Mom-of-seven fighting for her life from Ectopic Pregnancy

[PantheaMarlon]

An expectant mother-of-seven is fighting for her life in a coma after doctors allegedly released her from hospital telling her she was fine - but she actually had a ruptured ectopic pregnancy.

Lisa Avila, whose children are aged seven months to 18, was 12 weeks' pregnant when she awoke with 'excruciating abdominal pain' at her home in Anaheim, California, on Valentines' Day.

She was rushed to hospital, where she underwent an ultrasound, her family said. After carrying out further tests, doctors reportedly gave her a prescription for a painkiller and told her to go home.


But just minutes later, while her husband, Robert, was collecting the Percocet prescription at a nearby Walgreens drugstore, Mrs Avila apparently stopped breathing in the parking lot.

Mr Avila called 911 and paramedics arrived at the scene. They rushed Mrs Avila back to Anaheim Regional Medical Center, where they discovered she had an ectopic pregnancy that had burst.


'She had an ectopic pregnancy that burst inside of her. She needed emergency surgery to stop the bleeding,' her aunt, Jessica Jule, said. 'For three hours, we didn't know if she was dead or alive.'

Following the emergency surgery to treat the rupture - which stemmed from a complication where the embryo had implanted outside Mrs Avila's uterus - the pregnant mom apparently fell into a coma.

She remains unconscious in an intensive care unit and is unable to breathe on her own. Her family is constantly at her side, according to ABC 7. And they are demanding answers from the hospital.

'They did an ultrasound, told them the baby was fine. They said there was nothing wrong,' Ms Jule said. 'Why did they make my niece leave hospital when obviously there was something wrong?'

Anaheim Regional Medical Center has now launched an investigation into the incident.

In a statement, the hospital told the news station that the safety of patients was its main priority.

'The physicians, nurses and staff at Anaheim Regional Medical Center care deeply for the health of this patient and our thoughts and prayers go out to her and her family,' a spokesman said.

Ectopic pregnancy occurs in around one of every 50 pregnancies. Instead of moving into the woman's uterus, the embryo remains in her fallopian tube or, in rare cases, attaches to an ovary.

The condition requires emergency attention. It typically happens within the first few weeks of pregnancy, with symptoms including light bleeding, abdominal pain and nausea and vomiting.

In almost all cases, the baby does not survive.

Ectopic

[Phovos]

Surely at 12 weeks and with an ultrasound, you'd notice that something was wrong...

[final_wolf]

At 12 weeks one can easily tell if the pregnancy is in the uterus or elsewhere when using an ultrasound. I have no idea who missed this. Whenever an ultrasound tech. scans someone the machine takes/keeps/uploads the photos of baby or what is going on to your 'file/folder' and then the doctor/obgyn takes a look at your file. At least that is how it is done at my hospital/woman's center. I still can't believe it would have gone unnoticed...

I can MAYBE come up with the idea that the scanner didn't see anything and thus assumed she wasn't pregnant then, but the scanner(s) are not the one that can make that call. In fact, scanners cannot tell you anything about your baby whether it's doing good or if they found something wrong. Only the doctor can do that. So if the scanner didn't see baby in uterus where the hell did she think baby was?

[Sakura Takafumi]

Yeah they should have saw that something was wrong. I hope she recovers.

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

[David2074]

final_wolf

At 12 weeks one can easily tell if the pregnancy is in the uterus or elsewhere when using an ultrasound. I have no idea who missed this. Whenever an ultrasound tech. scans someone the machine takes/keeps/uploads the photos of baby or what is going on to your 'file/folder' and then the doctor/obgyn takes a look at your file. At least that is how it is done at my hospital/woman's center. I still can't believe it would have gone unnoticed...

I can MAYBE come up with the idea that the scanner didn't see anything and thus assumed she wasn't pregnant then, but the scanner(s) are not the one that can make that call. In fact, scanners cannot tell you anything about your baby whether it's doing good or if they found something wrong. Only the doctor can do that. So if the scanner didn't see baby in uterus where the hell did she think baby was?

