A 20-year-old mother of one is currently recuperating in the Intensive Care Unit of the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), after what her relatives believe was a botched caesarean section.
Denika Henandez was operated on shortly after the C-section for what the doctors claimed was a pelvic abscess and then again five days later for perforated intestines. Even though she is still recovering from the three surgeries, she will have to undergo yet another when she is well enough.
In a statement, the GPHC had said that the patient was referred to it by a hinterland hospital because of complications during pregnancy.
“On arrival she was found to be very anaemic and was rushed for surgical emergency when it became evident that the unborn baby was experiencing difficulties”. The hospital added that the patient was discharged nine days later and went home. It said that she was readmitted a week later and her condition was being closely monitored.
Denika’s mother, Simone related that when she visited her daughter on Thursday, she was feeling slightly better and was finally able to speak. She said the hospital is still tightlipped about the exact nature of her daughter’s problem and what caused it. She lamented: “They mess up the surgery the first time and they don’t want to say nothing. They always saying we don’t know what cause it, they know what they did.” She said that everyone makes mistakes and the hospital should admit to it.
Denika was transferred to the GPH from the Mabaruma hospital when she first started experiencing pain on May 22 and delivered her baby by C-section on the May 23. Simone explained that there were no apparent problems during the delivery, but rather her daughter’s misery began afterward.
She said her daughter “keep getting fever and vomiting”. However, nine days later, she was discharged from the hospital so they booked a flight and returned home with Denika’s baby boy.
The symptoms Denika was experiencing did not, however, subside; instead, they worsened and her stomach began to bloat. Simone said when she took her daughter to the Mabaruma Hospital, they told her the symptoms were normal for someone who just had a C-section. They were forced to visit the hospital again as Denika’s condition became worse. They were then told that the young mother just needed blood.
Simone said “we pray and ask God to send her a good doctor.” This doctor according to her was Dr Longhorn who had Denika flown to GPH after he examined her.
However, she explained, this time, when they went to the hospital, it took a longer time, because she was placed in Ward E. “Her belly get hard, it was like she was pregnant,” Simone declared. She said she was told that Denika needed to do a CT scan and that she had to pay half the money, which was $36,000. After the scan, she was informed that there was a pelvic abscess, which needed to be drained. That was done on Tuesday, according to Simone, who added that the hospital called and said Denika was in a critical state, adding that her intestines “bore up”. Simone said she asked if her daughter needed surgery again and they said yes. “I didn’t see her until Monday morning,” the distraught mother exclaimed. She continued, “Them people know what they do man, but they nah want say nothing. “Just speak the truth, everybody makes mistakes, but we have to live with love and speak the truth.”
