Dancing her way to a new normal: Texas mom rebuilds life after losing all four limbs
Krystina Pacheco and her husband, Jacob, of Pleasanton, Texas, were ready for the birth of their baby girl in October 2022. They already knew what to expect after having their son. Her birth went smoothly.
"Amelia came out perfect," said Krystina. "She was a healthy, beautiful baby girl with blue eyes. We were just so happy with our little family, but the next night I started feeling some pain in my left arm."
The only hiccup was the soreness where her IV was inserted before her C-section.
"I thought it was strange that I was asking for pain medication more for my arm than I was for my C-section, where they had just cut me open and took out our baby," said Krystina.
A rare complication
Krystina said the nurse who initially inserted the IV didn't like how it went in, so she took it out and reinserted again. Krystina complained multiple times of pain in her arm, but the doctor who examined it said it would heal and discharged her. Two days later, Krystina was back in the same hospital where she had given birth, but this time she was in the ER.
"I started developing symptoms like a fever, cold sweats, chills," said Krystina. "I got really bad stomach problems. I remember taking about three showers because I was sweating so much. I told my husband something's not right."
Sepsis, a bacterial infection, was causing her organs to shut down. The medical team gave her medication to get blood pumping to her major organs, but that redirected blood away from her limbs.
"My hands and feet started turning purple in color and started getting really cold," said Krystina.
She only remembers one other thing before she was put into a medically induced coma for two weeks.
"That last thing my husband told me was, 'You're going to have to fight. You're going to have to push really hard to get through this,'" said Krystina. "'I can't do this without you. Our babies need you. They can't grow up without a mom. They're going to need you. I need you to fight.'"
ASPS Member Surgeon Chandra Ellis, MD, medical director of burn and reconstructive surgery at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, then had to deliver the most devastating news Krystina would ever hear.
"There is not enough blood flow to your hands or your feet in order to save them," said Dr. Ellis, explaining to Krystina. "They will not function like normal hands and feet and will make you sick if not removed. There's no way to bring them back. I'm very sorry, but unfortunately, we're going to have to amputate all four of your limbs."
Krystina said she began crying.
"If there wasn't any blood flow to the limbs, the longer they stayed there, the more it would put her life at risk," said Dr. Ellis. "It's really hard for any patient that you have to be the one to take away things when your job is to reconstruct things and trying to get things back in order."
A new normal
It was an unimaginable loss for the new mother.
"How am I going to have no hands? How am I going to have no feet?" said Krystina. "Especially being a mom. I knew it was going to change my life forever, and I'm not going to be the same mom. I'm not going to be able to be there for my kids the way I want to be. A wife the way I was. I was not going to look the same, and that's what I was most afraid of."
Dr. Ellis explained that amputations would give her the best result to help her get better sooner.
"We are not able to move forward with prosthetics if we don't amputate, and the current state of your limbs is, they will not work," said Krystina. "You're not going to get a chance to walk. I just want to give you the best outcome for life. I think you're going to get that with prosthetics."
Her husband's acceptance of her new body helped her overcome her worst fears.
"I didn't marry her for her hands," said Jacob. "I didn't marry her for her feet. I married her because I love her, and that's been the easiest part. It's just an adjustment. It's not learning how to love each other again."
She was hospitalized for two months before she began physical therapy.
"I knew at that point I needed to work hard," said Krystina. "I needed to be motivated and find what motivates me. All along, I knew what motivated me the most was being a mom to my two babies, and I knew I had to do this for them."
She and her physical therapist decided on her goals. Two came to the forefront.
"I want to be a mom first and foremost," said Krystina. "And I want to dance with my husband again."
The couple enjoyed country dancing when they dated, and on nights they could find a sitter for their oldest son, so she was determined to two-step again. It wasn't an easy journey back to the dance floor.
"Obviously, when this first all happened, I went through a pretty dark period," said Krystina. "I came home and just everything around you and your surroundings kind of changes because you get to see the things you used to do and you're no longer able to do them. Just looking at my kitchen. I'm like, 'Oh, I used to stand up and cook there with my son.' Looking outside, I was like, 'Oh, I used to play outside with my son.' Seeing my baby's room, I'm like, 'I can't even change your diaper. I can't change her clothes, I can't get her ready for bed.'"
Sharing her story helps her to heal
Krystina works as a school psychologist. She realized as a mental health professional, she needed to access the tools she often provided her students with.
"I knew I needed to seek help because I didn't want to rely on unpacking all of these extra emotions we were feeling as a family onto my husband, onto my parents, who were already worried about me," said Krystina. "So, I started talking to a therapist, and I feel like that was crucial for my recovery."
She also shared her story on social media.
"Instead of asking, 'Why did this happen to me? Why me?' I started asking, 'Well, this already happened. How can I use this for a positive thing?'" said Krystina. "How can I use my challenges and my difficulties and my disability? How can I help others?"
The response was unexpected.
"I get thousands of messages that say your story has changed my life," said Krystina. "Your story has inspired me. I've had messages where people say, 'I was going through a really dark period where I didn't think I was going to make it. You helped me see there is good and there's a reason to keep going. I often think my life is hard, and I see you, Krystina, and you're vacuuming with amputations. You're playing with your kids outside with two prosthetic legs. You're brushing your daughter's hair, or you're doing your own makeup. They're like, 'You do your makeup better than I do, so why am I complaining about the little things?'"
Krystina believes she has gotten a second chance at life and makes every effort to enjoy it.
"Ultimately, this could have gone a very different way," said Krystina. "I was given the opportunity to be here and fight for my life to be as normal as possible. I know what normal is now. It doesn't look normal to other people, but for us, we're just living life."
Taking the lead on the dance floor of life
Krystina has since returned to her position with the school system and uses her story to help students overcome challenges in their lives. She is also back in school herself.
"I am pursuing my doctorate in special education," said Krystina. "I want to someday open my own practice in the community. That's been a lifelong goal for me, even before all of this happened."
Krystina has also inspired Dr. Ellis.
"Krystina's story just pushes me to keep trying," Dr. Ellis said. "You never know someone's spirit. You never know if someone is going to end up walking into your office when you really thought they would never get out of the hospital."
Krystina said she still has hard days, but when they come, she remembers her mantra: Mañana será bonito – Tomorrow will be beautiful.
"Not every day looks beautiful," said Krystina. "Maybe the morning was awful, but then I come home, and I hang out with my kids, and they say or do something funny. I'm like, 'Okay, this day wasn't all that awful.'"
Or she two-steps her way to a smile by dancing with her husband.
"I'm the one who's like, 'It's a little hot in here,'" Jacob said. "'I got to sit down.'"
"I'm the one that doesn't want to take a break," said Krystina.
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