Every now and then there's a hospital horror story that kind of stops you in your tracks. This one, I'm afraid, is one of those stories. It happened to 18-year-old Selena Gray, a first-time mom from Milton, Florida, who gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Serenity on June 26. All was well with Gray's delivery, she says, except for one not-so-minor detail: The plastic tube used to administer the epidural the day before was still in her back — and it would remain there for four agonizing days.
âBasically, my epidural looped itself into my spine,â Gray told Fox 19 last week -- and it left her doctors stumped.
âItâs in a knot in my spine, and theyâve been trying to tug at it and tug at it," she shared at the time. "I havenât been able to get up or move or do anything.â
Making matters worse was the fact that medical staff seemed absolutely baffled by the whole thing.
"They just keep telling me, 'In all my years, I haven't seen anything like this,'" she relayed to Fox 19. "So basically, they're just as shocked as I am."
Desperate for answers -- and to get that epidural out of her back once and for all -- Gray transferred herself to another hospital.
After two days, she was moved from Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, Florida, to nearby Baptist Hospital, where she says doctors were also at odds with what to do.
"They refuse to touch me!" the young mother wrote in a Facebook post on June 27.
So get this: Gray was transferred again by ambulance — this time, to another hospital nearly six hours away. All the while, part of the epidural tube was still lodged in her back.
In a Facebook Live video posted on Friday, Gray described how doctors had tried to âpull and pull at my spine" to remove the tube.
An epidural is normally removed from a mother's back shortly after delivery. But in the video, Gray says that after a medical staff member was unable to remove it, she summoned a neurologist, who was also unsuccessful.Â
It was at this point where things really went awry.Â
Gray claims that the woman tending to her then cut the epidural, even though "she wasn't supposed to."
"She wasn't even supposed to put it in anyways, because she was practicing," Gray explains. âSo basically, they used me as a practice tool."
The remaining piece proved even more difficult to remove, which is why it wound up staying inside Gray for days.
But once Gray reached University of Florida Health Shands Hospital, she finally got the help she deserved. On Saturday, after making a small incision in her back, doctors were able to remove the remainder of the epidural at last.
Gray and her family were over the moon, and the young mom posted an update on Facebook to let concerned friends and family know she was finally on the mend.Â
âI thank everyone for all their prayers and I [thank] God that Shands Hospital was able to remove the epidural out my back last night,â she wrote Saturday. âThey had to make an incision leaving me with stitches but I'm on the road to recovery.â
But sadly, Gray's journey wasn't over yet. Another update came Sunday: She was once again in agonizing pain and unable to move without a walker.
In a video shared by her stepmom, Patricia Alvarado, Gray can be seen hunched over and trying to exit a car but unable to do so without assistance. With careful, pained steps, she makes her way into the house as her boyfriend helps her in.
"Selena came home yesterday, and currently could not walk with out a walker," Alvarado wrote. "She canât stand up and hold Serenity at the same time. This morning which is Day 6 is a completely different story. She is in such agonizing pain she couldnât use the walker to get up, she had to be lifted up off the couch, and is crying in pain."
Making the whole ordeal even more difficult is that it's affected Gray's ability to properly care for her newborn daughter.Â
"She is not doing to[o] good and she is very scared and upset she canât barely walk and she is in agonizing pain," Alvarado continued. "She is also very upset she canât just get up and pick up Serenity. Someone has to bring Serenity to her."
Although there's no word yet on whether the new mom will take legal action against Sacred Heart, for now, she's focused on her recovery.
And so are those who know and love her.
On Facebook, friends, family, and even strangers have left comments of support and concern for the new mom.
"Lord I'm hurting for [you]," wrote one Facebook user. "I hate [that] this happens … boys/men really have no idea about the pain we [bear]. I pray u are better … God has a blessing with your name on it and the hospital can get ready to pay."
"So scary that this can even happen," wrote another.
Speaking with CafeMom, Gray says the entire experience has been an emotional roller coaster.
"During the two days of waiting for the epidural to be removed, I was just praying that I wouldnât be paralyzed and that I was gonna be able to come home to my daughter," she shares.
But the day's pain almost pales in comparison to the sadness Gray feels over not being able to fully care for Serenity.
"This entire experience has left me from being able to hold and feed my baby," she says. "I wanted to breastfeed, but the medication left me from being unable to."
Now back at home, Gray says she still needs a walker to get around, and shares that the hospital didn't give her any pain medication when she left. Still, she's doing the best she can, and hopes that by sharing her story, she's spreading awareness to other new mothers.
Her main message? "Please do your research and be safe!"
As her story continues to go viral, others are no doubt heeding that warning.
