Survivor Dies From Adrenal Surgery Blunder

It is not uncommon for cancer to metastasize outside the beasts.

This was the case for 35 year old Nicole Haynes. In 2011, Nicole underwent a lumpectomy to remove a tumor found on one of her breasts. The following year, another mass was found, this time on an adrenal gland. Her doctors suspected that the mass was not an isolated case of cancer and may be indicative of metastasis. As a precaution, Nicole underwent a keyhole surgery to remove the mass.

A keyhole surgery is a minimally invasive procedure carried out through small incisions and uses high tech imaging cameras such as fiber optics to visualize the area. This type of surgery has become a routine for many survivors because it is minimally invasive, there is very little risk involved and patients are expected to recover faster.

However, things did not go as planned for Nicole’s surgery. She began showing signs of deterioration hours after the procedure was concluded. In order to find out what was causing Nicole’s symptoms, her doctors ordered a CT Scan. Since the hospital’s scanner was broken, she had to be brought to the Conquest Hospital in St. Leonard’s.  The CT Scan revealed that the blood vessels supplying her liver and her gut have been cut off.  She underwent additional surgery in King’s College Hospital in London but died a few weeks later.

Investigation revealed that the wrong vessels were clipped during her surgery. Instead of cutting off the vessels of the adrenal glands, the surgeon mistakenly clipped the vessels supplying her gut and liver. Without proper blood supply, the tissues in her gut and liver starved and began to die.

Both parties are still awaiting the court’s decision on this matter.