A mother of six who lost her lips and several limbs after complications from a hysterectomy has described the devastating effect the ordeal has had on her life.
Trisha Stevens, 46, of Boring, Oregon, had both legs and her left hand amputated after developing sepsis following surgery in October 2024. She also lost part of her lips to necrosis.
She has sued three doctors and two Portland-area hospitals, alleging that delays in recognizing and treating signs of infection meant vital time was lost to save her limbs.
Speaking through her attorney, Rhett Fraser, Stevens said this week that she has been unable to eat solid food or care for her children as she once did.
Fraser said his client continues to cope with “chronic pain, wounds, recurring infections, bowel and bladder problems, and the lasting effects of multi-organ failure,” as well as undergoing “major skin-grafting procedures.”
“Activities that most people do without thinking—getting dressed, getting into a car, moving through her home, caring for their body, speaking clearly, or helping their children—now take planning, equipment, and help,” he told Our News Outlet in an email.
“Eating is still difficult for Ms Stevens. Because she lost part of her tongue and lips, has facial scarring, and has lasting changes to her mouth, she cannot eat normal solid foods the way she once was able.”
The homemaker has been supported throughout the past two years of a grueling recovery by her husband, Brian, a firefighter. She also lost a favorite tattoo celebrating her Christian faith during her first amputation.
Oregon mother-of-six Trisha Stevens lost her hands, legs and lips after complications from hysterectomy surgery, according to a new $68.5 million lawsuit.
Stevens, 46, has sued three doctors and two Portland-area hospitals, alleging that crucial sepsis treatment was delayed because symptoms requiring urgent surgery were not properly diagnosed. She is pictured fighting for her life in hospital, surrounded by her children.
“Before this happened, Ms. Stevens had a tattoo on her right foot that said, ‘Walk By Faith,’” Fraser told Our News Outlet.
“That tattoo was lost when her legs were amputated, but those words were not. Those words have become the way the family lives.”
The attorney said Stevens’ children, who were between seven and 21 years old when she underwent the hysterectomy, have been forced to confront the trauma at a young age and “grow up a lot faster” as a result.
“They know that their mom is paralyzed and cannot simply get up and run to them or hold them in the same easy way she once did,” he said.
“When they come close to her and wrap their arms around her, those hugs remind her why she keeps fighting.”
Above all, Stevens misses “the ordinary life she never knew she would come to grieve,” her attorney said.
“She misses being the strong, capable, independent wife and mother who could get up and care for her children,” he wrote.
Stevens is pictured after her amputations with her firefighter husband, Brian, and their six children.
Stevens, whose children were aged between seven and 21 when she underwent the operation, nearly died from the infection. She is pictured above with her firefighter husband, Brian Stevens.
Stevens’ lawsuit, seen by Our News Outlet, says she suffered “catastrophic” injuries after developing sepsis following the removal of her fallopian tubes and a hysterectomy at Bridgetown Medical Group’s Portland center on October 4, 2024.
It takes aim at the surgeon, Dr Alvin Nakamura, for allegedly failing to review pathology results which showed inflammation four days later.
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Instead of this being flagged and treated, Stevens endured increasing pain in her abdomen over the next two weeks, according to her lawsuit.
Stevens said this came to a head when she suffered a ‘sudden tearing and popping sensation’ while walking down the bleacher stairs at her son’s football game.
She called Nakamura’s clinic on October 22 to report continued bleeding at the site of her surgery, passing a blood clot ‘the size of a baseball,’ fever, diarrhea and stomach cramping, according to the lawsuit.
A nurse picked up her call and advised her to ‘rest and hydrate.’ Nakamura told the nurse to instruct Stevens to monitor her bleeding at home and only come in to the hospital if she passed another clot, the filing alleges.
However, roughly 13 hours after the call, at 11.10pm, Stevens’s condition worsened, and she was rushed to the emergency department at Legacy Mount Hood.
Stevens has been supported by her firefighter husband Brian during the last two years of brutal recovery. Their children were aged between seven and 21 at the time of her surgery
The lawsuit takes aim at the surgeon, Dr Alvin Nakamura (pictured) for allegedly failing to review pathology results which showed inflammation four days later
Her lawsuit states that she was suffering with a very high heart rate, low blood pressure, rapid breathing, and was ‘saturating vaginal pads with blood at a rate of three per hour.’
Stevens was diagnosed with peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal lining; lactic acidosis, a buildup of acid in the blood; and acute kidney injury.
Medics later found bacteria in her bloodstream, and said she had gone into septic shock – a rare and often deadly condition.
On-call doctor Gregory Eilers found that the edges of her hysterectomy wound had separated and looked raw, and diagnosed an infection at the site at about 3.24am, according to the lawsuit.
Stevens has sued Eilers in the suit for allegedly failing to recommend surgery at this point, or test for infection inside her abdomen despite her symptoms suggesting she had this.
Several hours later, the on-call general surgeon, Dr Robert Azar, assessed Stevens’s case, and recommended antibiotics, per the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, Stevens’s infection spread throughout her body, causing several of her organs to fail, according to the lawsuit. Dr Azar is also named as a defendant in the suit for allegedly also failing to recommend surgery to clear out the infection.
Stevens said her firefighter husband, Brian, has been her ‘rock’ through two years of recovery
Stevens’ lawsuit, seen by Our News Outlet, states that she suffered ‘catastrophic’ injuries after contracting sepsis following the removal of her fallopian tubes and a hysterectomy at Bridgetown Medical Group’s Portland center (pictured above) on October 4, 2024
On November 6, both of Stevens’s legs were amputated above the knee, followed by her right hand, left thumb, and portions of her left fingers.
Tissue necrosis, the death of cells due to infection, also took away portions of her lips and tongue, while spinal cord damage left her paralyzed from the waist down.
Stevens’s lawsuit claims that the doctors and hospitals involved prior to surgery were negligent for delaying treatment of the abdominal infection.
Our News Outlet has reached out to Stevens, and contacted Bridgetown Medical Group, Dr Alvin Nakamura, Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center, Legacy Health, Dr Gregory Eilers and Dr Robert Azar for comment.
