A Samba dancer in Brazil who went into hospital for surgery on uterine fibroids was left shocked when she woke up to find that her left arm had been amputated.
Alessandra dos Santos Silva, 35, a passista at the Academicos do Grande Rio school, was admitted to Hospital da Mulher Heloneida Studart in Rio de Janeiro in February after scans last August found growths in her uterus.
Complications from the surgery indicated that she needed a total hysterectomy. Doctors decided they couldn’t save her arm, which had become necrotic.
After the amputation, Ms. Silva was released from the hospital but an appointment a few days later raised serious concerns about her stitches.
The dancer was forced to approach several hospitals before she was admitted.
The series of failures are being investigated by the Rio de Janeiro Health Department and the Civil Police and an inquiry will be held into what happened at the Heloneida Studart Women’s Hospital.
The dancer was admitted to the Heloneida Studart Women’s Hospital for her initial surgery for uterine fibroids on February 3, g1 reported.
She was operated on in the morning but later that evening doctors discovered a haemorrhage and it was decided she would need a total hysterectomy.
Family members visiting the dancer realised that her hand and legs, which were bandaged, were cold, and that her fingers had darkened.
On February 6, her family was told that she needed to be transferred to the State Institute of Cardiology Aloysio de Castro (Iecac), in Botafogo. Family members say by that point, the intubated Ms. Silva’s arm was practically black.
But efforts by doctors there to save her dying limb failed and on February 10, her family was told that she would die without amputation. Ms. Silva’s kidneys and liver were failing.
When Ms Silva woke up, she did not know that her arm had been amputated
She was released on February 15 but when she returned a few weeks later, doctors were very concerned about the condition of her stitches.
Ms Silva was readmitted to hospital on March 4 and would stay for a month before finally being healthy enough to be discharged.
The dancer, who has been engaged for 11 years, said she dreamed of having children.
She doesn’t know how she is going to be able to make a living, either dancing or working in beauty salons with one hand.
‘I want those responsible to pay, for the hospital to take responsibility, because they managed to end my life. They destroyed my work, my career, my dream… everything,’ the passista said.
Her family say she’s only alive thanks to the tireless help of her friends, who fought to get her back into hospital.
