Krystina's Story: 10% Chance of Survival

Summary

Episode Summary: "Krystina's Story: 10% Chance of Survival"

The Medical Detectives episode titled "Krystina's Story: 10% Chance of Survival," released on May 28, 2025, delves deep into a harrowing real-life medical mystery involving severe misdiagnosis and its devastating consequences. Hosted by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Erin Nance and content creator Anna O’Brien, this episode highlights the critical importance of patient advocacy and the systemic issues within healthcare that disproportionately affect women of color.

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Introduction and Background

The episode begins with Anna congratulating Dr. Nance on her bestselling book, setting a warm and collegial tone. Dr. Nance reflects on a previous case where a missed diagnosis led to a patient's death, underscoring the gravity of accurate medical assessment. This segues into the introduction of Christina, the episode's guest, who shares her incredible journey from childbirth complications to battling septic shock.

Notable Quote:

Dr. Nance (01:25): "One of the things that really struck me about this episode is that this patient or interviewee had a condition that I wrote a chapter about in the book where I did not catch that diagnosis, and this patient died."

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Christina’s Early Life and Education

Christina provides background on her upbringing in Del Rio, Texas, highlighting her academic achievements and dedication to psychology. She shares personal milestones, including her marriage in July 2019 and the birth of her son in 2020 via C-section due to prolonged labor.

Notable Quote:

Christina (03:38): "I was number 19 in my class, and I was out of a class of 602 kids."

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Pregnancy and Initial C-Section

In February 2022, Christina discovers she is pregnant with her daughter. Her second C-section is planned for October 24th, 2022. Initially, the procedure goes smoothly, and Christina feels optimistic about her recovery. However, the following days mark the beginning of a dire medical crisis.

Notable Quote:

Christina (07:42): "The sterile wipes... try to wipe down any bacteria that could be on your body."

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Onset of Complications and Misdiagnosis

Post-surgery, Christina experiences unusual pain in her forearm, initially attributed to the IV placement. Despite escalating symptoms, including fever and redness at the IV site, the attending OB-GYN dismisses her concerns, attributing them to minor issues. A resident briefly examines her but fails to identify the severity of her condition, labeling it as a simple blood clot.

Notable Quote:

Christina (13:58): "I was trying to fight and survived and lived to tell the tale."

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Emergency Room and Septic Shock

As Christina's condition deteriorates, characterized by intense abdominal pain, vomiting, and low blood pressure, she is rushed to the emergency room. Doctors recognize the signs of sepsis—an overwhelming immune response to infection—and rush to treat her with vasopressors and life-support measures. Despite a bleak prognosis with less than a 10% chance of survival, Christina’s determination and the support from some doctors and nurses play a crucial role in her fight for life.

Notable Quote:

Christina (29:08): "I was in so much pain that my mind didn't really know what was going on."

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Medical Induced Coma and Amputations

To stabilize her failing organs, Christina is placed in a medically induced coma and placed on ECMO (Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation). During this critical period, she experiences severe complications, including multi-organ failure and necrosis due to the infection. The lack of timely and accurate diagnosis leads to the amputation of all four limbs as a last-resort measure to save her life.

Notable Quote:

Christina (42:50): "So it was really an emotional moment. Very heavy, Very, very heavy."

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Recovery and Rehabilitation

Christina’s recovery is arduous, involving multiple surgeries, prolonged hospital stays, and extensive physical and occupational therapy. She emphasizes the importance of mental resilience and the support from her family and work community in overcoming her physical limitations. Christina’s story is a testament to her unyielding spirit and the critical need for compassionate, attentive medical care.

Notable Quote:

Christina (59:26): "No matter what is thrown your way in life, I want to prove that you can do it, no matter what."

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Discussion on Healthcare Disparities

Dr. Nance and Anna use Christina’s story to shed light on the broader issue of systemic racism in healthcare. They discuss how marginalized communities, particularly Black and Hispanic women, face significantly higher maternal mortality rates due to biases and inadequate medical responses. The conversation highlights the necessity for cultural competence in medical training and the urgent need to address these disparities.

Notable Quote:

Dr. Nance (50:04): "The number one thing, I mean, what saved your life was those doctors at that urgent care or emergency room that you went to. They recognized that your Low blood pressure and your high heart rate were the symptoms of sepsis."

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Empowerment and Advocacy

Christina’s journey underscores the importance of patient advocacy. Dr. Nance provides actionable advice for listeners on how to advocate for themselves in medical settings, emphasizing the need to ask critical questions and seek second opinions when necessary.

Notable Quote:

Dr. Nance (17:48): "Ask them, could you tell me what your differential diagnosis is?"

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Closing Thoughts and Inspirational Message

The episode concludes with heartfelt reflections on resilience and the human spirit. Anna and Dr. Nance commend Christina for her bravery and her commitment to raising awareness about medical injustices. Christina’s determination to continue her education and career despite immense challenges serves as an inspiring message to all listeners.

Notable Quote:

Anna (59:44): "I think, you know, at all times, life can be difficult, but in her situation, every day, it's difficult. And she still chooses to not let that be the focus of her existence."

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Conclusion

"Krystina's Story: 10% Chance of Survival" is a powerful narrative that not only highlights a personal medical tragedy but also illuminates significant systemic issues within healthcare. Through Christina’s resilience and the insightful discussions between Dr. Nance and Anna, listeners gain a profound understanding of the complexities and urgencies in medical diagnostics and patient care. This episode serves as both a cautionary tale and a beacon of hope, advocating for better medical practices and greater patient empowerment.

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For more stories like Christina’s or to share your own medical mystery, reach out to [e-mail].

Transcript

[Christina]

Foreign.

[Aaron]

Aaron.

[Christina]

Aaron.

[Aaron]

What an episode. That was an amazing episode. But before we get into what we're. Where we're headed today, I want to take a moment to celebrate you a little bit, because I was going on Amazon to purchase your book because I'm a good friend, and that's what good friends do. And I saw that you're already a bestseller. You don't need my order. I still made one. But you don't need it because you are already killing it.

[Dr. Nance]

Oh, thank you. I mean, I'm sure most of those sales are from all of our podcast listeners, and I'm really grateful. But one of the things that really struck me about this episode is that this patient or interviewee had a condition that I wrote a chapter about in the book where I did not catch that diagnosis, and this patient died. And so I'm very, you know, familiar with how difficult it is to make this type of diagnosis and how serious the consequences are. And so it was just really impactful for me to hear and then also inspiring to see someone who was able to. To fight and survived and lived to tell the tale.

