Even in her remotest dreams, Iris Oringer of Zichron Yaakov, never thought her birthday present would be 107 blood and other transfusions, while the specialists at HYMC were fighting for her life.
Iris, who celebrated her 37th birthday on November 19, had been carrying twins for 27 weeks, and was hospitalized for early water-breaking.
"During her stay at HYMC, we tried to prolong the pregnancy as much as possible, but we were prepared for the case of an earlier-than-expected birth," explained Prof. Moti Halak, head of Ob-Gyn, whose top specialty is high-risk pregnancy." In accordance, we provided all the required treatments, such as lung-developing therapy for the embryos and preventive antibiotics." Even so,despite the concern, nothing prepared Iris or the Obstetrics staff for the drama that followed.
Last Friday, during the morning doctors' rounds, an infection was detected, and, together with the neonatal ward's specialists, the doctors decided that immediate surgery was necessary. Iris went in for a Caesarean section, during which her twins were born and immediately transferred to the neonatal ward. However, during surgery, the doctors discovered that Iris' condition as much more complicated than they had thought, and she began hemorrhaging due to a fixed placenta, which prevented the womb from contracting. Tens of blood units, plasma and other transfusions were rushed to the OR in order to stabilize her condition. "Specialists from every field were called to the OR - from Urology, Hematology, and of course Ob-Gyn, Anestheseology, and more," said Prof. Halak. "We felt that we were actually fighting for her life at every moment." Besides receiving 25 regular units of blood, Iris got tens more various blood products as well, including the special and expensive "Factor 7", known for blood clotting. All in all it was a very rare case.
After a long while, the staff succeeded in stabilizing Iris and she was transferred to the ICU. To everyone's delight, Iris rapidly recuperated and within a few days was transferred to Ob-Gyn for further supervision and treatment. A week and a half later Iris is here, sitting with her new-born twins - a bit pekid, but healthy and smiling: "It is amazing to think that the blood in my body was entirely replaced and I'm still here. This is a real miracle. It certainly wasn't the sort of present I thought I'd receive for my birthday, but I'm confident that my life was restored. Now all I wish for is that the twins get stronger so that we'll be able to go home."
Prof. Halak summed things up and said, "Without a doubt, there is great satisfaction in observing the success of the quick and complex professional team-work that was performed in Iris' case, despite the enormous struggle. A present for her – and also for us – for her birthday and for Chanuka as well."
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