Except:
They did an ultrasound, told them the baby was fine. They said there was nothing wrong,

So..telling her baby is fine is not thinking she is not pregnant.
I'm not big on "sue sue sue!" every chance you get but this sounds like maybe they should sue if she dies or at least the hospital should comp or discount her medical bill considering she might not be in a coma if they had noticed it the first time and gotten her into surgery sooner.
It's hard to say how she would have been though since apparently not very much additional time passed.

On the other hand... I don't see how they could tell her there are no problems and everything is fine while also prescribing percocet for her. It isn't known to harm the baby but it is also not known to not harm the baby
Pregnancy risk: Category C (Risk cannot be ruled out)
Plus general aspect of you don't typically prescribe percocet when you think there is nothing wrong.

[Fireweed_honey]

final_wolf

At 12 weeks one can easily tell if the pregnancy is in the uterus or elsewhere when using an ultrasound. I have no idea who missed this. Whenever an ultrasound tech. scans someone the machine takes/keeps/uploads the photos of baby or what is going on to your 'file/folder' and then the doctor/obgyn takes a look at your file. At least that is how it is done at my hospital/woman's center. I still can't believe it would have gone unnoticed...

I can MAYBE come up with the idea that the scanner didn't see anything and thus assumed she wasn't pregnant then, but the scanner(s) are not the one that can make that call. In fact, scanners cannot tell you anything about your baby whether it's doing good or if they found something wrong. Only the doctor can do that. So if the scanner didn't see baby in uterus where the hell did she think baby was?

Maybe they didn't know she was pregnant, and thus didn't know that a missing baby in the uterus was a problem. Pregnancy is different for everyone, not every woman has the same symptoms, even with multiple pregnancies. Plus, being ectopic, who knows what, if any, symptoms she had. So, if she didn't know she was pregnant, and the doctors didn't know, then not finding a baby wouldn't ring any warning bells. The article didn't say if she knew she was pregnant to begin with (knowing how far along could have come after they discovered the ectopic pregnancy), just that she had pain in the abdomen. Did you know some women can have a small period while pregnant? It's happened before. Or, maybe she was on birth control. Women have been known to get pregnant on birth control. And an ectopic pregnancy would be one that can happen as the egg is fertilized before it hits the hostile environment that the pills create in the uterus (which destroys the egg so it can't be fertilized, ideally). So, if she's on birth control, especially one of the ones where you only bleed once every three months, she might not know anything is up.

If she knew she was pregnant, told the doctors, and they didn't mention, "Oh, um, we can't find the baby", then it's the hospital's fault for sending her away with a false diagnoses. However, if she didn't know, didn't tell them, and thus they had no idea they were missing a baby (and the scanner might not focus on where the ectopic pregnancy was located, not sure how big a zone was scanned), then the doctors are not to blame and it's just a tragic mistake that hopefully has a happy ending.

[Faustine Liem]

I'm thinking it might have not been an experienced lab tech. I mean the uterus IS lower in the abdomen then you'd think it actually is. He simply could have been looking in the wrong spot and thought it is was in the RIGHT spot out of sheer 'i don't know what the ******** I am doing' and thus it is the schools fault.

[final_wolf]

Sakura Takafumi

Yeah they should have saw that something was wrong. I hope she recovers.

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

Tracking ones period isn't good enough. One would have to track when they ovulate by temping and it's very strict on how to temp each and every morning. For me I have a 32 day cycle which mean go in the middle I'd ovulate day 16. Guess what. I ovulate between 18-22 days. So I'd probably get knocked up if I only tried the watch out this week for ovulation. Ovulation isn't as text book as people make it out to seem. I agree that yes she should have been on BC, but it could have failed or she wasn't taking it properly depending on which BC she could have been on.


@David: I was just stating the facts of a scanner (It is something that I will be going to college for and have already asked a lot about it and got a lot of information on it via my hospital/doctor/ultrasound techs.) I agree, I am not a sue happy person either, but in this case might not be a bad idea. I still can't figure out how one would miss it. At 12 weeks the uterus would be a couple of inches above the pubic hair line (especially after having so many children). Still no where near the belly button.

The biggest issue of this article is we do not know if anyone knew she was pregnant. To be offered a painkiller is quite risky during pregnancy, so that leads me to perhaps they may not have known. The issue I have then is why weren't bloods taken.

