Kathy's story: Getting to be a mom after a complicated delivery

As director of pharmacy at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Miami, Kathy Estrada sees the impact rehabilitation makes in patients’ lives daily, but only after the birth of her son did she understand how life-changing it can be.

In May 2023, Kathy and her husband were ready to welcome their son, when what had been a normal pregnancy turned into a medical emergency that almost ended Kathy’s life.

During delivery, she had severe complications that progressed into a rare condition known as HELLP syndrome—Hemolysis, Elevated Liver enzyme and Low Platelet levels. It can cause high blood pressure, liver dysfunction and blood clotting difficulties.

“Because of the severity, I also developed disseminated intravascular coagulation, which means I started to bleed out,” Kathy said. “Two and a half hours after I delivered my son, I went into cardiac arrest because my heart had no blood to pump to the rest of my body.”

An extended hospital stay

Doctors spent the next 72 hours trying to save Kathy’s life while her son was transported to the NICU. Doctors gave her less than a 20% chance of survival.

“The news to my family was that I would pass within 24 hours,” Kathy recalled. “They said my liver would rupture. I literally went into multi-organ failure.”

Kathy was put into a medically induced coma for 10 days. During that time, she received a treatment that pulled the blood from her extremities to her brain and heart. This caused her to develop contractures in her hands and feet, which led to necrosis – the death of the cells in the body tissue. Her hands were spared, but she had to have all 10 toes amputated.

Despite the setback, Kathy slowly began to recover. It was then that she knew inpatient rehabilitation was needed—and not just anywhere.

“I felt a sense of urgency,” she said. “The doctor who saved my life reminded me that I almost died, and I needed to stay in the ICU. He helped me remain calm, and about two weeks later he made sure I was admitted to my hospital.”

Thirty-one days after her son’s birth, Kathy left the ICU and was transferred to Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital of Miami for inpatient rehabilitation.

Recovery and rehabilitation

When Kathy arrived at her rehabilitation hospital, she was still on dialysis, and she couldn’t walk or get out of bed on her own.

While her ultimate goal was to be able to take care of her son, she had to start small and learn new ways to perform everyday activities.

During recovery, Kathy’s therapists focused on getting movement back in her hands and feet.

“With my hands, my therapists massaged them at first,” she said. “They were trying to get my fingers to open up on my left hand. On the right hand, they were massaging to get my fingers to bend down. They gave me adaptive tools because I couldn’t even close my hand around a fork to feed myself.”

Kathy was at Encompass Health Miami for three weeks. In addition to her therapy, she was reunited with her co-workers and also her son.

“My family would bring him on weekends, and they even let me bring my dog, Bella, who was my fur baby first,” she said. “Everyone here always wants to know how the baby is, and everyone here knows my mom now. She stayed here with me, and my husband and his mom stayed with the baby.”

Returning home and to work

Kathy continued her recovery at home and in outpatient therapy for several months. She admits there were setbacks—she had to have two additional surgeries on her feet—and it wasn’t easy knowing she missed the first few weeks of her son’s life.

“I fought so hard to be a mom, and it was almost two months I was gone from home,” she said. “I wanted to do skin-to-skin, and I wanted to breast feed. The fact that he was in the NICU for three weeks, and I wasn’t there beside him—that’s real mom guilt.”

But with the setbacks have also come great successes. She has now returned to work at Encompass Health Miami.

In addition to being part of her rehabilitation, her coworkers have witnessed her progress from a wheelchair to a walker, and now she can walk without assistance. Kathy said she’s always loved her work at Encompass Health and the life-changing results that rehabilitation provides, but now has an even deeper appreciation.

“Now, I really understand my patients at a different level,” she said. “Yes, they come for physical rehabilitation, but there is an emotional side. Are there bad days, sure, and that’s what I tell my patients. ‘You just have to enjoy every single day with your family.’”