PLEASANTON, Texas – It’s been an emotional and physical journey for a Pleasanton mother who lost her hands and feet after she got an infection just days after giving birth last year.
Krystina Pacheco has gone through months of intense rehabilitation and physical therapy after she went into septic shock last October.
“I knew this was going to be really hard, and it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Pacheco.
Pacheco had just given birth via C-section to her second child, a baby girl named Amelia.
Doctors discharged her, but her body started to shut down days later, and she was rushed back to the hospital. The infection ultimately cost her both hands and feet.
“That’s not an easy thing to hear, and the first thing that popped into my mind is ‘I am a mom. How am I going to be a mom if I can’t use my limbs,’” said Pacheco.
Being a mom is what motivates Pacheco every day. Doctors gave her less than a 10% chance to survive.
“It does make me emotional when I think I could have died and not been here for my babies,” said Pacheco.
She returned home three months after her limbs were amputated, and she was reunited full-time with her babies and family. Her 3-year-old boy, Owen, was with her for many rehab sessions.
“He still is my ‘chicle.’ That’s what they call him because he will not do anything without mama,” said Pacheco.
She is still getting used to her prosthetics and returning to a daily routine.
Pacheco currently has both feet prosthetics and one for her right arm.
“Yesterday, I wasn’t able to hold a bottle and feed her. Today, I am able to do that. It’s just little things, little victories,” said Pacheco.
She’s also back at the office, working as a school psychologist.
“There wasn’t a week that they wouldn’t go bring me cookies or snacks or just for the chisme, work chisme. It kept me going,” said Pacheco.
The support from her husband, Jacob, her parents, family and friends has been incredible.
“There was times I just wanted to give up or days that are just like, ‘I can’t today,’” said Pacheco.
But she’s not going to give up. A Spanish saying outside her home reads “Mañana Sera Bonito,” which translates to English as “Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful.” It’s her mantra to keep pushing.
“I did survive, and I am here, trying to do my best for my babies and set an example for them,” said Pacheco. “God saved me, not only for my babies and my family but to help other people.”
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‘Strength she has amazes me’: Pleasanton mother continues intense rehab after hands, feet amputated