@Fireweed: I was just stating facts of a scanner (see two paragraphs up). Yes pregnancy is different for everyone and EACH pregnancy is different. I have been pregnant five times, only one living child and one currently baking. So I know how they scan especially when you say you have abdominal pain they ALWAYS check the tubes first before uterus to make sure a 'twin' or the baby wasn't stuck in there. Please do not lecture me on what can happen when someone is pregnant. Yes pregnant woman can have a 'period' that they believe. They may not gain a baby bump, they may not even feel like they are pregnant. I fall into that last one. I never have any symptoms of being pregnant MINUS no period and a growing tummy.

I did however, reread the article and I believe nobody knew she was pregnant since it didn't state PLUS she was given painkillers. Most painkillers are a big no no during pregnancy minus a couple of the 'smaller' ones. Being prescribed one I can only imagine it was one that a pregnant woman should not take.

The issue that bothers me mainly is 1) why wasn't bloods done and if they were done why didn't they check for HCG due to the fact she has had so many children in the past. 2) If I went to my doctor and this case I would go to my OBGYN due to where the pain was, he would have asked if I was pregnant if I didn't know I would say didn't no or I don't think so. Then he would say well due to the pain we want to do a scan to double check nothing is in your tubes.

[jamilee-nicole]

Sakura Takafumi

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

Eh, she might be like my mom and just really likes kids and wants a hoard of them. Some people want huge families and want them fast. My own family is like that, actually.

[Henrika]

Eeeesh 7 kids... it's like they believe its their own personal mission to create an environmental disaster.

[misheru105]

final_wolf

Sakura Takafumi

Yeah they should have saw that something was wrong. I hope she recovers.

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

Tracking ones period isn't good enough. One would have to track when they ovulate by temping and it's very strict on how to temp each and every morning. For me I have a 32 day cycle which mean go in the middle I'd ovulate day 16. Guess what. I ovulate between 18-22 days. So I'd probably get knocked up if I only tried the watch out this week for ovulation. Ovulation isn't as text book as people make it out to seem. I agree that yes she should have been on BC, but it could have failed or she wasn't taking it properly depending on which BC she could have been on.


@David: I was just stating the facts of a scanner (It is something that I will be going to college for and have already asked a lot about it and got a lot of information on it via my hospital/doctor/ultrasound techs.) I agree, I am not a sue happy person either, but in this case might not be a bad idea. I still can't figure out how one would miss it. At 12 weeks the uterus would be a couple of inches above the pubic hair line (especially after having so many children). Still no where near the belly button.

The biggest issue of this article is we do not know if anyone knew she was pregnant. To be offered a painkiller is quite risky during pregnancy, so that leads me to perhaps they may not have known. The issue I have then is why weren't bloods taken.

@Fireweed: I was just stating facts of a scanner (see two paragraphs up). Yes pregnancy is different for everyone and EACH pregnancy is different. I have been pregnant five times, only one living child and one currently baking. So I know how they scan especially when you say you have abdominal pain they ALWAYS check the tubes first before uterus to make sure a 'twin' or the baby wasn't stuck in there. Please do not lecture me on what can happen when someone is pregnant. Yes pregnant woman can have a 'period' that they believe. They may not gain a baby bump, they may not even feel like they are pregnant. I fall into that last one. I never have any symptoms of being pregnant MINUS no period and a growing tummy.

I did however, reread the article and I believe nobody knew she was pregnant since it didn't state PLUS she was given painkillers. Most painkillers are a big no no during pregnancy minus a couple of the 'smaller' ones. Being prescribed one I can only imagine it was one that a pregnant woman should not take.

The issue that bothers me mainly is 1) why wasn't bloods done and if they were done why didn't they check for HCG due to the fact she has had so many children in the past. 2) If I went to my doctor and this case I would go to my OBGYN due to where the pain was, he would have asked if I was pregnant if I didn't know I would say didn't no or I don't think so. Then he would say well due to the pain we want to do a scan to double check nothing is in your tubes.

Quote:

'They did an ultrasound, told them the baby was fine. They said there was nothing wrong,' Ms Jule said.

I doubt they didn't know she was pregnant if they told her the baby was fine.

