Dallas ISD retiree Lupe Macias had to put her travels abroad on hold when the abdominal pain she endured for months led her to the emergency room at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center.
The pain that caused the Cedar Hill resident to lose weight and sometimes shake uncontrollably turned out to be a liver abscess that caused an infection that ultimately spread through her bloodstream.
“For months, I couldn’t get answers about this pain that would come and go,” recalls the 73-year-old, who spent 40 years working for the school district. “By February, I was so thin and in so much pain I needed a wheelchair to get from my car to the doctor’s office.”
Lupe would find the help she needed in the ER after the pain spoiled a cruise with her husband.
“It was such a relief to learn that I could receive all the care I needed right there at Methodist Mansfield,” Lupe says. “I knew I was in great hands.”
Lupe and her husband also enjoy attending educational seminars at the hospital led by Methodist Generations, an education and enrichment program for older adults.
“We’ve been attending regularly for several years and have learned so much from the speakers,” she says. “We absolutely love going.”
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GROWTH ON LIVER
Lupe and her husband are avid travelers who enjoy taking cruises to destinations around the world. During a cruise this year, worsening pain in Lupe’s lower right abdomen made it difficult to enjoy the trip.
That experience prompted Lupe to schedule another appointment with her primary care physician, determined to find the source of her symptoms. Her physician immediately recognized the severity of her condition and advised her daughter to take her to the ER.
At Methodist Mansfield, Lupe was evaluated in the emergency department and admitted for further testing. The results revealed something no one expected: a mass on her liver about the size of a peach.
“I was stunned when the doctors showed me the results,” Lupe says. “They told me it was either a tumor or an abscess.”
Additional testing confirmed that the mass was a liver abscess requiring immediate treatment from multiple specialists.
“Finally getting answers from the infectious disease team at Methodist Mansfield changed everything,” Lupe says. “Everything was coordinated so smoothly.”
INFECTION IN BLOOD
The size of the abscess required the interventional radiology team to place a drain and begin removing the infected fluid.
“Her blood cultures showed three different strains of bacteria that needed to be treated, all originating from the liver abscess,” says Austin Akers, MD, infectious disease specialist on the medical staff at Methodist Mansfield.
Lupe also needed a course of targeted intravenous antibiotics to treat the multiple infections spreading through her body, Dr. Akers says.
“At that point, the infection had spread from the liver abscess into her bloodstream,” he says.
Led by Dr. Akers, the care team moved quickly to control the infections and closely monitored Lupe’s progress with frequent testing throughout her hospital stay.
BACK TO TRAVELING
The drain and IV antibiotics successfully cleared the majority of the infection, allowing Lupe to continue her recovery at home.
“The care I received at Methodist Mansfield was exceptional,” Lupe says. “I was thrilled that the infectious disease team developed a treatment plan that worked so well and so quickly.”
After completing her course of antibiotics, Lupe returned for a follow-up visit with Dr. Akers and received the news she had been hoping for: she was infection-free.
“Now I can get back to doing the things I enjoy, like traveling and attending the Generations luncheons,” Lupe says. “I am grateful to have my health back.”