SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Southwest Miami-Dade woman’s potentially life-saving surgery had to be postponed because of a shortage of hospital beds due to surging COVID-19 cases in South Florida.
Leilanni Cruz is in desperate need of, what she calls, a potentially life-saving surgery she said was postponed by Baptist Hospital due to a shortage of beds and staff.
“My surgery has been postponed, and they told me that they are going to continue cancelling until this surge gets better, and from what I see, it’s not getting better,” Cruz said. “I’ve had this problem for two months, and I’m scared it’s going to get worse and worse to the point where we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Cruz said she needs the surgery to remove a node that could be cancerous, but since it’s considered elective, she said her procedure, that was scheduled for this past Tuesday, was pushed back.
“It’s due to this surge,” she said. “They don’t have enough nurses to help out others like patients that are going for elective surgeries, and they don’t have enough of them to spread them out, and I just want to get this done.”
To help alleviate more space, Baptist Health has set up tents outside the hospital to help treat non-COVID patients.
As for Cruz, who has been stressed dealing with this cancer scare, she hopes people take the virus seriously to help free up space in hospitals, so patients like her can get the help they need.
“Patients like me who’ve never had surgery before, you just want to get this done, and the more time you have on your side thinking about it, it makes the anxiety more worse,” Cruz said.
She added the node was found in her neck. When asked about surgery, Cruz said the surgery has been tentatively scheduled for next month, but that could change.
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