[Aaron]

Wow. That just gave a whole new layer to this episode. I think we should just jump right in because I don't think I can say anything else without giving it away.

[Dr. Nance]

So let's do it.

[Aaron]

It's a good one. Oh, also, if you're pregnant, you should really listen to this episode as well.

[Dr. Nance]

Hi, Christine. Welcome to the Medical Detectives. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Christina]

Hi.

[Aaron]

Hello.

[Dr. Nance]

And we were just laughing beforehand because I feel like our. Our guests take these calls from all over, and you just told us that you're in your bathroom. Is that right?

[Christina]

Yes. Yes, I am in my bathroom. Least amount of echo and just kind of ready to get my story out there. I got a lot of traction from one of my TikTok videos. Got a lot of outreach and emails from people who just want to continue that outreach. For me, from different aspects, whether that's podcasts or I've had, like, Snapchat stories that want to get my story out there. Even People magazine reached out. So I think I personally want to get my story out there for advocacy purposes because I want future prevention. And once we get into my story.

[Aaron]

You'Ll see why we always say, you know, hindsight is 20 20, or you can't go back and fix it for yourself, but you can potentially fix it for someone else. And I feel like sometimes that's the best gift we can give because what's happened's happened, but it doesn't have to happen again. And part of that is educating people how to advocate for themselves and also how to spot when things are going wrong so that they can step in and make moves at the right time. So thank you.

[Dr. Nance]

Well, Christina, we like to start the episodes usually by going like a blast from the past. So could you talk about growing up, what your health was like, what was life like for you as, say, like a teenager?

[Christina]

Yes. I grew up and raised in Del Rio, Texas. So it's a border town. My parents came from immigrant parents. I ended up graduating from Del Rio High School. I was number 19 in my class, and I was out of a class of 602 kids. So I went on to the University of Texas at Austin. I knew I wanted to study psychology, and I was able to finish my bachelor's degree in three years, and I knew I wanted to continue my schooling, and I ended up pursuing my master's degree in school psychology. And I went on to the University of Texas at San Antonio, where I was accepted for grad school to do my master's in school psychology. Once I was in grad school, I did start a practicum, my second year of my grad school, and I was placed in Pleasanton, Texas. So I didn't choose it. I was placed there by my professors, and I was like, okay, I have to make an hour drive from San Antonio. But that's okay. I guess I don't have a choice. And I ended up loving it. I fell in love with the people. I really enjoyed where I was, and everybody was so nice to me. And I ended up meeting my future husband, and we got married in July of 2019. Another year later, I gave birth to our son. Unfortunately, I was only able to dilate to three, and he was already trying to push the birth canal. So my doctor was like, I'm sorry, but we're gonna have to go in, and we're gonna have to do a C section. You know, you tried. I was in labor for 26 hours, and he was like, we're gonna have to go in and do a C section. Everything went fine. I was able to recover. I was able to go back to work. My husband and I knew we wanted to have our kids pretty close together, so we started planning for our daughter in February of 2022. And that's when we found out we were pregnant. So we had her. And that's. That's where the story all gets started. So in October of 2022, October 24th, is when I gave birth. I started having contractions about 2 in the morning that day. And I was scheduled for a C section at 9:30 that morning. And at 2 in the morning, I was like, I'm starting FBO contractions. So I kind of played it out, waited a little bit, and went, we are an hour away from the hospital I'm giving birth at. So I didn't even. I mean, I took that into account. But I guess with my son, I never went into labor at home. I went into labor at the hospital. So I waited and waited, and then I was like, okay, I think it's time to wake Jacob up. And I'm like, hey, my. My contractions are about four to five minutes apart. You think we should go? And he was like, yeah, you should probably call the hospital, babe. And I called them, and I was, my contractions are about four to five minutes apart. We're an hour away. They're like, yes, go ahead and start making your way to the hospital. And so we go. They're like, you're a little bit more ahead than the C section we have scheduled for 7:30. So we're going to bump her up, and we're going to bump you to the 730C section. So with the prep, they give you the towels to wipe down. We did all that wipe down. Even with surgery, when you're getting prepped for surgery, they give you like, I guess they're like antibiotic wipes or prep wipes.

[Aaron]

Oh, the sterile wipes.

[Christina]

The sterile wipes, yes.

[Dr. Nance]

And chlorhexidine wipes.

[Christina]

Yes. And what those wipes do is basically try to wipe down any bacteria that could be on your body. So my husband and I did all that. I put on the gown, and the nurse that was putting on my iv, she was like, oh, I. I didn't really put it in the right spot. Let me do it again. So she took it out and then put it in another spot. And when I had my son, I remember they put my IV on my hand. So, you know, the vein on your hand, not on the palm, but on the front of your hand. And this one I thought was weird because they put it on my forearm. And I was like, okay, that's, you know, that's different. But she ended up putting it. She was like, oh, I put it a little bit above the vein, but it should be fine. Either way, you're going to develop a little bump. But nothing. Nothing wrong will happen. You'll be fine. And I said, okay. You know, my husband and I are not in the medical field. We know Nothing of anything medical. So we're like, okay, sounds good. They got me prepped for surgery.

[Dr. Nance]

Christina, did. Did it hurt to get that IV placed?

[Christina]

No, no, no, no, nothing. So they took me back for surgery. They were able to perform the C section. Everything of that went normal. Everything with her delivery was normal. She came out healthy. She was a healthy baby. And then they took us back to the room. Everything in recovery that first day was great. I remember my husband even saying, you seem so much happier or in better spirits than you did when you had our son. And I'm like, well, remember when. When we had Owen, our son? I was in labor for. For 26 hours the night before, and with her, it was planned, so I already knew what to expect. So the recovery was a lot different. So I was, you know, in good spirits. We were excited. My mom and dad were able to come visit. Owen met his baby sister for the first time, so we were just all very happy. The next night, that's when my arm started to hurt. And I remember I couldn't even sleep on my left side. I would try to turn on my left side, and I'm like, oh, Like, I can't even sleep on my left side. You know, that that's not normal. And I ended up calling the nurse, and I'm like, hey, my IV is hurting. I can't even lay on my left side. And she was like, oh, okay. Like, very calm. Like, okay, let me just take it out. I'm like, okay, well, can I have something for pain? I remember throughout my whole hospital stay, I was complaining more about my arm pain rather than the major surgery that I just had. You know, my. On your uterus cut open for a C section. And I complained more about my forearm those two last days of my hospital stay rather than the C section that I just had. And she gave me some pain meds, and that was the night shift nurse and then the morning nurse. I woke up the next morning, and I was shivering and started feeling symptoms of a fever, and I was cold, and I was. Started to feel feverish. And I said, I feel kind of feverish and cold, and I have the chills. And she's like, oh, let me give you some Motrin. And so she gave me some Motrin. And then later on that day, this was the last day we were there, I told her again, I was like, my arm's still hurting, and. And it's looking kind of red, and it's kind of, like, throbbing. And she said, oh, yeah, I'm kind of not liking the way that's looking. Let me give you an ice pack. And I said, okay. And so she gives me an ice pack, and she was like, just hold it on there for. For a while. And I'm like, okay. So I'm just holding it there, and then later, I show her my arm again. I'm like, it still looks kind of funky. It's getting even more red. It's throbbing. It's hot to the touch, even with the ice pack. And she was like, yeah, it still looks kind of funky. You know? Let me find. Finally, she calls the doctor, and she was like, we might have to order a sonogram just so they could look at that. So they finally order the sonogram. Mind you, in those three days of recovery, my OB GYN never came and checked on me. Never.

