The ache in Vicki Beauregard’s aspect stored getting worse. Because the ache elevated she grew to become feverish. Her husband, Greg, insisted on taking her to the native hospital. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
Vicki obtained a referral to a liver oncologist at Spectrum Well being. “After which I met Vicki’s physician,” Greg mentioned. “He got here as much as me, shook my hand, and mentioned, ‘I’m Paul Wright.’” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
G. Paul Wright, MD, a surgical oncologist, knew Vicki’s scenario was life-threatening. “We had a surgical vital workforce prepared when she arrived, and we went straight to surgical procedure.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
As surgical procedure started, Dr. Wright discovered that Victoria had misplaced 5 liters of blood. The common human has a complete of 5 liters of blood. The excellent news? The mass on her liver was not most cancers. (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“I wakened and was greeted by a number of individuals,” Vicki mentioned. “I had all these feelings. I noticed how fragile our lives are. I nonetheless catch Greg taking a look at me at occasions and tearing up.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“It was solely later that I realized all the small print of what had occurred, and I used to be so grateful,” Vicki mentioned. “My heroes: Greg and Dr. Wright. And the vital care workforce that saved me.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“Vicki’s was a time-sensitive difficulty,” Dr. Wright mentioned. He advises anybody experiencing extreme ache to hunt solutions. “Take note of ache. If it’s not proper, it’s incorrect.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
“I realized that I ought to by no means brush off signs,” Vicki mentioned. “Don’t be afraid to say you’re in ache.” (Chris Clark | Spectrum Well being Beat)
The ache in her stomach began on Jan. 20, 2022.
It got here on instantly.
“I used to be going to blow it off,” Victoria Beauregard, 56, mentioned. “I’m a wholesome individual. I stroll 3 to five miles a day. I assumed, ‘Possibly it’s one thing I ate?’ The ache was on my proper aspect, in my stomach. I went for a stroll but it surely solely harm extra.”
However the Spring Lake, Michigan, resident couldn’t stroll it off.
Because the ache elevated, she developed a low-grade fever, then vomited.
“Vicki thought it is likely to be fuel, however you don’t get a fever from fuel,” Greg Beauregard, her husband, mentioned. “I insisted on taking her to the emergency division.”
After a go to to a hospital close to dwelling, they have been referred to a liver oncologist at Spectrum Health.
“They despatched an ambulance,” Greg mentioned. “I attempted to comply with that ambulance to Grand Rapids, and I’m a very good driver. However the girl driving that ambulance was quicker than I might sustain.”
Straight to surgical procedure
By the point Greg reached Spectrum Well being, his spouse had already been admitted.
“I used to be drained, I used to be misplaced,” he mentioned. “I used to be within the parking ramp and had no concept the place to go. A lady noticed the look on my face within the parking ramp—she was off shift and heading dwelling, however she circled and supplied to stroll me all the way in which to Vicki’s room.”
Greg later realized the girl was a health care provider at Spectrum Well being.
“It was unbelievable. Everybody there—from housekeeping to safety to the medical workforce—was so sort and useful,” he mentioned. “After which I met Vicki’s physician. He got here as much as me, shook my hand, and mentioned, ‘I’m Paul Wright.’”
G. Paul Wright, MD, a surgical oncologist at Spectrum Well being, defined the remedy plan for his spouse.
“I knew we have been in good arms,” Greg mentioned.
“We had already obtained digital transfers of pictures for Vicki,” Dr. Wright mentioned. “I might see it was a life-threatening scenario. We had a surgical vital workforce prepared when she arrived, and we went straight to surgical procedure.”
Vicki’s assessments confirmed she had inside bleeding and her blood strain had dropped dangerously low, whereas her coronary heart price was elevated.
“Blood strain tends to drop underneath anesthesia, so our surgical workforce was prepped,” Dr. Wright mentioned. “We wouldn’t put her underneath till the purpose of incision. There’s a danger of much more extreme instability when opening the stomach in these conditions, so we needed to be very environment friendly to manage extra blood loss”
As surgical procedure started, Dr. Wright discovered that Vicki had misplaced 5 liters of blood. The common human has a complete of 5 liters of blood.
She had survived the blood loss solely due to a number of transfusions.
The excellent news? The mass on her liver was not most cancers.
“Vicki had a hemangioma,” Dr. Wright mentioned. “That’s a benign tumor made up of blood vessels, and hers had ruptured. There was nothing to cease the bleed. As soon as we eliminated the tumor, the blood loss stopped.”
A swift restoration
When Vicki awoke, she discovered herself within the intensive care unit at Spectrum Health Fred and Lena Meijer Heart Center, the place she obtained extra blood transfusions.
“I wakened and was greeted by a number of individuals,” she mentioned. “I had all these feelings. I noticed how fragile our lives are. I nonetheless catch Greg taking a look at me at occasions and tearing up.”
By the following morning, a Sunday, Vicki received the OK to go away the ICU and transfer to a room at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital.
“By Sunday night, I used to be capable of get off the bed and stroll,” she mentioned. “By Wednesday, Jan. 26, I used to be capable of go dwelling.
“It was solely later that I realized all the small print of what had occurred—and I used to be so grateful,” she mentioned. “My heroes: Greg and Dr. Wright. And the vital care workforce that saved me.”
At a follow-up appointment two weeks later, she was doing effectively.
“Some of these tumors don’t normally come again,” Dr. Wright mentioned. “As a result of Vicki was in any other case a wholesome individual, her restoration was quick.
“My recommendation for anybody in an analogous scenario: Take note of ache. If it’s not proper, it’s incorrect. Vicki’s was a time-sensitive difficulty.”
Vicki additionally gained classes from the expertise.
“I realized that I ought to by no means brush off signs,” she mentioned. “Don’t be afraid to say you’re in ache.”
Search remedy, she mentioned. “It’s price your life.”
“It was a tough expertise, adopted by nice folks,” Greg mentioned. “Dr. Wright is aces to me.”
