PLANTATION, FLA. (WSVN) - A young woman paid a special visit to the frontline workers who treated her after she suffered a life-threatening illness.
Katherine Nava on Saturday morning reunited with the medical team that saved her life.
“Today’s a very special day because I’m coming back to the hospital where I was at for a week and where they did the surgery,” she said, “and I’m getting to come back as a visitor and get to see all the doctors that took care of me and all the staff.”
Nava embarked on a family vacation to Dominican Republic in July. The joyful retreat went south when the 19-year-old began experiencing severe stomach pain.
“I had a lot of pain in my stomach, but I thought it was normal ’cause, ever since I was little, I used to get like stomach pains,” she said, “but then they would go away once I would go to sleep and wake up. But this time it wouldn’t go away, and it was like constantly hurting, hurting and hurting.”
Nava’s family rushed her to HCA Florida Westside Hospital in Plantation.
Nava said she was told her intestine was twisted, requiring a team of doctors to spring into action.
“It actually ended up being a life-threatening illness where she was at risk for death of a part of her intestine and just being in a bad medical situation,” said colon/rectal surgeon Dr. Joseph Corallo. “Luckily, that was quickly identified, and with the help of Dr. Shankur, we were able to diagnose it.”
Nava underwent a robotic colectomy surgery, a procedure to remove part of her colon.
“We were actually able to take her to the operating room for a very technically difficult operation where we were able to remove the affected part of her colon without actually putting an incision in her abdomen,” said Corallo.
The surgery was a success. Now, as a token of gratitude, Nava wanted to express her profound appreciation to the team that played a pivotal role in her recovery.
“It’s really nice to be back here again and be able to say thank you to all of them,” said Nava.
“Everybody was amazing, the staff, the nurses, doctor, everybody was amazing with my daughter, also with me, so I was very thankful for everybody here,” said Susanan Benejam, Nava’s mother.
The occasion served as a reminder of the extraordinary dedication of healthcare professionals.
“I felt that it was important for this beautiful young girl to really have the best possible outcome that she could,” said Corallo, “and I think the proof is that two weeks after surgery, she was out, enjoying water parks with her family and back in school.”
Nava said that before the surgery, she would get stomach pains every now and then, ever since she was little. After recovering, she has been able to go to beaches and pools with no problem.
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