Cares4Kayla

Kayla Noel Thompson (our once healthy daughter) passed away on August 27, 2007 at the age of 18. 

Less than two years prior, she had a knee surgery (bi-lateral release).  Almost immediately afterward, she developed an infection at the site of the incision.  The Orthopedic surgeon ordered an MRI and said that the results showed no infection.  He promised us that she would be fine and back to normal in a matter of weeks.  This was not the case, however.  The infection began eating a hole in her leg (large enough to contain 12 feet of packing material).  She was in constant pain so we kept taking her back to the original doctor.  The original surgeon decided he did not want to see her anymore so we had to take her elsewhere.

She was eventually hospitalized at another hospital.  New tests confirmed that she had MRSA (which eventually led to Osteomyelitis).  She underwent hyperbaric chamber treatments and multiple surgeries (approximately 25 in a 2 year period at various hospitals).  After each additional surgery, we were assured that Kayla's leg would heal.  All in all, Kayla was seen at 6 Louisiana Hospitals and admitted into five.

One of the hospitals was located an hour away from home so there were some nights that we could not be there with her.  One morning, Kayla called us from her cell phone crying.  She had been lying in a wet bed all night long.  She told us that she had reported the incident to the Nurse's station several times and no one had ever responded.  While my mother and father were on their way up there, I managed to contact the hospital administrator and complained.  I was assured this would not happen again.  My parents were the ones that ended up having to change Kayla's bed covers. A wet bed is a breading ground for all sorts of bacteria and germs and how hospital staff could allow this to happen is beyond me.

Home Health became a necessity as Kayla needed an array of  IV medications .  I cannot even begin to list all of the pain medications, antibiotics and other drugs these different doctors prescribed to her (a full list is being compiled and will be added shortly).  Her veins began to weaken and they could no longer insert IV lines.  She had a PIC line (a tube inserted in the arm and leading to the heart) twice, which caused another infection and then eventually during the summer of 2007 a Central Line (a tube inserted in the chest, through the artery of the neck and into the heart).  The Central Line developed a leak and her neck swole up the size of an orange. Again, she had to be taken to the hospital where the line could be removed.  This leaky Central Line resulted in the formation of a blood clot in her neck.

In early 2007, Kayla had to be rushed by ambulance to the emergency room because we had found her slumped over in her computer chair and she was unresponsive.  At that time we were told that Kayla's heart was enlarged and she was placed in ICU for 3 or 4 days before being released. 

The Vascular Surgeon responsible for the Central Line incident began accusing Kayla of  purposefully tampering with the Central Line (though she would have had to have magical powers in order to climb inside her own vein and puncture it). He became increasingly angry with Kayla. Prior to one of her surgeries he was attempting to insert an IV with great difficulty due to the condition of her veins.  He stuck her more than 20 times in her hand, arm, and even the infected leg and foot (see below).  When he did finally get an IV inserted, it too leaked and caused her hand to swell so ithe IV had to be removed (pictured below).  This same doctor accused Kayla of abusing her medications and accusing us of enabling. He said that "patients are not to be trusted" and "the patient's family are not to be trusted" either. At this point, Kayla demanded to be drug tested.  The tests concluded that there was not any drug in her system aside from the prescribed amount of medications.  We had him removed from her case.

As if the child had not been through enough, there were little black bugs in her hospital bed. We do not know what type of bugs they were, but Kayla was smart enough to snap photos of them using her cell phone (see below).   

  We had asked the Doctor before what was to become her final surgery about using ultrasound to dissolve the blood clot.  He told us that type of procedure could not be done due to the location of the blood clot. Instead, we were told Kayla would need to be on Blood Thinners to prevent the blood clot from moving.  However, upon release, the prescription was not given to us.  We took her back to the doctor the following Thursday after her release from the hospital to see about getting the prescription (we had already received the special dietary instructions that were to go along with the blood thinner meds) but he suggested she see the Vascular Surgeon first.  Her appointment to see the Vascular Surgeon was on Wednesday but she died that Monday morning.

Kayla desperately wanted her leg to be amputated so that she could get on with her life.  She had even researched prosthetics online and had selected the type she wanted to receive. We asked to have that done many times but the doctor always said "that is not a route I want to take." Shouldn't it have been her decision?  The physician wanted to continue a round of treatments that entailed surgically placing antibiotic beads into the infected area of the bone in Kayla's leg.  She had had this procedure done a multiple of times and still the infection remained.

The Saturday before Kayla died, she had come into the living room and stated that she was worried that the blood clot would move to her brain or her heart.  She was so scared.  We all were.

We have been awaiting an Autopsy Report and Death Certificate since August (as of this posting it is March 19, 2008).  All we have been told so far is that the infection had spread throughout her body (something that doctor after doctor had assured us had not happened). We have been told it could take up to a year to get the official report.  I have recently contacted my Congressmen, Senators, and Local Newspapers as well as a few National Newspapers. 

Meanwhile, the attorney that we had hired prior to Kayla's death, suddenly decided he did not want to represent us (without ever having viewed all of the medical records or seeing the autopsy report).  We are still desperately trying to seek representation from outside the borders of Louisiana to prevent any possible influence from the local medical industry. 

So many things happened during that two year period (and since) that I know I may be forgetting important details.  As I remember events, I will be revising.