[Dr. Nance]

Did you have a resident check on you?

[Christina]

I did have a resident check on me, but it was weird, because when I had my son, I remember my doctor came and checked on me at least two times. And so I was expecting the same thing with her, but with my daughter. I never had my OB GYN come and check on me. And I think part of that would have gave me some comfort or would have at least helped me.

[Dr. Nance]

I don't.

[Christina]

Know, to feel a little bit more comfortable.

[Aaron]

But did you ever have the opportunity to tell a doctor about the pain in your arms or. Only a nurse.

[Christina]

It was mostly nurses. Okay. Yeah. The onogram tech came in. The resident finally came in, and I had never met him before, so this was my first time meeting him. And he watches the screen as the sonogram tech does the scanning. And he was like, it just looks like a thrombus, and. And it'll just look like a little blood clot. You should be fine. Honey, honey baby, you're fine. Just go home. You're fine. Honey baby.

[Aaron]

He called you honey baby. Oh, my gosh. I would have taken any energy I had left in my body to slap that man across the face.

[Christina]

I remember to this day, and this is almost three years later, and I remember telling my husband, I was like, how dare that man call me honey baby. First of all, I've never met you. Second of all, you don't know me. And third of all, you're just missing everything that I'm complaining about. But in our mind.

[Dr. Nance]

So no. So no one has actually physically examined your arm?

[Christina]

I mean, he looked at it, but no.

[Dr. Nance]

No one placed hands. And I know I say this like placing hands. No one placed hands on your arm?

[Aaron]

I wanted to place Hands on him after he said, honey, baby, I'm sorry. I hate, like, hey, babe, hey, honey, baby.

[Christina]

Condescending. Yeah.

[Aaron]

It's immediately making a woman feel less than immediately making you play a role that you didn't agree to. And I.

[Christina]

Sorry. Yes. Like, making me feel like I am overplaying or over dramaticizing these symptoms that I'm feeling.

[Aaron]

When you should have looked at your arm.

[Christina]

Yeah. Anyway, no, he looked at the screen. He briefly looked at my arm. He was like, oh, no, honey, baby, you're fine. Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

And how to just give some background to how these scenarios play out. So, for example, I'm an orthopedic surgeon. I take care of the limbs. So if someone is having a problem with their limb, meaning is there maybe an infection? Maybe. Is there a broken bone? Is there. You know what? Not let's. You're on the OB GYN service, right?

[Christina]

Right. Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

The OB GYNs, they. That is not their wheelhouse. So they're going to consult the orthopedic service, and the orthopedic service is going to come and they're going to physically examine you. And they may say, we'd like to get additional imaging, so we're going to order an ultrasound or an mri. Then that you're going to have an ultrasound tech come and perform the ultrasound. And then that ultrasound is going to be read by a radiologist, which kind of sounds like this is the person who was talking to you. But the radiologist, they're not the ones determining what the problem is. Their job is to really read the films and then offer that interpretation to the orthopedic surgeon or the consultant who is actually trying to figure out what the problem is. So to me, it sounds like you didn't have a consult for the person who'd be able to really make the diagnosis.

[Christina]

So the doctor that came in is an OB gyn.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah.

[Christina]

So that.

[Dr. Nance]

That is not correct.

[Christina]

Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

Now, that's not to say that an OB GYN cannot flag this. For an orthopedic surgeon to come in, like, that's actually the first line of defense is the nurse. Because you're talking to the nurse. They're your eyes and ears. The nurse is the one who elevates it to the doctor who's taking care of you. The service that you're on, that's OB GYN. Now it's the OB GYN's job to decide, okay, who do I need to bring in on this particular problem to figure out what's wrong? So it sounds like they decided to take it upon themselves to go straight to radiology. And then once they got an answer from radiology that seemed like it wasn't a big deal, they moved on.

[Christina]

Yeah.

[Aaron]

In this situation, if you feel like you didn't get a fair response, Erin, what would you do? What would you say to someone who is in Christina's position where the doctor who's looked at her is an OB GYN and she's not comfortable or confident with the response? What would you take as the next step? Because I honestly don't know, based on what you just described, what to do.

[Dr. Nance]

So I tell people this all the time because it's only helpful if you already have the answer. Right. Like you say, like, oh my gosh, like I'm worried about a DVT or I'm worried about an abscess. You don't know that. You don't even know. Those are the options. And so what I tell people is to ask the person who just told you, that's nothing, or that's a thrombus, which is a blood clot. I say this line all the time to people, ask them, could you tell me what your differential diagnosis is? Because that means that they have to now say, okay, well, it could be a blood clot, it could be an infection. And then you ask, oh, how do you know it's not an infection? How do they know it's not infection? They haven't ordered a white blood count. They haven't actually physically examined you. And so that makes them have to turn their wheels into thinking about what else could it be.

[Aaron]

You just masterminded how to get a doctor to actually look into things. Like what you just described is, is okay. So in business, they always tell you get someone, ask questions, don't demand, don't make demands. And so what you've just given is like mind blowingly important. If you ask the right questions, they will eventually be led to looking into your condition, hopefully. Wow, Aaron, genius. Always.

[Dr. Nance]

Well, it's really. Again, it's not the patient's job to know what are all these potential things, but in the end you kind of have to present yourself as like, hey, I have a really painful red swollen area. What do you think is going on?

[Christina]

Right in the earlier. Yes, you had.

[Dr. Nance]

Correct, Correct. So I would say to make a patient as like, for, as like a self advocate is to be able to at least consolidate these things for the doctor and say, like, hey, this is what I'm feeling, this is what I'm experiencing. What do you think this could be? And I use that term, differential diagnosis, because that is a term that every doctor knows what that means. And they are going to have to tell you a list of things.

