An American female traveled to Greece — and wound up trapped in the medical center for additional than a thirty day period.
Sandra Gutierrez flew to Crete in late August to show up at a wedding day and do some sightseeing with her sister — other than, soon following arriving, Gutierrez found bruises on her arms and legs, Currently.com noted.
Thanks to a record of anemia, the Seattleite was inclined not to fret as well a lot. But a buddy back house, who is effective as a physician’s assistant, suggested a blood check as a precautionary evaluate.
The 43-year-previous was swiftly identified with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a variety of bone marrow most cancers.
To make issues worse, Gutierrez was trapped in a medical center hundreds of miles absent from dwelling. Thanks to her affliction, she was in threat of developing a fatal mind or lung hemorrhage — a hazard only intensified by the pressurization in an plane cabin.
“The surprising matter was (they reported), ‘You just cannot depart at all. You can not go away simply because you will hemorrhage. You are not able to even go to Athens appropriate now,’” she explained. “There are particular matters my body has to do just before they can say I can safely and securely go back (residence) on a professional flight.”
Gutierrez told These days she expects to be in Greece for at least a month.
“With acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the faster the cure, the much better, and it has to be in-medical center treatment method,” she stated.
Her incapability to travel usually means she’s caught spending out of pocket for clinical providers in a international clinic.
In accordance to a GoFundMe established up to enable pay her healthcare charges, Gutierrez’ coverage has denied her requests to fork out for professional medical fees directly. She’s not absolutely sure how considerably she’ll be expected to pay in the finish.
So significantly Gutierrez has elevated around $98,000 of her $200,000 goal.
She informed a reporter she feels as though she’s been “thrust into another place, yet another healthcare technique.”
Worst of all, she could not even go to her friend’s wedding day on August 27 — or just take any of the facet excursions she’d planned with her sister Julissa.
Prior to touring to Crete, Gutierrez claimed she endured from a two-7 days-long interval, but since she suffered from irregular intervals in the earlier, she did not believe it was cause for issue.
The vexed voyager managed to make a bachelorette party in Crete on August 26, waking up the following early morning to discover the bruises.
“When I acquired to the medical doctor, he was like, ‘You want to go to the crisis home,’” she stated.
Gutierrez said other than the fatigue she assumed was jet lag from traveling, she wasn’t in any kind of soreness.
In addition to having bone marrow cancer, she was diagnosed with a ailment named disseminated intravascular coagulation which causes blood clotting — even though doctors had been able to treat it.
When her platelets are far more usual, she’ll be equipped to go house. Medical professionals guess she can return dwelling in late September. According to the GoFundMe, she’ll very likely begin chemotherapy therapy in Greece.
“We’re shifting in the appropriate route,” she says. “I totally really feel a large amount improved than I did.”
A good friend of a good friend also connected her with Dr. Gail Roboz, a leukemia professional at New York Presbyterian. Gutierrez hopes to full her remedy with Roboz when she returns residence. She has been already equipped to talk to remotely with the medical professional, which she says she is thankful for.
Gutierrez has a phrase of assistance for any individual having symptoms of any kind.
“Slow down and really (pay attention) to your human body,” she stated. “I wasn’t slowing down ample.”
