A Routine Gynecological Procedure Led to the Loss of my Fingers and Feet

As told to Jackie DudaIt was September 28, 2023. My 9-year-old son Lucas was just settling in for a new school year. There were signs of cooler weather signaling that fall was in the air. I had a pre-op appointment for a routine outpatient procedure, to remove uterine fibroids so my husband, Alex, and I could try for another baby. I had questions, but my gynecologist seemed rushed and my questions went unanswered. That should have been my first clue. Something didn’t feel right.The procedure took place a few days later, on October 4. I went home the same day. Later in the evening, I couldn’t pee. Or hold anything down. I was also uncharacteristically belligerent and very weak, crawling to the bathroom. We blamed the lingering effects of the anesthesia, but my symptoms were actually red flags for sepsis, the body’s overactive and toxic response to an infection. A real five alarm medical emergency.After I spent the night writhing in agony in a distorted dystopian hell, my husband took me straight to the gynecologist’s office in the morning. We sat in the waiting room for what felt like hours, only to have her dismiss my extreme discomfort as “normal” and send us home with pain medica...