[Christina]

All right?

[Dr. Nance]

So you are told it is a nothing to worry about, a nothing burger, right? And go home, enjoy your baby.

[Christina]

Yes. So I was sent on home. They're like, okay, you're discharged. We did our little scan. You can go ahead and go home. So we go home, we introduce our daughter to our dog. Our son was so happy to have his baby sister home that night. I do remember my mother in law was helping us. She had made some food. And at that point, I remember my appetite was, was kind of weird. I started losing my appetite and my taste. And I was like, okay, that's kind of weird. Like when I was eating, I couldn't taste anything. And she made mashed potatoes, corn and fried chicken tenders. And I'm like, these are some very sodium rich foods that you should be able to taste. And it just tasted bland. It tasted like nothing to me. So I'm like, okay, that, that's kind of weird. So once it started just tasting like nothing, I was like, no, I'm, you know, I'm not really hungry. So I was like, maybe again, I just had major surgery. Maybe I'm just not hungry. So I put it away. So then the next night, I remember I was having a really hard time getting into bed. And it wasn't from pain from my C section area. I started developing pain from right under my rib cage. And we have a little bit of a taller bed. So I was like, you know what, let me just go to the couch. I'll sleep there with the baby right there with her bassinet next to me so it's easier for me to get her and feed her. And that was another thing that I also found concerning was that my milk wasn't coming in. And I was like, usually by now I remember like with my son, you know, third, fourth day, my milk would have come in and my milk's not coming in. So we had to resort to giving her formula, which also was just another added emotion to everything going on. So the pain just got more intense. We had our daughter on the 24th in 2022. So that was Monday. By Friday morning, I woke up in intense pain right under my rib cage and I was vomiting. Anything I tried to eat or drink. I remember I made myself a protein shake and I threw it up right away. I had diarrhea, intense abdominal pain and that I had cold sweatshirt. I remember I took a shower twice that day and I was just trying to cool my body down and nothing was working. And granted, this was the end of October, so it was already towards fall where the temperatures were cooling down so I shouldn't be sweating. And my husband was like, well, what do you want to do? You know, do you want to go to urgent care? I was like, yeah, we need to go to urgent care. So I called my sister in law and I said, can you please come and watch the baby? We need to go to urgent care. And she's like, yeah, I'll be right there. So we left the baby and it's.

[Aaron]

Okay, you can take your time.

[Christina]

That's the last time I see her for a while. Excuse me. So we go to urgent care. Once they call me back, I could barely lie down on the table. And they said, the fact that you can barely lie down and your pain is that intense, you're going to need to go to the emergency room. And we have a local hospital here in Jordanton in Atascosa County. When they sent me to the ER from the urgent care, it was honestly very scary. We didn't know what was going on. I was in so much pain. I was, you know, scared because I'm like thinking about my kids. Along with that, who's going to take care of my newborn baby? My son's at daycare. What if this takes longer than it should? So there's just a million thoughts going through my head at that time. So we drove right to the emergency room, filled out all the forms, we checked in and they called me back and they took my blood pressure and my heart rate. And once they saw that they, they admitted me right away. They said, your heart rate is super elevated and your blood pressure is super dropped. And that is super concerning. And we told them I just had a baby. I was having some trouble with my IV and I'm in intense pain, my abdominals are hurting super. And once the doctor came in, he was like, you know, since you had a major surgery and you know when they go in for a C section, they could have nicked a gallbladder, they could have nicked your spleen. We're not really sure what happened. So once we got to the er, it was all kind of just a blur. At one Moment it was 3pm in the afternoon and they're doing the vitals, started putting the central line and all that and. And then all of a sudden it's like 8pm at night and we're still waiting for diagnosis. What's going on? Why am I here? Why am I hurting? What tests are we gonna run? And at that hospital, they. There was not much they can do because they're a much smaller hospital in a small city. So they're like, you're gonna have to go back to the hospital you gave birth at. Basically, we can't do anything here. And I said, okay, whatever, you know, whatever we need to do. I just need to get better. And I remember them saying, we don't have any ambulance available right now. And I don't know if they were just trying to, like, not put salt on the wound and not try to scare us or that was really the truth. But they were like, we're going to have to air life you to San Antonio to the hospital where you gave birth, because you need to get there. And so they put me in the helicopter. My husband's like, well, can I go with her? And they're like, no. So my husband took off. He got his stuff. He got in this truck, and he took off right away to the hospital. And they put me in a gurney. They put me in the helicopter. They tried to keep me as calm as possible. But I remember by that point, I was having a lot of difficulty breathing because not only were my lungs having difficulty breathing, but there's just so much anxiety at that point because you have no idea what's going on. And my husband remembers the last thing the emergency room doctor here in Atascosa county told him was, your wife is very sick. We don't know what's going on, but your wife is very sick. And so they got me to the hospital where I gave birth. They took me to the emergency room. They admitted me to a room. They started pushing vasopressors, which are medications to start to get your blood pressure up. And I remember having to wait in line for imaging. And I'm just screaming and wailing that whole time. And when I was in the MRI machine as well, I couldn't stay still. And they me wrapped up in a sheet, and I'm just, like, burning in intense pain. And he's like, stay still. Stay still. And I'm like, I can't. It just hurts so bad. And I just wanted that to go by faster and. And it couldn't go by fast enough. And finally they took me out of imaging. They took me back to the room. The night kept going on. I was still in a lot of pain. They still kept pushing medication to start to get my heart rate down and get my blood pressure up. At that point in the middle of the night, I remember my hands started getting really cold and they started turning purple and my feet as well. So they started giving me those hand warmers that you shake, and they started covering up my legs with those. I want to say they're not little vacuums, but, like little suctions they put after surgery to try to get your numbness down.

[Dr. Nance]

I'm not really sure it's the pneumatic boots.

