‘In good hands’ | Health Beat

The discomfort in her stomach started off on Jan. 20, 2022.

It came on suddenly.

“I was likely to blow it off,” Victoria Beauregard, 56, stated. “I’m a balanced individual. I stroll 3 to 5 miles a working day. I assumed, ‘Maybe it’s something I ate?’ The suffering was on my correct facet, in my abdomen. I went for a wander but it only hurt extra.”

But the Spring Lake, Michigan, resident couldn’t stroll it off.

As the suffering greater, she formulated a low-quality fever, then vomited.

“Vicki believed it could be gasoline, but you never get a fever from gas,” Greg Beauregard, her spouse, stated. “I insisted on having her to the unexpected emergency office.”

Just after a pay a visit to to a hospital around dwelling, they were being referred to a liver oncologist at Spectrum Health and fitness.

“They sent an ambulance,” Greg said. “I tried using to comply with that ambulance to Grand Rapids, and I’m a great driver. But the girl driving that ambulance was quicker than I could continue to keep up.”

Straight to surgical procedures

By the time Greg reached Spectrum Health, his wife had by now been admitted.

“I was worn out, I was lost,” he mentioned. “I was in the parking ramp and had no notion where to go. A lady saw the seem on my confront in the parking ramp—she was off shift and heading property, but she turned all around and supplied to wander me all the way to Vicki’s place.”

Greg afterwards uncovered the girl was a medical doctor at Spectrum Well being.

“It was amazing. Everybody there—from housekeeping to protection to the professional medical team—was so form and helpful,” he claimed. “And then I satisfied Vicki’s physician. He arrived up to me, shook my hand, and stated, ‘I’m Paul Wright.’”

G. Paul Wright, MD, a surgical oncologist at Spectrum Wellbeing, described the cure approach for his wife.

“I realized we have been in excellent arms,” Greg reported.

“We experienced by now gained electronic transfers of photos for Vicki,” Dr. Wright mentioned. “I could see it was a lifetime-threatening predicament. We had a surgical important crew prepared when she arrived, and we went straight to operation.”

Vicki’s checks showed she had internal bleeding and her blood force experienced dropped dangerously very low, while her heart fee was elevated.

“Blood pressure tends to drop under anesthesia, so our surgical team was prepped,” Dr. Wright said. “We wouldn’t place her less than right up until the issue of incision. There is a hazard of even much more extreme instability when opening the abdomen in these predicaments, so we had to be extremely effective to handle much more blood loss”

As surgical procedure commenced, Dr. Wright identified that Vicki experienced lost 5 liters of blood. The ordinary human has a total of 5 liters of blood.

She experienced survived the blood loss only for the reason that of a number of transfusions.

The very good news? The mass on her liver was not cancer.

“Vicki had a hemangioma,” Dr. Wright explained. “That’s a benign tumor created up of blood vessels, and hers had ruptured. There was almost nothing to end the bleed. After we eradicated the tumor, the blood reduction stopped.”

A swift recovery

When Vicki awoke, she located herself in the intense treatment unit at Spectrum Overall health Fred and Lena Meijer Coronary heart Center, the place she been given more blood transfusions.

“I woke up and was greeted by a host of people today,” she reported. “I had all these emotions. I realized how fragile our life are. I even now catch Greg on the lookout at me at situations and tearing up.”

By the upcoming early morning, a Sunday, Vicki received the Alright to depart the ICU and shift to a room at Spectrum Wellness Butterworth Healthcare facility.

“By Sunday evening, I was capable to get out of bed and walk,” she mentioned. “By Wednesday, Jan. 26, I was able to go residence.

“It was only afterwards that I figured out all the details of what experienced happened—and I was so grateful,” she reported. “My heroes: Greg and Dr. Wright. And the significant care team that saved me.”

At a abide by-up appointment two months later on, she was doing very well.

“These sorts of tumors really don’t generally appear back,” Dr. Wright reported. “Because Vicki was otherwise a wholesome person, her recovery was quickly.

“My assistance for everyone in a comparable situation: Fork out focus to pain. If it’s not proper, it’s erroneous. Vicki’s was a time-delicate issue.”

Vicki also gained classes from the expertise.

“I uncovered that I really should never brush off symptoms,” she mentioned. “Don’t be scared to say you are in soreness.”

Seek remedy, she claimed. “It’s truly worth your lifestyle.”

“It was a tough encounter, followed by excellent individuals,” Greg explained. “Dr. Wright is aces to me.”