A mother-of-six who lost her lips and several limbs after a hysterectomy went badly wrong has opened up about the devastating impact the ordeal has had on her life.
asserted
ordeal → lose → life
Trisha Stevens, 46, from Boring, Oregon, had her legs and left hand amputated and lost her lips to necrosis after developing post-surgery sepsis in October 2024.
She has sued three doctors and two Portland-area hospitals for allegedly delaying crucial treatment by failing to diagnose infection symptoms in time to save her limbs.
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She → have → limbs
Speaking with the Daily Mail through her lawyer Rhett Fraser this week, Stevens detailed how she has been left unable to eat solid foods or care for her children since.
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she → speak → children
Fraser said his client has been dealing with 'chronic pain, wounds, recurring infections, bowel and bladder problems, and the lasting effects of multi-organ failure,' while also enduring 'major skin-grafting procedures'.
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client → say → procedures
'Activities that most people do without thinking - getting dressed, getting into a car, moving through her home, caring for their body, speaking clearly, or helping their children - now take planning, equipment, and help,' he told the Daily Mail in an email.
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he → do → email
Because she lost part of her tongue and lips, has facial scarring, and has lasting changes to her mouth, she cannot eat normal solid foods the way she once was able.
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she → lose → foods
'
The homemaker, who has been supported by her firefighter husband Brian during the last two years of brutal recovery, also lost her favorite tattoo, which was an ode to her Christian faith, during the first amputation.
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which → support → amputation
Oregon mother-of-six Trisha Stevens has lost her hands, legs, and lips after her hysterectomy surgery went badly wrong, according to a new $68.5 million lawsuit
Stevens, 46, has sued three doctors and two Portland-area hospitals for allegedly delaying crucial treatment for sepsis by failing to properly diagnose sepsis symptoms which required urgent surgery. She is pictured fighting for her life in hospital surrounded by her children
'
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She → lose → children
Before this happened, Ms. Stevens had a tattoo on her right foot that said, 'Walk By Faith',' Fraser told the Daily Mail.
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Fraser → happen → Mail
That tattoo was lost when her legs were amputated, but those words were not.
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words → lose → ?
Those words have become the way the family lives.'
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family → become → ?
The attorney added that Stevens' children, who were aged between seven and 21 at the time of her hysterectomy, have had to come to terms with the horror at a young age 'and grow up a lot faster' as a result.
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who → add → result
'They know that their mom is paralyzed and cannot simply get up and run to them or hold them in the same easy way she once did,' he said.
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he → know → way
'When they come close to her and wrap their arms around her, those hugs remind her why she keeps fighting.
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she → come → her
'
Amid the horrors, what Stevens misses most of all is simply 'the ordinary life she never knew she would come to grieve,' her lawyer said.
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lawyer → miss → all
'She misses being the strong, capable, independent wife and mother who could get up and care for her children,' he wrote.
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he → miss → children
Stevens is pictured following her amputations with her firefighter husband Brian and six kids
Stevens, whose children were aged between seven and 21 at the time of her operation, almost died from the infection.
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children → picture → infection
She is pictured above with her firefighter husband, Brian Stevens
Stevens's lawsuit, seen by the Daily Mail, states that she suffered 'catastrophic' injuries after contracting sepsis following the removal of her fallopian tubes and a hysterectomy at Bridgetown Medical Group's Portland center on October 4, 2024.
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she → picture → October
It takes aim at the surgeon, Dr Alvin Nakamura, for allegedly failing to review pathology results which showed inflammation four days later.
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which → take → inflammation
Instead of this being flagged and treated, Stevens endured increasing pain in her abdomen over the next two weeks, according to her lawsuit.
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Stevens → flag → lawsuit
Stevens said this came to a head when she suffered a 'sudden tearing and popping sensation' while walking down the bleacher stairs at her son's football game.
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she → say → game
She called Nakamura's clinic on October 22 to report continued bleeding at the site of her surgery, passing a blood clot 'the size of a baseball,' fever, diarrhea and stomach cramping, according to the lawsuit.
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She → call → lawsuit
A nurse picked up her call and advised her to 'rest and hydrate.'
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nurse → pick → her
Nakamura told the nurse to instruct Stevens to monitor her bleeding at home and only come in to the hospital if she passed another clot, the filing alleges.
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filing → tell → clot
However, roughly 13 hours after the call, at 11.10pm, Stevens's condition worsened, and she was rushed to the emergency department at Legacy Mount Hood.
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she → worsen → Hood
The lawsuit takes aim at the surgeon, Dr Alvin Nakamura (pictured) for allegedly failing to review pathology results which showed inflammation four days later
Her lawsuit states that she was suffering with a very high heart rate, low blood pressure, rapid breathing, and was 'saturating vaginal pads with blood at a rate of three per hour.
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she → take → hour
'
Stevens was diagnosed with peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal lining; lactic acidosis, a buildup of acid in the blood; and acute kidney injury.
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Stevens → diagnose → blood
Medics later found bacteria in her bloodstream, and said she had gone into septic shock – a rare and often deadly condition.
On-call doctor Gregory Eilers found that the edges of her hysterectomy wound had separated and looked raw, and diagnosed an infection at the site at about 3.24am, according to the lawsuit.
Stevens has sued Eilers in the suit for allegedly failing to recommend surgery at this point, or test for infection inside her abdomen despite her symptoms suggesting she had this.
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she → find → this
Several hours later, the on-call general surgeon, Dr Robert Azar, assessed Stevens's case, and recommended antibiotics, per the lawsuit.
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surgeon → assess → lawsuit
Meanwhile, Stevens's infection spread throughout her body, causing several of her organs to fail, according to the lawsuit.
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several → spread → lawsuit
Dr Azar is also named as a defendant in the suit for allegedly also failing to recommend surgery to clear out the infection.
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Azar → name → infection
Stevens' lawsuit, seen by the Daily Mail, states that she suffered 'catastrophic' injuries after contracting sepsis following the removal of her fallopian tubes and a hysterectomy at Bridgetown Medical Group's Portland center (pictured above) on October 4, 2024
On November 6, both of Stevens's legs were amputated above the knee, followed by her right hand, left thumb, and portions of her left fingers.
Tissue necrosis, the death of cells due to infection, also took away portions of her lips and tongue, while spinal cord damage left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Stevens's lawsuit claims that the doctors and hospitals involved prior to surgery were negligent for delaying treatment of the abdominal infection.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Stevens, and contacted Bridgetown Medical Group, Dr Alvin Nakamura, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, Legacy Health, Dr Gregory Eilers and Dr Robert Azar for comment.
In full: Lawyer shares how hysterectomy ruined woman's life
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hysterectomy → see → life
Since Ms. Steven's surgery and the critical illness that followed, almost every part of daily life has changed.
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part → follow → life
She has quadruple amputations and is partially paralyzed.
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She → have → amputations
She lives with chronic pain, wounds, recurring infections, bowel and bladder problems, and the lasting effects of the multi-organ failure.
asserted
She → live → failure
Ms. Stevens underwent major skin-grafting procedures and has areas of hair that will never grow back.
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that → undergo → hair
Activities that most people do without thinking -getting dressed, getting into a car, moving through her home, caring for their body, speaking clearly, or helping their children - now take planning, equipment, and help.
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people → do → planning
Because she lost part of her tongue and lips, has facial scarring, and has lasting changes to her mouth, she cannot eat normal solid foods the way she once was able.
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she → lose → foods
She must be careful about texture, chewing, swallowing, and how much she can manage.
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she → manage → much
Speaking can also be difficult.
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Speaking → speak → ?
…and 34 more, not listed.
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