[Christina]

Yes, yes, yes. So they try to get those on so that way the circulation can try to keep going. So they were trying to get the blood still flowing into my feet because they were starting to get cold. I was so out of it. I think I was in so much pain that my mind didn't really know what was going on. And there was just so much confusion and a lot of unanswered questions. And they said to my husband, the next morning, we're going to have to intubate your wife. We're going to have to put her on ecmo, and that's the only way we can start to get her heart and lungs functioning. And we're going to have to put her in a medically induced coma. We don't know how long. And during all of this, he asked them, what are her chances? And they told him less than a 10% chance. So I had a less than a 10% chance of living and getting through all of this. Once they started putting me in the coma, starting to intubate me, I remember starting to go out of breath, and it was. Was the worst feeling I could ever have. And I remember my husband saying, please, please fight. Please don't leave us. Please don't leave me. I cannot. I cannot raise these two babies by myself. And they need their mama. I cannot do this without you. They cannot do this without their mom. They need you. I need you, so you gotta fight. So that literally. Literally the last words I remember hearing. And that's, you know, that's what I tried to do. Thankfully, you know, I had doctors on my side. I had nurses on my side, because there were doctors that were willing to fight for me. And then my husband said, there was doctors that were like, there's nothing we can do. There's nothing we can do. And then he was like, but there was doctors that said, we're gonna do everything we can. We're gonna try this, and we're gonna try this. And at that point, they were telling my husband that it was probably an infection, but they didn't know where the infection came from. And all my husband remembers is the doctor. He smelled my C section site and he was like, you can smell the smell of infection when you know it's an infection. And when I smell Christina's C section site, there is no smell of infection. There's no clues of infection. But then he looked at my IV site and he was like, that looks like an infection. And they even brought a doctor in from Florida and he had a, I believe it was called a CRT machine. And it hadn't even been approved or it had just been approved. And what that does is when you do the ecmo, it's like a filter that helps filter out the infection from the blood, get blood to the heart, help the lungs get back to what they were. I was on a continuous dialysis machine trying to get the kidneys back to functioning. I was in a medically induced coma for two weeks. And the scariest part about, and I don't think I've ever really talked about this is that the scariest part about being in that medically induced coma is that I had no idea where I was. I don't know if y' all have ever heard people talk about hallucinations while they're in a coma. I thought so. First I thought I was getting put into the back of my mother in law's car and we were going to the church to take pictures. And then I was put back into her car and we were going to a party in another town. And then I went back into her car and then I was in another church and my husband was like arguing with some people. And then I ended up in this warehouse and they were holding me hostage. They had guns, they were wearing all black suits and they were trying to cut me open and I was like, no, no. And I think it was nurses that were like putting in probably medication. So, yeah, that was, that was not fun. And once I woke up, I was like, oh, thank God. Because that was not fun.

[Aaron]

I'm sure, like some of the IVs would sting and stuff. And that was probably your body being like. I mean, I can only imagine that you were in an immense amount of pain still in this coma. Right? I mean.

[Christina]

Well, something that they had to do, something that they had to do is that I started developing these larger, I guess you would call it like boils, because I got almost like £250. Like I was swollen. Swollen. Swollen.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah, yeah. The, the, the biggest issue at this point, and we're, you know, getting close to what the actual diagnosis is, but your kidneys are in failure. And you are in multi organ failure at this point, and that's why you're on the dialysis. And so your kidneys are what filters water? Correct, Correct. So you were gaining weight because of the water retention because you did not have functioning kidneys.

[Christina]

Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

Christina, can you talk about the moment that you wake up from your medical induced coma? What that felt like?

[Christina]

Yeah, it was kind of slow. I remember bits and pieces where I would, like, see my dad and he'd be like, I'll be right back, I'll see you tomorrow. Or my husband like, hey, babe, I love you. And then I would fully wake up. And I remember seeing my mom in the room. And then I remember the point where I was fully awake. And the unfortunate part is I still had my breathing tube in, so it took a few days before they took my breathing tube out. And that was probably the most heartbreaking part because the first thing you want to do is talk to your loved ones. And I remember when they did take it out, I was just bawling and crying and I'm like, I just love you so much. Like I told my husband, I'm like, what happened? What happened? I just remember asking him, I was like, what the hell happened? And it was such an emotional moment, taking out that breathing tube, because I'm like, I just wanted to talk to him. I just wanted to and tell him I love him. And I just wanted to ask all the questions. I'm like, what's going on? Why am I here? What. Why are my hands my. At that point, my hands and my feet were black. Like, black black, like frostbite black. So once I woke up, this was two weeks after. And they said, you know what would probably help her recover faster is seeing her kids. So I was probably one of the only ones that they've ever allowed to have kids in the icu. And I remember the moment that they first brought my baby to me and she was so tiny and cuddled in a. In a blanket. And I was, you know, covered in my blankets and just holding her and looking at her. And it was a very, very emotional moment when they had to take her away, obviously, because you know that that's my baby and I should be there with her and we should be together. And my son. My son came in as well, and he's two almost, you know, two and a half. And he's just looking at me like I had a lot of tubes tip in my nose and tubes in my arm and my neck, and he doesn't know what's Going on. He's kind of confused, like, why does mommy look that way? And he was, he was scared of me at first because of the way I looked. But they were able to come around pretty often, my parents, thankfully. And my in laws would take care of them. My brother and my sister in law took care of my kids. My other sister in law, my aunt and uncle, you know, I had family jump in and it was just really sad that I had to spend, you know, three months away from my babies. Three whole months. And they might never remember this, and they don't. You know, I asked them and my daughter was only three months old and I mean, you see the way she was cuddled up on me. She, she does not remember and she loves me to pieces. And my son can't get enough of me. He's my little Velcro baby. So obviously they don't remember. But looking back, it's a very painful thing to remember and a sore in my heart because those three months and those final three months to a mom with my new more daughter, my only daughter, I feel were taken away from me.

[Dr. Nance]

And Christina, I just want to say this because we've been talking on the past couple of episodes about these stages of misdiagnosis. And one of those stages is anger. And you know, you were robbed. And the worst part is that you were robbed of something you can never replace and get back. And that was the time with your newborn. And so you're completely valid for having those feelings for feeling anger, for feeling sadness, for feeling pain.

[Christina]

Yeah. Yeah. So it's November of 2022, and the surgeon, my plastic surgeon, who I love and I still use her to this day, I love her. But in this moment, it was not her finest moment. My husband had stepped out to go get us food and my nurse had stepped out and the surgeon kind of like slipped in without anybody seeing her. And she was like, I need to talk to you. And I was like, okay. She, she is a fine surgeon, but sometimes those surgeons that have the smartest minds and are the most brilliant lack the best bedside manner. But in this moment, she broke my heart. She shattered it. She's like, we're going to have to amputate all four of your limbs. And I said, what? And she's like, yeah, there's, there's no recovery from, from all your limbs. There's no blurred circulation. So the only way to give you the best life is to amputate all four of your limbs. And that's how she said it, very flat, flat affect no emotion, no hug, no nothing. And I'm just in this room, in the bed by myself. I couldn't move, I couldn't talk. It was just like waterworks flowed through me. But just hearing that completely shattered my heart, because all you think about is, you know, how am I gonna raise two babies without my hands? How am I gonna raise two babies without my legs? How am I gonna be a mom? How am I going to do the things that I was used to doing? I was an active person, an active wife. I would cook, I would clean, I would work out. I would play outside with my baby, and I was gonna do the same with my daughter. How am I gonna do her hair? How am I gonna put her little dresses on and put her bows on? And, you know, all these future plans that I had planned, and my family as well, we had planned for ourselves, all. All of that just ran through my mind and break. Even Breaking the news to my parents was really hard because all they could think about, you know, was me as a baby being born with my hands and my feet.

