her back to the hospital.

Elida and her family have already lost too much because of someone else's mistake.  Please help them put this nightmare behind them.  ANY donation would help us get this young wife and mother the care that she desperately needs.  To donate, click here. Scroll down to the box that says “Family Aid,” enter in the amount, and write “FA 45" in the Family Name box.  Thank you!

**Original Post**

Elida Esther Lopez Mendez, age 30, lives in Panajachel with her husband, Marco (age 34) and one son, Josias, age 7. She and her husband both had steady work, he as a painter and she as a housecleaner and domestic assistant. Between then they earned Q450 a week, enough to support Josias in school and live comfortably. The family decided to have another child.

Elida is confined to her bed as she tries to recover from
the effects of doctor negligence.

But when Elida was 18 weeks pregnant, doctors made a few shocking discoveries: She had anemia, Hepatitis, and a stone in her pancreas. The doctor provided them with treatment to handle the first two, and scheduled a surgery at a local hospital to remove the stone. But during the operation the surgeon was negligent, and instead of making one cut to remove the stone, ended up making three, one of which went so deep that bile began spilling out. After the botched surgery, Elida feared for the life of her unborn child, and she asked the doctor if the child had been hurt. The doctor assured her the baby was fine, and sent her home.

But instead of improving, her condition worsened. She traveled to Sololá to visit the hospital, but was told they couldn’t help her. That hospital sent her to doctors in Guatemala City, who also told her that they could not help her, but sent her to a third hospital in Chimaltenango. There she finally began to receive treatment, but she also received devastating news: the baby had in fact not survived the first operation, and had been dead within Elida for days. The negligence on the part of the doctor in making two unnecessary and deep cuts resulted in the baby’s death.

Elida has been in the hospital since October 24^th, but is in serious condition. She has accrued large debts to pay for her medical care, and neither she nor her husband have been able to work during this time. While there is no way for Elida to return to work right now, her husband has been told that if he is not back to work within the week, he will be fired. Though he wants to stay by his wife’s side, he will need to return to work soon, especially given their new debts. Between the initial surgery that caused the damage and the follow-up treatment that she is still receiving to repair it, Elida and her family owe medical bills of Q37,120, or about $4,640.  

The original hospital refuses to take responsibility for any wrongdoing, and the Aju-Lopez family has no way to cover the costs accrued by the doctor’s negligence. Any contribution to help pay these medical bills would go a long way in helping Elida and her family return their lives to normalcy. To donate to this family, click here. Scroll down to the box that says “Family Aid,” enter in the amount you wish to donate, and write “FA 45" in the Family Name box.