By TONY TAGLAVORE, Journal Services
The call came in as “Trauma Stat.”
“Everybody and their mom comes down to the trauma bay,” Dr. Sanaz Leilabadi explains. “We’ve got resources available — CT scan, the OR is available, the blood bank is available to us. Everybody is hands-on-deck waiting for this patient to come, who we expect is unstable.”
Unfortunately for Catherine Bowen, “this patient” was her son.
Marshall Bowen arrived at Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport as this past February 17th turned into the 18th. Ochsner LSU Health was Marshall’s second hospital of the night, after being rushed by ambulance to the only Level One trauma center in north Louisiana.
“When we got there, it was like a movie,” Catherine said. “We pulled in and everybody was there. There were probably 30 doctors surrounding him.”
Just a few hours earlier, 15-year-old Marshall had been playing for C.E. Byrd in a baseball doubleheader at Calvary.
“I was really excited,” Marshall said. “It was my first time playing (in high school). I was getting all hyped for the game.”
But that excitement soon turned into concern.
“It was a pop fly,” Marshall remembered. “Pretty much dead center (field). At first, I didn’t read it correctly. As soon as I read it, I started running full speed toward it. One I realized I wasn’t going to get there, I dove for it. I laid out. I never saw (second baseman) Alex. He was coming from the left side. The next thing I remember, I was on the ground in a bunch of pain.”
Pain caused by a Grade 5 shattered spleen.
“That’s the worst kind of spleen injury you can have,” Dr. Leilabadi said. “It basically implies that your spleen is completely shattered and there’s always bleeding involved with it.”
After the on-field collision, Calvary’s athletic trainer suggested to Marshall’s parents they take their son to the hospital.
“He was literally green when he came out of the dugout,” Catherine remembered. “Marshall is 6-3, and he was hanging onto my husband. We were walking as slow as we could, and Marshall kept saying, “Slow down. Slow down.”
It was at Ochsner LSU Health that the Bowens met Dr. Leilabadi, a trauma surgeon who was already seven hours into her shift.
“When they brought Marshall over, he looked very grey — very ashen,” Dr. Leilabadi said. “I thought 100 percent we were going to the OR.”
“She said, ‘OK, this is the deal.’ Catherine recalls. ‘His spleen is shattered.’ They basically had to scoop it out of him. His pancreas is torn. He’s going to have to have surgery. He’s going to be in the hospital five to seven days.’”
While Marshall was not in a life-or-death situation while at Ochsner LSU Health, he could have been, if Dr. Leilabadi did not operate.
“(The surgery) was lifesaving in the sense that if I didn’t do anything, and that clot opened up, he would have bled to death.”
Marshall survived, but his pain lasted well after he went home.
“It was a pretty big struggle. It was hard to walk because everything hurt. I couldn’t lay down without help. I had to move really slow, every time I moved.”
Marshall’s injury cost him 12 pounds. And if anyone ever doubts his trip to the trauma center, he has a scar as proof.
“He’s basically cut from his chest bone to his groin,” Catherine said. “We were expecting a little six-inch incision. It goes all the way down — around his belly button and down. He had staples. He had the drain for three weeks. It took him awhile to eat. That’s why he didn’t go back to school immediately, because he had no energy. He wasn’t eating. We were force feeding him protein shakes.”
Marshall’s injury also cost him most of his freshman season. That’s right, most of his freshman season. Despite Dr. Leilabad’s prediction Marshall would not return to the field last season, he did.
April 12th. The final game of the season, and seven weeks after being hurt.
“I wanted to play at least one game before the season ended. That was my goal.”
Goal met.
“He is above average,” Dr. Leilabadi said. “It was a miracle he could look as good as he did after a major insult (injury), but I didn’t expect him to make it to that last game. I’m just proud of him that he did.”
“It was pretty impressive,” Catherine said. “It was kind of surreal. My big thing was, ‘Marshall, don’t dive to first base when you’re off the base.’ I just asked him not to slide face first. He was off the bag, turned around, and dove back to first. He said, ‘I did that for you, Mom.’”
What began as a parent-doctor relationship in the wee hours of a very scary morning, has become much more.
“When we left the hospital, (Dr. Leilabadi) gave us her cell phone number and said if you have any questions, please call,” Catherine said. “She meant it.”
And Catherine has called — more than once. One of those calls didn’t have anything to do with Marshall’s care. Rather, it was an invitation.
”She’s since come to dinner at our house. She’s just an incredible person. I felt like she cared.”
But Dr. Leilabadi’s concern was not reserved for the Bowens.
“I do this for everybody. The reason is that when they come to us as a trauma patient, it is the worst day of their life…I make sure they know the pros and cons of every single thing we are going to do to them, about them, on them — every procedure we do, every medication they get. This is overwhelming to the patient — the whole experience of being a trauma patient — but it’s extremely overwhelming to the family. They don’t know if their family member is going to live or die.”
Some seven months later, Marshall is living just fine. He’s put back on the weight he lost (and then some) and worked out over the summer to get back in playing shape. Of course, Catherine wishes all of this would never have happened. But it did, and she’s grateful for Ochsner LSU Health as a whole, and Dr. Leilabadi in particular.
“I could not have asked for better care.”
Contact Tony at SBJTonyT@gmail.com