A 39-year-old woman has had both legs and an arm amputated within 11 days after going into hospital with tummy pains.
Monika Tothne Kaponya, from the Hungarian city of Pecs on the slopes of the Mecsek Mountains, said she used to be very active and worked two jobs as a shop manager and part-time cleaner before her life was changed forever.
She told the news site Pecs Aktual that she started to suffer from severe abdominal pain one day in January this year and was taken to A&E as a result.
Doctors found that her stomach was perforated and ruptured, also discovering thrombosis in her limbs and stomach.
In three months, Monika underwent 16 operations with doctors also diagnosing a genetic vascular disorder that causes vascular occlusions and severe thrombosis.
She said the doctors were unable to repair every major vein and were left with no choice but to amputate her affected limbs.
In just 11 days, Monika lost two legs and an arm.
Doctors first amputated the young woman’s left leg on 1st March, but she was told days later that they were unable to save her right leg as well.
Four days after losing both legs, she received the news that she was dreading, her left arm needed to be amputated too.
She turned to her doctor and asked: “Are you saying I’m going to go home without my limbs?”
Monika’s mother Margit recalled how her daughter phoned her from hospital after hearing the news, pleading: “Mum, this cannot happen, right?”
Monika said that Margit and her husband Peter have been taking care of her since returning home.
She added that Peter had to quit his job to become her home carer.
The young woman admitted that the situation left her shocked and she was unable to go outside for several weeks.
She added that the most difficult thing is bathing, and that Peter has to help her with that and many other everyday routines.
Monika also said that she occasionally suffers with ‘phantom pain’ in her lost limbs and that the emotional toll has her left her needing counselling to help cope.