[Aaron]

And now they're taking them away.

[Christina]

So it was really an emotional moment. Very heavy, Very, very heavy. And at that point, my husband had just gotten back from getting food, and he comes storming in, and he was like, what happened? And he was angry, and he saw the search, and he was like, what did you do? And she was like, I was just telling her, like, she's gonna have to have all four limbs amputated. And he was like, why would you tell her that without anybody in the room? And, you know, she got in trouble. Now we feel bad, but she understood in that moment that she should have never done that and should have had, you know, that better bedside manner or better empathy in that moment. Because if it were her on that bed lying there getting that news delivered, she wouldn't have wanted to have been al. Or nobody in that situation wouldn't have wanted to been alone. So.

[Dr. Nance]

And I think also for the physicians. I was just talking about this yesterday in an interview about having emotional detachment to be able to perform our job. And again, I don't know your plastic surgeon. I don't know what her circumstances are in her mind. Like, it seems pretty obvious. You've got black hands. There's no blood flow. But if you put yourself in the eyes of the patient, you don't know that your hands couldn't grow back or that things could get better or, I don't know, maybe there's a procedure or scan, and for you, like, you just cling on to the hope. Right. Like that's. You're like, well, yeah, like it's gonna come back or like, yeah, there's something you can do. Right. Or, you know.

[Christina]

Yeah. I will say before that news of the amputation, physical therapists were working with me with my hands, with my feet, having me like try to wiggle my toes, try to wiggle my fingers. So there was that little glimpse of hope that maybe, maybe blood flow and the usage of my hands could come back from that. I never thought of those amputations, so it was just like a big bomb dropped on me. There was that glimmer of hope or that glimpse of hope that I really think. Did think that my hands and feet would come back to their normal state.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah. And it's that hope that buoys you, right? That keeps you going.

[Christina]

Yeah. The week of Thanksgiving is when they actually did the amputations. So it was, I believe the Monday of Thanksgiving, week of 2022, they amputated my hands and then on that Tuesday, they actually performed a scan where they do the color through your veins. They did the vein color through my legs just to see if there was any more blood flow. Because we did ask and we did plea. Can you just do one more test just to see if there is any more blood flow to my legs? And they did it and they said there's no blood flow. And they said the best life you could get is if we do the amputations and you use prosthetics, that's going to be the best life for you and your children. So they did my leg amputations the day before Thanksgiving. My six week old daughter was going to start daycare at that time and then my son was continuing daycare as well. And. And they were being passed again from one family member to the other. And I also had to have, not only apart from the amputations, I also had to go through about, I would say about 13 or more surgeries for skin grafts because of all those welts that were developed in necrosis from the skin openings and things like that. I had to get a various amount of skin grafts on my legs, on my arm. And all those skin donors came from my back under my legs. So those parts had to heal. And the only part that I needed a skin graft on my arms was the part they did the iv, meaning that's the only part of infection that spread. The biggest was the part where they did the iv and you can see it where it spread the most. And nothing on my Other arm, I mean, yeah, they did the skin graft to cover the amputation, but no other areas wilted. But the area that had the iv, the biggest welt, developed. So the healing, that's what took the longest. And that's why I spent so many months in the hospital, plus all the, you know, surgeries that had to be performed. And then eventually it was confirmed that it had group A strep. And that was the bacterial infection that was introduced through the iv.

[Aaron]

And so you had strep. This came from strep?

[Christina]

Well, it's called group A strep, and that's the type. It's kind of like a staph infection that enters your body and it's just a bacterial infection that can travel through your blood system.

[Aaron]

So it's okay. I was like, strep throat did this. Well, oh, my God.

[Christina]

But people say even people who do develop strep throat can get sepsis if it's not treated in time.

[Aaron]

Yeah, I mean, it's clear. You went to sepsis. Wow.

[Christina]

Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

So this is for, you know, our listeners. The final diagnosis for you was septic shock caused by group A strep.

[Christina]

Correct.

[Dr. Nance]

And I've been doing this now the past couple of episodes. We're doing a little Dr. Nance Med School 101. And I think sepsis is a great topic because it's very difficult for people to understand. And it's something that the severity can be catastrophic. So the analogy that I would use is kind of like your body is a house and it has a fire in the kitchen. Right. And that's the infection. You've got an infection in your arm, you've got a fire in the kitchen, and your immune system is the fire department. And normally the fire department would come in and they'd put out the fire in the kitchen, but in the case of sepsis, they start putting out the fire all over your body and they're breaking windows and they're knocking down doors and they're spreading the water everywhere. And that's what happens in sepsis is you start to have what's called multi system organ failure.

[Christina]

Right.

[Dr. Nance]

So your kidneys were failing, your heart was failing, your lungs were failing. And that's because of an over response from the immune system. It's not actually the infection itself, it's the response, the overreaction of your body which causes sepsis. And so the number one thing, I mean, what saved your life was those doctors at that urgent care or emergency room that you went to. They recognized that your Low blood pressure and your high heart rate were the symptoms of sepsis, right?

[Christina]

Yes.

[Dr. Nance]

And this is so important for all women to hear, but the postpartum period is the most dangerous period of your life. And people don't like to talk about that because they don't want to scare people from having babies and, you know, giving birth. But the maternal mortality rate in the United States is, I think it's up to 20 births per 100,000 live births. 20 women are going to die for every 100,000 women that have a baby. And for women who are black and Hispanic, that rate is more than doubled. And these are major systemic problems.

[Christina]

Problems.

[Dr. Nance]

It's doctors not believing patients when they first talk about their pain that they're having a problem. And like Serena Williams, the most well known probably woman in America who had a blood clot and almost died from her. Her blood clot, who had a history of blood clots, who knew she had blood clots, still almost died. So it is this postpartum period that is the most dangerous time in your life.

[Aaron]

Erin, how long does that period last? Like from the time you give birth? Like, how long are you at a greater risk?

