spicegirl326

This was my OB doctor who delivered my chidren. She was only 38 years old and had a set of twins that were turning two on Dec. 1st. She died Nov 24th, 2008 right before Thanksgiving due to Lab Band Surgery read on for details. So sad. PARKS By T.L. Hamilton Updated: 12.04.08 THE WOODLANDS – Dr. Leslie Parks, a well-known obstetrician/gynecologist in the community, died from an infection related to a gastric banding procedure, according to a coroner’s report. Parks, who worked at Woodlands OB Gyn Associates, was vacationing with her family, including Parks’ 2-year-old twins Virginia and Lucas, in Telluride, Colo., more than a week ago when she appeared to have altitude sickness along with the rest of the family. “But she seemed to be suffering more than the rest of us,” her husband Scott Finley said Monday. “She’s a doctor, so the whole time she was trying to diagnose herself, you know, ruling things out.” She died sometime during the night of Nov. 24. The coroner’s report revealed the mysterious death of a seemingly healthy 38-year-old woman. Parks died of streptococcal sepsis, or blood poisoning, due to a “massive” intra-abdominal infection, said Bob Dempsey, coroner for San Miguel County in Colorado. “The infection was due to complications of gastric banding,” he said. “She had the surgery three weeks before she died, during he first week of November.” Gastric banding can bring dramatic weight loss for patients by placing a restricting band around the stomach to create a small stomach pouch and restricted opening through which passage of food will be slowed, according to the National Institute of Health. On Thursday, Finley declined comment for this story, saying it was too early for him to discuss Parks’ cause of death. Her father Hubbard Parks, an attorney in San Antonio, said it is “much too early at this point” to discuss whether the family will seek legal action against the surgeon, who he and Finley declined to name. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the procedure for use in June 2001. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery notes that band infection is a complication of gastric banding but says that the procedure “is safe and has a low rate of life-threatening complications,” according to the society’s website. Researchers from the Medical College of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., found that six of 36 gastric banding patients studied in 2001 experienced complications, including infection, saline leakage, and band slippage, according to the National Institute of Health. The average death rate for invasive strep infections (infections where the bacteria have entered a part of the body that is normally not exposed to bacteria) is 8-10 percent for adults ages 18-64, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. A memorial service for Dr. Parks on Wednesday afternoon went very well, Hubbard Parks said. “She was an amazing, lighthearted woman,” he said. Woodlands OB Gyn Associates, closed for the day to go to the service. An outpouring of condolences from the community illustrates how many lives Parks’ death affected. More than 700 entries from friends, family and patients have been recorded in her online guest book since it was made available Nov. 29. “I will miss you a lot and I know that you are in heaven smiling down on us all,” wrote Ann Foster, one of Dr. Parks’ patients. “My baby is only a month old and he is doing good thanks to you.” Another post shared the experience of meeting Parks at the birth of her grandchild.