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40 year old Kimberly Price is a single mother and a survivor of what appears to be a significant case of medical malpractice. She told Jules Vasquez her story:

Kimberly Price was at peace when we visited her on Thursday.

It's a long way from where she was 6 months ago - recovering from massive surgery in a US hospital.

That was the end of a medical ordeal which started with a surgery to remove fibroids in 2016.

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"So in 2016, I decided to remove the fibroids, did a procedure called mixed myomectomy. After the procedure, I was told that everything went well, the fibroids was removed. I went on with my life."

But 6 years later, she started experiencing crippling pain coming from her midsection - she told us she felt like a cement block was sitting there:

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"Fast forward again to 2022, when I started developing symptoms with my stomach. I still, you know, I went on with my life. They told me it was gas. Possibly the fibroids came back, you know, a whole heap of "da da da da. Whatever."."

"I had a whole heap of problems with my stomach. I started losing weight. You know, it became really bad. Like, I. You know, my life was put on pause. I couldn't do certain stuff with my daughter. I couldn't eat properly. I couldn't sleep."

"When the pain began to get really unbearable I would say in March of last year, I visited the Belize Diagnosis Center. That's where did the first imaging. But it was a pelvic ultrasound."

"They detected the mass, but it was described as a teratoma, developed of hairs, teeth, skin, I was like, what in the world is that? So I became, you know, I, I worse was like, what could that possibly be?"

But, it wasn't that. It was this, a bundle of gauze.

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"So that's when I visited the second institution, the Belize Imaging Center in Belmopan where they detected, you know, there was the mass there, but not only a mass, there was gauze material left inside of me, possibly from 2016 when I did my last procedure."

"I was scared out of my mind. I believe that, you know, I saw my life flash before my eyes, that was the first thing I have a daughter to live for. That was the scariest moment, because it's just me and her. So a number of things flashed before my eyes, so definitely I can see that was a very scary, situation."

She turned to the surgeon who did the procedure in 2016 at Belize Healthcare Partners:

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"So we contacted him. His first thing was, he's not sure if he was the person that left it there, but he would like to perform reconstructive surgery to have it removed."

"And then we would send it out to have it test to see if it was, actually gauze that was left inside of me. So I, I was like, no, no. I'm not going to do that. So I took measures into my own hands and I went to the U.S. to have that, you know, had that procedure done."

She traveled to the US and the gauze was successfully removed.

Jules Vasquez
"What did the doctor in the US see when they removed it?"

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"Boy. Jules. My doctor was so sweet. She was like, I was hoping that I was still wrong, she said. But when the pathologist - she said I was there - she said when the pathologist cut the substance open, cut the mass open, there was the ball of gauze inside of it. And I carried that for eight years. 8 years, Jules."

The surgery went perfectly and one month later, this was her celebrating her birthday:

Kimberly Price, Claims Medical Negligence
"Today makes seven months post operation. So I can honestly say without a doubt that whatever was inside of me I knew that was the issue, because I'm completely. I'm almost back to normal with no complications at all."

And that might be a happy end to the story, but it's not. On Monday, tune in to find out why she's having to pursue a lawsuit against the hospital which refuses to release her medical records.

We'll have part 2 of that story on Monday when you'll hear from Price's attorney about the so far futile effort to access her medical records. Late this evening, we received the following from the attorney for Belize Healthcare Partners Limited.

"Belize Healthcare Partners Limited is a responsible corporate citizen which is committed to upholding the highest ethical and medical standards and to protecting patient privacy. Therefore, we are unable to comment on the specifics of any allegation. However, we can confirm that the allegations made are unfounded and unsupported by medical evidence."