[final_wolf]

misheru105

I doubt they didn't know she was pregnant if they told her the baby was fine.

I don't know why I kept missing that line, thank you. And with fully knowing that, then there is no excuses. The uterus is in a different spot than the tubes. Hell you can honestly even fell the uterus growing at that stage without an ultrasound. and I doubt the uterus was getting bigger. I'd say off on the side it was 'getting' bigger not in the right spot one could feel without. So with them knowing that she was pregnant no excuses.

[Sakura Takafumi]

jamilee-nicole

Sakura Takafumi

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

Eh, she might be like my mom and just really likes kids and wants a hoard of them. Some people want huge families and want them fast. My own family is like that, actually.

Thats true. I know I want a few kids, but i want to focus on one baby at a time. My daughter is almost 7 months now i couldn't imagine being pregnant again while focusing on another baby. Now when she's 2 maybe. I did like being pregnant..but I need some time to focus on NOT being pregnant for a while too, i would think other women would be the same. Judging by most complain about the problems it brings the whole time.

@final_wolf:

I know tracking periods isn't good enough, i have such irregular periods its impossible to track them. However that is some women's choice of protection because religion don't believe in contraceptive (ie like the Duggar family) or they don't want to pump hormones into their body, espessally if she is still breastfeeding her 7 month old. And I take it since they have so many kids, my guess is they don't like how condoms feel. Its hard going back to one after you've gone 9+ months without needing one, it just doesn't feel the same

[Stale Taste]

David2074

final_wolf

At 12 weeks one can easily tell if the pregnancy is in the uterus or elsewhere when using an ultrasound. I have no idea who missed this. Whenever an ultrasound tech. scans someone the machine takes/keeps/uploads the photos of baby or what is going on to your 'file/folder' and then the doctor/obgyn takes a look at your file. At least that is how it is done at my hospital/woman's center. I still can't believe it would have gone unnoticed...

I can MAYBE come up with the idea that the scanner didn't see anything and thus assumed she wasn't pregnant then, but the scanner(s) are not the one that can make that call. In fact, scanners cannot tell you anything about your baby whether it's doing good or if they found something wrong. Only the doctor can do that. So if the scanner didn't see baby in uterus where the hell did she think baby was?

Except:
They did an ultrasound, told them the baby was fine. They said there was nothing wrong,

So..telling her baby is fine is not thinking she is not pregnant.
I'm not big on "sue sue sue!" every chance you get but this sounds like maybe they should sue if she dies or at least the hospital should comp or discount her medical bill considering she might not be in a coma if they had noticed it the first time and gotten her into surgery sooner.
It's hard to say how she would have been though since apparently not very much additional time passed.

On the other hand... I don't see how they could tell her there are no problems and everything is fine while also prescribing percocet for her. It isn't known to harm the baby but it is also not known to not harm the baby
Pregnancy risk: Category C (Risk cannot be ruled out)
Plus general aspect of you don't typically prescribe percocet when you think there is nothing wrong.

Is it possible that she was pregnant with fraternal twins with one in her uterus and the other resulting in an ectopic pregnancy?

[Your Baroness]

Sakura Takafumi

Yeah they should have saw that something was wrong. I hope she recovers.

(a bit unrelated..but why was she pregnant? No offense but she sounds like she sounds like they don't know what birth control is or tracking your period even...I mean you already have 7 children, the youngest is apparently 7 months and your pregnant again, i just can't help but think why, and i know BC can go wrong..but with 7 kids already somehow i doubt it..but who knows.)

Only 7? Pfft. Big deal. My aunt had 9 kids. Little bastards... Oh yes. And everyone of them looks the same and they go through food like termites, devouring everything I love. And they're all goody-goody two shoe christian assholes who have their superiority complexes kick in while shoving their philosophy and religion down my ********' throat. And people wonder why I'm the black sheep! But I digress. My thoughts go out to you, coma mom from the article. I'm sorry about how your pregnancy is going and wish the best for you. And my cousins, if you ever in the one outta millionth chance read this, suck my imaginary d**k. And that's all I really got to say. I'm just stallin' now.

I'm so mad I feel like I need to poop. I bet if I poop, I could get this ******** anger out of me. ********...