Jury awards patient $1.9M over botched surgery

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A Harris County jury has awarded nearly $2 million to a woman whose life was changed forever when she went in for a hysterectomy. She says the surgeon she trusted wasn't the person who actually performed most of the surgery.

The woman says she met with her surgeon, who was employed by Kelsey Seybold, and she thought that he would perform her hysterectomy. It turned out not to be that way and she says it changed her life.

Lauren Williams is still recovering from a surgery that went terribly wrong.

"They damaged my urethra tube, my intestines and my rectum were all damaged," Williams said.

In 2008 she underwent a laparoscopic hysterectomy at Methodist Willowbrook Hospital, never thinking she would end up in a three week medically induced coma, and near death. But it wasn't until she filed a lawsuit against Kelsey-Seybold Clinic and her ob-gyn, Dr. J. Patrick Benge, that she found out a resident performed more than 50 percent of that surgery.

Attorney Chelsie Garza explained, "The big thing to take away is signing a consent form is not signing a blank check. It doesn't allow the doctors to do whatever they want once you're under anesthesia."

Last Friday, a Harris County jury agreed with Williams, awarding her $1.9 million in medical expenses and lost wages.

In a statement, Kelsey-Seybold said, "Kelsey-Seybold's concern is always for our patients. Because the matter is ongoing, Kelsey-Seybold must respectfully refrain from commenting at this time."

"No matter who you think is going to do the surgery, you need to confirm with them verbally that they're going to do the surgery, and not anyone else," stressed attorney Randy Sorrels.

As for Williams, she's already undergone five major surgeries, with more in the future. But she want other patients to learn from her experience.

She said, "The life I once had I can never get back. I was young vibrant, full of life."

Williams has another surgery scheduled in March. She says she would like to get back to work, but she doesn't know when that may happen. Kelsey Seybold does have the option to appeal the verdict, but they haven't said if they will do so.

(Copyright ©2012 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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Giffords returns to rehab hospital after surgery

  TUCSON, AZ -- U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has been transferred back to her rehabilitation hospital in Houston.

The 40-year-old Arizona Democrat had been recuperating at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center since last Wednesday's surgery. That was to implant a synthetic replacement for a portion of her skull that was removed Jan. 8 when Giffords was shot through the brain in an assassination attempt in Tucson.

During that same surgery, doctors gave Giffords a permanent shunt to relieve fluid buildup in her brain.

The Arizona Daily Star says Giffords now is back at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research Memorial Hermann rehabilitation hospital, which is in the same complex as Texas Medical Center.

She's been undergoing intensive therapy at TIRR since late January to recover speech and movement that was affected by her brain injury.

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Doctors: Giffords doing well after surgery

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is said to be doing well after her surgery to replace part of her skull with a plastic implant. Today, her doctors talked about her condition, and continued recovery.

Giffords was shot in early January during a community event in her district in Tuscon, Arizona. It was only weeks later when she was moved to TIRR Memorial Hermann for rehabilitation. Doctors have said her recovery is going well, and this is the next step for her.

Her own skull, which had been preserved, was in pieces and had been contaminated, so doctors opted for the implant. They also placed a shunt, which has permanently been placed under the skin and drains any excess fluid from around her brain into her abdomen.

The congresswoman will be in the hospital until next week, but has continued bedside rehab and will likely head back to TIRR next week.

The doctor would not comment on when she will get to leave rehab, or comment on her future ability to go back to work.

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Rep. Giffords has surgery to repair skull

  HOUSTON -- Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is recuperating from surgery to repair her skull -- another milestone in her recovery from an assassination attempt -- while doctors focus on the upcoming stages of her rehabilitation.

Physicians on Wednesday put a plastic implant in place to fully cover her brain, according to a statement from TIRR Memorial Hermann hospital. The implant replaces a piece of her skull that was removed to relieve swelling after she was shot in the head four months ago in Tucson, Ariz.

Giffords is "recovering well after her surgery today," a hospital statement said.

Her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, who is orbiting Earth on the space shuttle Endeavour, said he kept in touch with his mother-in-law, his identical twin brother Scott, and his wife's chief of staff throughout the surgery, and that he is pleased with how it went.

"She's doing really well. Everything went as planned," Kelly said in a TV interview from space. "Her neurosurgeons are very happy, she's recuperating and she's actually getting back to therapy today. So it went really, really well."

On Thursday, the hospital planned a briefing to give an update on her medical condition and discuss the next steps in her rehabilitation.

Doctors familiar with the procedure and not involved in her care said the implant surgery was fairly routine, will significantly improve her quality of life and help her feel more normal. "It's a very significant milestone in the recovery," said Dr. Robert Friedlander, chair of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

The implant -- or bone flap as doctors call it -- will protect the brain and the skull, Friedlander said. It will allow Giffords to freely move about without her helmet, adorned with the Arizona state flag, for the first time since she began therapy in late January.

