Diagnosed in Mexico with flesh-eating disease, Edmonton woman couldn’t come home for treatment | 24CA News

An Edmonton lady recognized with flesh-eating illness in Mexico could not get a medevac flight residence as a result of Alberta’s well being authority mentioned no hospital beds had been obtainable right here.

Maia Stock, 25, is now out of hospital and awaiting a industrial flight residence.

On Dec. 23, Stock and her mother and father had been sooner or later right into a 10-day trip in Puerto Vallarta.

“At 3 a.m. I woke up and my leg was just super swollen and red and hot to touch,” Stock mentioned in an interview from Mexico. “I had a fever.”

She rushed to the resort physician, who advised her she wanted to get to hospital. She was advised she may lose her leg.

She was recognized with necrotizing fasciitis, also called flesh-eating illness, and pneumonia.

But getting again to Canada for the pressing care she wanted wasn’t potential.

“We were talking to a doctor in Canada too, about getting me home,” Stock advised 24CA News. “He said, ‘You just need to have it right now … you need it now,’ or I could lose my leg.”

Stock’s mom, Barb Wilkinson, spent the following 24 hours attempting to ensure the surgical procedure might go forward.

Stock’s first surgical procedure, in a Puerto Vallarta hospital, was on Boxing Day. She wanted two different operations, the final of which was on Jan. 2.

“It’s so much to navigate,” Wilkinson mentioned.

“Trying to find out what was actually happening and wrong with Maia, and and then negotiate with the insurance and negotiate with the hospital administrators, and then talk with the doctor back in Canada, and especially the crisis [Stock’s diagnosis] on Christmas Day.”

Work to get Stock again to Canada through a medevac flight had began on Dec. 26, earlier than her second surgical procedure.

“They were going to try and get her home. I actually naively assumed that would happen,” mentioned Wilkinson.

The hope was to get Stock residence to see an infectious ailments specialist earlier than her third surgical procedure. 

The household’s journey insurance coverage firm, TuGo, had lined up a medevac flight. But Stock and her mother and father had been advised they needed to keep in Mexico as a result of there was no hospital mattress obtainable for her in Edmonton.

Alberta Health Services responded to a request from 24CA News for remark.

“When a family requests an out-of-country transfer, and provided the patient is stable enough to be transferred, we will do our best to work with the family and health insurance providers to repatriate patients to Alberta,” a spokesperson mentioned in an emailed assertion.

“However, an AHS facility may only accept if they have available resources to provide care.”

Dr. Ripenjot Rai, a Canadian consulting doctor who labored with the household’s journey insurance coverage supplier on Stock’s behalf, mentioned the winter virus season has brought on issues throughout Canada’s health-care system.

“When we were trying to move the patient back, it was quite busy,” Rai mentioned. “I think, generally speaking, beds were scarce all across the board.”

He mentioned having journey insurance coverage can be sure that a affected person will get enough care wherever they’re.

“But generally speaking, this bed shortage, the stresses and strain the health-care system has right now, can certainly affect that.”

Taka Katsube, TuGo’s director of price administration and medical help, mentioned mattress shortages are a recurring subject.

“It’s particularly challenging right now; winter seasonal illnesses, COVID and other respiratory illnesses cause hospital beds to be even more scarce,” Katsube mentioned in a press release.

“We’re seeing many cases go on for several days, even a week, before a bed becomes available or the patient gets better and is discharged.”

Sheila Burns, director of well being and incapacity coverage with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, mentioned travellers ought to preserve the hospital mattress scarcity in thoughts.

“It’s good to be aware that it might take longer than normal to be returned to Canada if you need the continuing care in a hospital here,” Burns mentioned in an interview.

Stock was launched from hospital on Tuesday.

She and her mom have booked a industrial flight to return to Edmonton on Friday.

Stock’s wound requires further care, that means they wanted to discover a seat with enough legroom. With the busy vacationer season it has been a problem. 

But Stock is wanting on the shiny facet. 

“It was scary but … I’ve got both my legs, so that’s a win.”