A mother-of-two tells of her three-month battle with a brain infection she contracted during inexpensive cosmetic surgery in Mexico – which killed seven Americans.
Alondra Lamos, 27, was hospitalized in May after liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) with fungal meningitis – a rare infection that causes fatal swelling in the area of the brain and spinal cord.
Speaking to from her Arizona hospital bed, Ms Lamos said: “I had pain from my head to my neck to my spine.” I couldn’t walk, it just hurt terribly with every step. It was terrible.’
Doctors believe she contracted the infection from unsterilized equipment or contaminated anesthetics used during the procedures.
The outbreak, linked to two Mexican clinics, is feared to have infected hundreds and already killed seven American women, mostly young mothers, highlighting the dangers of so-called “medical tourism.”
Alondra Lamos, 27, was diagnosed with fungal meningitis – a rare infection that causes swelling in the area of the brain and spinal cord – after falling ill about three weeks after her plastic surgeries. She is pictured at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Arizona
Ms. Lomas in April after her surgery in Mexico
Ms. Lomas underwent liposuction and BBL on March 13 at Clinica-K3, a cosmetic clinic in the northern border town of Matamoros that, according to its Facebook page, claimed to offer procedures that “improve body contour and provide natural and lasting results.” .
The next day she flew back to Phoenix, Arizona. Ms Lomas paid $3,000 for the two surgeries – a fraction of the $10,000+ it would have cost them in the US.
The procedure went well, at least that’s what Ms Lamos thought, and she was happy with her results. But she told : ‘On March 31, for the first time I felt this pain that I had never felt in my life before.’ I felt paralyzed.’
At the end of April she felt lethargic and had other symptoms.
She said, “I was always tired.” I had frequent headaches; My back hurt more often.
“Then one day it was just awful for me.” It blew my mind. “I live in Arizona so it was hot and I was wearing sweaters, leggings and socks with chills and a fever.”
“As soon as my partner got home, I thought, ‘I’m going to the hospital because something’s wrong.'”
Alondra Lomas in the hospital (left) and the staples in her head after surgery (right)
Ms. Lomas attended Clinica K-3 in Matamoros, Mexico
Ms Lamos with her seven-year-old son and one-year-old daughter, whose birthday party she sadly missed while in hospital. Instead, they celebrated at the hospital
She first went to the hospital on May 5, nearly a month after her surgery, but doctors struggled to make a diagnosis.
Ms Lomas said: “You just tested my blood and told me it had nothing to do with your operation. I don’t think you’re okay, go home.”
She was eventually diagnosed with fungal meningitis and admitted to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Arizona on May 7th.
Meningitis is inflammation of the meninges, or membranes that line the brain and spinal cord.
The condition is usually caused by a viral or bacterial infection spreading to the brain or spinal cord from elsewhere in the body.
In rarer cases, however, a fungus can also be the cause.
CDC health officials believe the fungus is Fusarium solani, which was linked to a previous meningitis outbreak in Durango, Mexico, late last year.
Fusarium solani is a common soil fungus and is fatal in more than half of the cases. Infection can occur by direct inoculation or inhalation of spores.
dr Chiller, CDC chief of fungal diseases, told the agency doesn’t yet know the exact cause of fungal meningitis and “we may never know, unfortunately.”
It is currently believed that the source of infection is the morphine given to patients by anesthesiologists.
dr Chiller said, “It could be contaminated morphine that anesthesiologists buy.” They may be sourcing it from a poorly manufactured place and there are some contaminated batches. That is an option.
“The other possibility is that the machines used for catheterization and epidural anesthesia in these two clinics are somehow contaminated.” I think that is less likely because then I think there would be a lot of infections overall until the cleaning, but with fungi white you never.
“Finally, the very process of mixing the drugs at the hands of the anesthetist might have created challenges.”
Fusarium solani infections are relatively rare. A study found 157 reports of Fusarium infections between 1970 and 2001 in the United States.
Ms Lamos said she couldn’t wait to leave the hospital to spend time with her children
During her trip, she met Shyanne Medrano, whom she called her “surgical sister.” The couple received the same surgeries, but Ms. Medrano passed away on May 16, 2023 from fungal meningitis.
Ms Lamos said: “We had surgery on the same day and started texting and being friends and it just broke my heart.” [to find out she had died].’
Her surgeon was Dr. Luis Manuel Rivera De Anda, who also operated on Lauren Robinson, a Texas mother of four who died in May.
Ms Lamos is still on two antibiotics and had to have an Ommaya reservoir implanted in her head – a small opening about the size of a quarter placed under the skin on the head to deliver medicine to kill the underlying infection.
She said, “It’s on the right side behind my ear.” It’s a device with a catheter attached. “They drilled a hole in my skull to insert the catheter, and this device delivers the antibiotic directly to my brain and spine where the infection is.”
Mrs. Lamos with her son. She told : “My son keeps asking me, ‘Are you leaving yet? Are you coming home? You should have been home yesterday.”
Ms. Lomas had to undergo multiple lumbar punctures to check the pressure in her spine
But she got a headache again.
Ms Lomas said: “That was because I had an infection in my head from the growing proteins. The proteins and blood were clogging the catheter.”
Last week she had a second operation, a revision of her reservoir. Her first reservoir was empty, meaning the drug didn’t reach her brain and spine.
She said, “The second time I had my revision done, they pulled the whole thing out, cleaned me and put a new one in.” [in]. This operation was more difficult because it is so [sore]I had just opened it and they opened it again.
“But right now I’m feeling good and I’m hoping that I’m hoping for the best.”
She added, “I still have a headache.” “The doctors told me I would feel this pain for a while but it should go away.”
Ms Lomas has been in hospital for over two months and is due to have an operation on her back this week.
Her doctors believe the infection could be due to the epidural she received in Matamoros.
She said: “Doctors are assuming that either something about the equipment wasn’t sterilized or it was due to the anesthesia.”
During her hospitalization, she also suffered from infiltrated veins. This happens when the IV catheter goes through or comes out of your vein. The intravenous fluid then leaks into the surrounding tissues, causing pain and swelling.
Ms Lomas has a seven-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter whose birthday she missed in hospital.
She said: “My son keeps asking me, ‘Are you leaving yet? Are you coming home? You should have been home yesterday.”
She said of women considering surgery, “I can’t be a hypocrite because I went to surgery myself, but just be very careful.” I know there are a lot of risks and we never know what ours will be can happen. But if they can [go] directly to a board-certified surgeon.