Springs patient anxious, angry about possible Hep-C exposure
Judith Edwards knows that fentanyl was prescribed for her June 10 operation at Audubon Surgery Center.
She knows that Kristen Diane Parker, a surgical technician accused of stealing the drug and replacing it with dirty needles full of saline, was working that day.
What she doesn't know is whether those two facts mean she has contracted Hepatitis C.
"It's a scary, frightening position to be in," the 66-year-old Colorado Springs woman said Tuesday.
Edwards is among some 5,700 people in Denver and Colorado Springs advised by public health authorities to be tested for Hepatitis C. They had been patients at Rose Medical Center in Denver or Audubon Surgery Center in Colorado Springs during the time Parker - who has Hepatitis C - worked at the facilities.
Parker faces several federal charges, and nine people who were patients at Rose during the time Parker worked there have tested positive for Hepatitis C, though it's not clear if their cases are linked.
Edwards learned about Parker on the 10 o'clock news Thursday. On Monday, she called the surgery center, which confirmed her fear that both fentanyl and Parker could have been part of her surgery.
"I didn't panic. I just got angry," she said. "I have three great-grandchildren that I want to be here to see grow up, and that was one of my first thoughts."
Her anger is mostly directed at Parker, but she wonders why Rose or Audubon did not see red flags. She doesn't understand why Audubon honored Parker's job-interview request not to contact her former employer, or why the request itself didn't raise concerns.
The situation is all the more upsetting in light of her other health battles. Her June surgery was to remove a cancerous lump from her breast, and her prognosis is excellent. She also has rheumatoid arthritis, but medication keeps it at bay.
"Those are things that could not have been prevented for me. This could have been."
Because it can take four to 10 weeks for Hepatitis C to show up in the blood after exposure, Edwards is waiting a few weeks to be tested.
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