[Dr. Nance]

You know, most of the time, the majority of time, if you're going to have a postpartum infection or significant blood clot, it's happening within the first few weeks. Most of the times it's actually almost immediately after birth. But it is just a time where you should have heightened awareness of anything that does not seem right in your body and it makes it hard.

[Aaron]

Right.

[Dr. Nance]

If you're a first time mom, you don't know the difference. In your case, you had already had a C section, so you knew. Why is my arm hurting more than my C section?

[Aaron]

Yeah.

[Dr. Nance]

Okay. Right. Deep down you knew. You knew all along. You knew all along that your arm was the problem.

[Aaron]

I'm going to ask you to describe this just because people can't. I see it. Can you just tell us what exactly you lost, amputation wise?

[Christina]

So luckily for me, and I say luckily because there are other cases from also sepsis and septic shock that do end up in far worse amputations where it is a lot harder to navigate prosthetics and things like that. But I received both below elbow. So I have a lot longer arms where I'm able to reach a lot more things. And then I also have upper limb prosthetics. They are myoelectric and what that means is that they open and close and they are functional and they look like hands. And I Also have like aesthetic looking hands. They're not functional, but they do look a lot like my hands, like my hands that I used to have. And I want to shout out where I got those made. I got those made in Carrollton, Texas at Lifelike Laboratory. And they actually make a lot of prosthetics for people who have lost like just one toe, just one finger, limbs, things like that to make them look just like the limb that they lost. And it's really cool. I also am double below knee amputations and I do use pin lock prosthetics. And what that means is that you slip on a liner and it kind of looks like like a rubbery sock that you roll up your leg and it has a screw at the end and you pin it inside your prosthetic and that is how it stays secure. And then you just press a button and that is how it pops off. So something else that people don't know or people have the misconception of is that once you get out of the hospital, you walk out with prosthetics. And that is not true. So in my case, I had to do a lot of physical therapy to get strong from being in a bed for three months. I did do some physical therapy while I was in the hospital, but of course it's not as advanced as you could do outside of the hospital. So I went to a inpatient rehab at Tir Memorial Herman in Houston, and I was able to rock it in two weeks. And I was like, I'm too far from my babies. I need to just do really good and get home. You're motivated? Yes, I was very motivated. So I went to Tier and then I was released in two weeks. And then I went to cfi, which is center for the Intrepid at Bamsea Medical Hospital at the base in San Antonio. And what they do is they're a military rehabilitation center and they usually only let military people go there. But since my doctors were awesome and my physical therapists were awesome, they all wrote me recommendation letters and were like, you need this girl at your rehab. And they were able to grant us access to center for the Intrepid. So I was able to go there for physical and occupational therapy for 10 months. Wow. It was kind of surreal because it's like everyday things that you used to do all the time, like brushing your teeth, you never think that you would have to learn how to brush your teeth, how to brush your hair, how to go to the restroom, which is probably one of the most intimidating ones, especially in social settings. Like, I have to take that extra step to think about even the clothes I'm gonna wear. If I'm going out with friends, I don't want them to have to help me pull my pants down. So having to take those extra, extra steps and worrying about what to wear and fastening buttons, zippers, getting things from the fridge. My occupational therapy at tier, something we really focused on and relied and worked heavily on was activities with my kids. And we did puzzles together, we did little arts and crafts things and things, you know, you just like to do with your babies. And we would play outside when the kids would come on the weekends. Throwing the ball, catching the ball, and just being surrounded by my babies is what really got me through it. Because I said, if I'm sad and if I'm not happy and if I'm not smiling and if I'm not being this person that I want my babies to be, who are they going to think I really am? Being sad and depressed and angry all the time is not who I really am. And so I want to show them the fun side of mama, the happy side of mom, the silly side of mom, and they get to see that every day. That's what I rather put forth than being angry. And after being released from the hospital in February, I was able to go back to work. My work was very accommodating. They were like, what do you need? What can we get you? Whatever you need, we're gonna help you. And I feel like that was a pivotal moment for me, going back to work, because I really value what I do because it is part of my community, you know, being a school psychologist, but also, you know, who I work with. I really love my work friends, and I feel like without them, I would have never made it through this dark period in my life. And having them around me really brought me through such a dark time. And now I'm also going back to school for my doctorate in special education. So I want to do it all. I want to prove that no matter what is thrown your way in life, I want to prove that you can do it, no matter what. No matter what. You can be a mom, you can be a wife, you can be a daughter, you can be a friend. You can achieve your goals no matter what is thrown at you in life, because you only have one life, and especially if you're given a second chance, you have all the more reason to do what you want to do in this life.

[Aaron]

You are so freaking inspiring, and I love that that's what you came out of this with. With, like, I was given an obstacle. Screw it. I'm gonna do it anyway. Yeah, I'm gonna do it anyway. I'm gonna do all the things I thought about doing before. Maybe a little bit differently, but I'm still gonna do them.

[Christina]

Exactly.

[Dr. Nance]

And, Christina, I'll end with asking you, how do you think your daughter sees you?

[Christina]

Oh, good question. That's a good question. She's only two, but she doesn't see me in any different way. I feel like she treats me like her mom. And we do makeup together. We do skincare together. She was like, are you doing skincare? Are you doing makeup? Mom, can I do makeup with you? And when she sees me at my vanity, she just wants to be with mom. And I just love that she doesn't see me any differently than just her mom. And that's all I could ever want for both my kids is that as long as they see me as just their mom and I'm raising them just as I have always wanted to raise them. Nothing different besides having a disability. I think she sees me as I have always wanted to be seen. And probably one day she's going to have more questions. How did this happen to you? She's going to know. It was right after I gave birth to her, but it had. I want to reiterate, you know, not only to her, but to everyone, is it had nothing to do with the birth. And I don't want to scare anyone from having kids because it had nothing to do with my pregnancy. I had the most healthy pregnancy. It had nothing to do with my birth. I had a healthy C section. And it had nothing to do with my daughter, because she came out the healthiest, most beautiful baby ever. And it was all because of the IV and then negligence. So when I explained that to her, she's gonna know that, and we'll talk about it, move on from it, and I'll teach her, you know, things are gonna happen in your life, and things happened in mommy's life. And if I was gonna choose my life or my limbs, I am so happy I chose my life, and I'm gonna live it and be your mama forever.

[Dr. Nance]

Well, that was beautiful. And again, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your story.

[Christina]

Thank you. It was so nice meeting you.

