A woman lost more than her love handles after a weight-loss surgery went awry. She lost both her legs.

The woman weighed 278 pounds before she went under the knife and was worried about her health. “I just wanted to live longer, live better you know… I had diabetes, hypertension as my risk factors,” she told CBS Chicago.

That was early November. Then in later November she went back in to repair a perforation. Thanksgiving morning, she began to complain about aches and tingles in her legs.

The notes on her chart racked up comments about the woman’s cold and blue toes, and later had no feeling. She reportedly was losing circulation.

“The doctor that amputated her legs was highly upset and made the statement, ‘Why was I not called in earlier’?” says her lawyer. It took a day and half to get a surgeon in there to save her legs but by then it was too late and her legs were amputated.

She’s now suing the hospital for not monitoring her and said they didn’t spring to action when blood clots developed in her legs, despite a pre-existing condition.

“Simply because someone happens to get ill on a holiday doesn’t mean that their not entitled to that same standard of care, and that clearly, clearly in this case was not abided by,” her lawyer told CBS Chicago.

In a statement, the hospital told CBS Chicago that the surgery has risks and complications and that all patients are well-monitored.

A sad tale that reminds us that it can be a good idea to bring a patient advocate with you when you go in for health care procedures.

Weight-Loss Surgery Led To Woman Losing Her Legs [CBS Chicago]

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