In addition, it makes therapy easier because the helmet can be uncomfortable and cumbersome, Friedlander said.

Dr. Reid Thompson, chairman of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said there is also an important psychological element to removing the helmet. "They look in the mirror and they don't see someone who's been injured or shot. They look normal," Thompson said.

The flap itself is custom made, manufactured to slip perfectly into place based on a three-dimensional model of the skull built from a CT image, Thompson said. Usually, the implant is made of clear or white plastic, and tightened into place with titanium screws.

Bill Kolter, a spokesman for Biomet, the manufacturer of Giffords' implants, said the material is porous to allow bone to fuse to the edges of the object in the future.

"She'll look like everyone and when walking down the street you wouldn't know." Thompson said.

Even the shunt -- or tube -- placed in Giffords' head to drain excess spinal fluids from her brain will not ruin the image, Friedlander said.

That tube, which is permanent, is generally placed in the front of the head and is no more than a small bulge under the skin, usually hidden by hair. The tube drains the fluid into the abdomen.

"Externally ... once the swelling is gone, her head will be nice and round the way she was beforehand," Friedlander said.

From the start, doctors have marveled not only at Giffords survival, but also at her recovery.

Within weeks of arriving at TIRR Memorial Hospital in late January, Giffords' family and staff reported she could speak a few words, then sing some songs and string together short sentences. By March, she was able to walk with assistance, according to her doctors, and her personality was shining through.

Still, doctors caution that she has a long recovery ahead of her and have repeatedly talked about reaching a new "normal."

On Monday, according to her staff, Giffords said "good stuff, good stuff" while watching her husband rocket into space.

"She was really excited to be at the launch, really enjoyed it a lot," Kelly said.

Wednesday's operation is considered fairly routine, though there is a 1 percent chance of infection or bleeding, Thompson said. Yet doctors say it wasn't necessary to have Kelly on Earth to go ahead with the surgery.

Not only can closing the hole alleviate some of the headaches associated with brain injuries, it helps prevent any future injury, Thompson said.

The surgery itself is only about 90 minutes long. From start to finish, including recovery from anesthesia and pre-operating preparations, the procedure will take no more than three hours, the doctors said.

And once it's over, the real countdown for Giffords' release will begin, they added.

"That may actually be quite soon," Thompson said.

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Giffords set to undergo skull surgery today

  HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Doctors will replace a piece of Gabrielle Giffords' skull with a plastic implant on Wednesday, another encouraging step in the Arizona congresswoman's recovery from a gunshot to the head more than four months ago.

The surgery -- coming just days after Giffords traveled to Florida to watch her astronaut husband launch into space -- was confirmed to The Associated Press by two people familiar with the congresswoman's care. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the information has not officially been released. Doctors removed a piece of Giffords' skull to allow room for brain swelling shortly after a would-be assassin shot her in the head Jan. 8, critically wounding her, killing six people and injuring 12 others at a political event in her hometown of Tucson, Ariz. The three-term Democratic congresswoman has been wearing a helmet adorned with an Arizona state flag. Doctors said when she arrived in Houston in late January they hoped to do the cranial surgery in May. Dr. Richard Riggs, chair of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said the surgery to place the plastic implant is relatively simple. Recovery is short -- a day or two at the most -- and is mostly from the effects of anesthesia, he said. "This gives her quality of life because she won't have to worry about the helmet and protection when moving around," said Riggs, who is not involved in Giffords' care. The implant is placed under the scalp, allowing hair to grow on top so it is not visible. Riggs said the piece of skull that doctors removed likely was contaminated or shattered by the bullet that pierced the left side of Giffords' brain. That would make the skull unfit to be reattached, which is why doctors would use an implant, Riggs said. Giffords' chief of staff, Pia Carusone, declined to comment on whether Giffords would undergo the surgery on Wednesday. Giffords' doctors do not comment on her condition without approval from her family. Giffords returned to Houston and rehab late Monday from Florida, where she watched her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, rocket into space. When Endeavour's five Americans and one Italian got off the ground on Monday, Giffords watched in private from a wheelchair on the roof of the launch control center and remarked, "good stuff, good stuff," according to her staff. That Giffords would watch the shuttle launch seemed improbable a little more than four months ago. And some patients don't have this type of surgery until after they are released from the hospital. Her doctors have said she has made remarkable progress in what will be a long recovery. The next step will be to release her from the hospital. Then she will continue speech, occupational and physical therapy at an outpatient clinic. (Copyright ©2011 KTRK-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.) Get more Local »

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