[Aaron]

So this episode, as someone who has not had a child, I think I sometimes don't really realize just how hard it is to be pregnant. And then what I really learned in this episode, which I kind of knew a little bit before, but I think I know A lot more clearly is just how much higher mortality rates are for women of color when they give birth. And that is a problem. I don't know the solution to that problem. I mean, end racism is not an easy task, but it is dramatically affecting how women give birth, but also how they're treated after birth as well.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah. And I mean, to be quite honest, what happened to Christina, the birth was really a subplot. Right. Anyone could have an IV be placed and have a complication from the iv. Now, the fact that she was just recovering from a massive surgery and giving birth probably made her more susceptible to what ended up becoming a septic shock reaction to a local infection. But the statistics don't lie. And I think it's part of a larger conversation just about how people who are minorities receive substandard care in certain cases. It's not every time, but we have to, I think, acknowledge that it's a trend.

[Aaron]

It's a trend. You can't say that it's inconsequential when the numbers show otherwise. Right.

[Dr. Nance]

I mean, it has consequences. And this is systemic. This is in every state. This is, you know, it's with female doctors, it's with male doctors, it's with doctors who themselves are minorities. Although they do show, actually you are in safer hands if you are being taken care of by a black female doctor, I think, than any cohort of physicians.

[Aaron]

Wow.

[Dr. Nance]

Yes.

[Aaron]

Shout out to our black female doctors, you guys really are the best.

[Christina]

Correct.

[Dr. Nance]

There you go. It should be acknowledged and celebrated, we should say so.

[Aaron]

I just did a little Google to see what exists out there in Texas textbooks because we've been talking about it a little bit and I found this publisher that in 2017 had to delete basically a section of their book and rewrite it. The book was Nursing a Concept Based Approach to Learning. So this was a nurse's textbook. And in it it actually contains headings which are different races and how they respond differently to pain. And this was only, you know, about eight years ago.

[Christina]

So.

[Aaron]

I feel even uncomfortable reading some of this, Aaron. But we'll start with Arabs and Muslims. It says they may not request pain medicine, but instead think all of her pain if it is a result of the healing medical process.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah. And I think, you know, a lot of this is probably based on stereotypes, obviously. And the point is, is that each individual, their pain levels need to be assessed. I think there's a difference between offering culturally competent care where you are familiar with some of the cultural differences. Right. I even remember I was taking care of a Hasidic woman and her husband wouldn't let any of the male doctors come in and perform certain tasks. And again, it's, I think, helpful for us to be educated on what are some of these cultural differences. But to then just stereotype an entire culture is highly problematic.

[Aaron]

I mean, I'm going to just read you a couple more of these because they're pretty terrible. Blacks believe suffering and pain are inevitable. Jews may be vocal and demand assistance. Hispanics may believe that pain is a form of punishment and that suffering must be endured if they are to enter into heaven. How did this ever get approved? It's so incredibly racist. Like, it's so obviously racist. I'm feeling uncomfortable reading it. And there's some I can't even read because they're so, so bad. Here's what I'm going to do, because I think this is really important. We're going to put this on our Instagram. If you want to read all the racist things that were in a medical textbook until 2017, you can read it there. And we will credit the source. But it's. It's not that long ago, guys. It's not like this was in the 70s, like, people talk about. This was in 2017.

[Dr. Nance]

And I think the reason why we're even bringing it up is to have a little more understanding as to why you may think a provider is treating you or mistreating you a certain way. And it's because it has been part of the teaching, and a lot of times you have to unlearn certain things.

[Aaron]

And I think for change to happen in the medical community, it also requires change to happen in medical teaching, in the educational process. It's not going to just happen by us talking to doctors. We need to find instances where it's. Excuse my French. Pretty effed up and an advocate for change.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah, I mean, the first step is to even acknowledge that it exists and is ongoing. And then we understand how we got there and then what we can do to make that change.

[Aaron]

I would also say something that I really took away from this episode that, you know, honestly was a really great time for me because I think that. That I'm a little frustrated with some of my progress and some things right now. And just hearing her talk about what has changed in her life, what she's essentially had to, I don't want to say give up, but do so differently in a lot of ways more. More difficultly, but still being able to find that hope and that positivity and that compassion on the other side of such a difficult situation is honestly so incredibly inspiring. And I don't. I don't want to make it a trope because I don't think it's easy what she's done. And I think. I think, you know, at all times, life can be difficult, but in her situation, every day, it's difficult. And she still chooses to not let that be the focus of her existence and not let that be a barrier to her ability to show up for not only the people she cares about, but for the causes and the communities she cares about. And I think that is just. You know, I said it before and I'll say it again. Those are the type of people this world needs.

[Dr. Nance]

Yeah. And the fact that she has chosen to be public about her story and be on social media and showing what a day in the life is like for her, and, you know, this was her story. We need to see that. We need to see that.

[Aaron]

We do need to see that. And I think also, like, she could have taken her really good prosthetics and kind of just blended in. And I think by standing out and telling people, it opens this level of narrative of understanding. And also I think it widens our perspective of what people with disabilities are capable of doing. I think that they may do things differently, but. But they're still fully capable of doing everything we do just in a different way.

[Dr. Nance]

Absolutely. She's holding down a job. She is taking care of two kids.

[Aaron]

She is doing everything. She's doing everything. And if I had to bet on anyone, I'd bet on her. It would bet on her for sure.

[Dr. Nance]

For anyone else who is interested in making an impact by having their stories shared with, please feel free to email our producer, [e-mail] and if you really.

[Aaron]

Like this episode, or you just like us, go ahead and leave us a review and a comment wherever you listen to this podcast. It helps us continue to make great episodes like this.

[Dr. Nance]

Yes. And especially for this one, we would love if you shared it with anyone, you know, who is pregnant or even considering becoming a mom anytime soon. Because as I said, the point is not to scare women, but let women understand the risks, the real life and death risks that are involved in the process of having a baby in America in 2025.

[Aaron]

Yep. And also really good advice on how to advocate for yourself just in case something does go wrong.

[Dr. Nance]

All right, until next week.

[Aaron]

See you guys later. The Medical Detectives is a soft skills media production produced by Molly Biscar. Sound designed by Shane Drause if you have a medical story you'd like to see featured on the Medical Detectives, please email it to stories medicaldetectivespodcast.com the information.

[Dr. Nance]

Provided on the Medical Detectives is for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. While we may feature licensed medical professionals, including doctors, we are not your personal doctors and no doctor patient relationship is established by listening to this podcast or interacting with our content. All discussions are general in nature and may not apply to your specific health situation. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare professional before making any medical decisions or taking any action based on the content of this podcast. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking treatment because of something you have heard on this show. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please contact emergency services immediately or consult.

[Christina]

A qualified healthcare provider.