Chehalis resident Michelle Mackey, who owns the Rise & Grind coffee stand in Ashford, is home now and fully focused on her recovery following a life-threatening medical ordeal in San Jose, Costa Rica, in January.
Mackey and her boyfriend, Jack Chambers, traveled to Costa Rica for what she hoped would be a discounted dental procedure followed by a leisurely recovery and an escape from winter in Costa Rica’s tropical jungles.
Dental clinics stateside had told Mackey it would cost around $25,000 for the procedures she needed, and that was not counting the cost of anesthesia. Even accounting for airfare and hotels, traveling to Costa Rica for the procedures would have still saved her almost $15,000.
“We go to the Caribbean and it’ll be fine, it’ll be a good time. Maybe we’ll see a sloth, but no, that’s not how it turned out,” Mackey told The Chronicle.
The plan was for Mackey to undergo dental surgery for rod implants and veneers, but when the anesthesia was applied incorrectly, she immediately went into cardiac arrest. The procedure took place at the Star Dental Implant Center.
While doctors initially thought she had a reaction to the anesthesia, they now suspect the anesthesiologist incorrectly administered the anesthesia, leading to Mackey suffering cardiac arrest.
“The theories are they pushed it too fast or they weren’t monitoring me. We don’t know for sure if the anesthesiologist was negligent or not. We’re still waiting to get all of the medical records,” Mackey said.
She was given CPR for half an hour following the cardiac arrest and then transferred to Hospital CIMA in a coma. She remained in the intensive care unit for two weeks. Chambers remained with her throughout the ordeal and the couple was joined by Mackey’s sister as well.
Hospital CIMA is a private hospital that was charging $15,000 per day for Mackey to receive treatment and remain there. Mackey said the hospital refused to transfer her to a cheaper, state-run hospital until she was in a stable condition.
Aside from worries about possible nerve damage, Mackey suffered a collapsed lung from the CPR, as well as necrosis in her arm from an improperly administered epinephrine IV that also caused another medical issue.
“They gave me epi through my IV, which you’re only supposed to give it through a central line, but they shot me up probably five times with epi. It OD’d me, which is what made my kidneys fail,” Mackey said.
She also had to receive skin grafts on her arm to repair damage caused by the epinephrine necrosis. Additionally, doctors also feared Mackey suffered a puncture in her trachea and kept her sedated while they attempted to schedule a surgery to repair it.
“They told my sister if she gave them $15,000 that they would schedule and do my surgery. She gave them $20,000 and then they kicked me out and transferred me to a public hospital, finally, where within six hours they pulled my intubation tube out and said that I didn’t have a hole in my trachea,” Mackey said. “There was no sign or scar tissue from ever having a hole in my trachea.”
She was transferred after her total medical bill at CIMA was right around $200,000.
Three days after being transferred to the public hospital, she was finally flown to the Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she remained in the intensive care unit for another week undergoing various treatments, including dialysis.
She ended up spending almost three weeks recovering in Florida and finally returned to Chehalis on Feb. 18. Mackey has almost fully recovered now, no longer needing dialysis but still suffering from one lingering issue: partial vision loss.
While comatose, it appeared Mackey suffered a number of ministrokes, but doctors now believe what was really happening was swelling occurring in her brain that can appear on scans as ministrokes. Swelling in the brain would also account for the vision loss.
Mackey has more tests and meetings with both an ophthalmologist and a neuro-ophthalmologist scheduled to try to find out more, though she added her vision has slowly been getting better as the swelling in her brain continues going down.
“I can’t read. I can’t see detail. My depth perception is off and I have a couple of blind spots,” Mackey said.
Of the $200,000 originally owed to Hospital CIMA, Mackey said she still owes around $80,000. While she did purchase travel insurance before going to Costa Rica, the insurance company did not honor her claim.
“Because I went down seeking a medical procedure, they did not honor any of it,” Mackey added.
She has received a refund from Star Dental Implant Center for the original procedure she paid for.
This past Sunday, Mackey attended a fundraiser set up by her friends and family at McFiler’s Chehalis Theater which featured a silent benefit auction that netted her $7,500 toward paying off the Hospital CIMA bill.
Mackey is still accepting donations toward her medical bills through the GoFundMe originally set up in January, which can be found online at https://gofund.me/c70eaf95. As of Wednesday morning, a total of $75,803 had been raised.
Donations can also be made in-person at five businesses:
• Olympia Roof Doctor, located at 8120 Old Highway 99 SE in Tumwater
• Chehalis Roof Doctor, located at 1522 Bishop Road in Chehalis
• Mill Haus Cider Co. and Taproom, located at 303 Center St. E. in Eatonville
• Cedar Village IGA, located at 206 E. Walnut St. in Winlock
• Rise & Grind coffee stand, located at 29716 state Route 706 E. in Ashford
Mackey, her family and friends thank the community for their continued prayers and support.
