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Carlow woman ‘left in excruciating pain’ after vaginal mesh inserted to stop bladder leaking after giving birth ‘cuts her insides’
Nov 6, 2017 | The Sun
By Aoife Finneran
A WOMAN who had vaginal mesh inserted to stop her bladder leaking after giving birth has been left in excruciating pain as it cuts her insides.
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Nov 6, 2017 | The Sun
By Aoife Finneran
A WOMAN who had vaginal mesh inserted to stop her bladder leaking after giving birth has been left in excruciating pain as it cuts her insides.
And Lesley-Anne Stephens, 39, thinks the procedure could be ruining the lives of thousands of other women — making it a massive scandal.
She had the 20-minute op — where mesh was used to support her bladder — after developing stress incontinence following the births of her two children.
But instead of solving the problem, the transvaginal mesh implant caused Lesley-Anne to suffer constant pain and bleeding.
Her agony is compounded by the fact that she had no idea the simple treatment could have such devastating side effects.
Now Lesley-Anne, from Kilbride in Co Carlow, is urging other women to come forward with their horror experiences in a bid to get the procedure banned in Ireland.
She said: “Four weeks ago when I was in hospital to have some of the mesh removed, I met a lady who was going in to get one inserted.
“I told her what happened to me and she was terrified. The problem is that not enough people are coming forward. We need to get this out there.
“This is already a huge scandal in America, Australia, Scotland and England but it hasn’t hit here at all. There has to be hundreds, if not thousands of other women with the same problems.”
On Saturday, we revealed the story of Janet Roche, 48, who lost her job and ended up bed-bound as a result of the implant.
The mesh, which is also used to treat pelvic organ prolapse, is designed to support the bladder.
But in some situations it can lead to serious complications, cutting through internal tissues and causing extreme pain.
And in Lesley-Anne’s case, the side-effects have been so extreme that she wishes she had never heard of the procedure.
She was promised the procedure, which she underwent in June 2016, was a simple solution to her incontinence issues.
Explaining her problem, she said: “It started with leaks when I was sneezing and coughing, or bending over, picking up the girls.
“Then it developed into a dribble and eventually became full-blown, so I was destroying myself.
“I was absolutely delighted that there was a fix, I could have skipped to theatre. I was told it would change my life for the better. I was never once told there could be any side-effects.”
Her treatment led to an improvement in the incontinence but Lesley-Anne said it left her in chronic pain.
She explained: “I’d sit on the couch, and when I’d get up I’d be bent over with the pain.
“I went back to the gynaecologist and said I was in severe pain.
“I couldn’t spend time with my husband, I couldn’t do anything with our girls.
“I couldn’t even drive or do normal day to day things.”
An examination revealed the mesh had cut through Lesley-Anne’s vaginal wall.
In February, she underwent surgery to remove the portion of the mesh that was sticking out, with poor results.
She said: “I didn’t get any better. For whatever reason, I got worse. The incontinence started to get worse. I felt a stabbing pain all the time.
“It was as if you got a knitting needle and put it inside you. I felt like it was lacerating everything inside me.”
Lesley-Anne was made to wait 18 weeks for her post-operation appointment.
She said: “When I was checked they found the mesh was literally cutting me. That’s why I was bleeding and so sore.” Her only option was further surgery to remove more of the mesh.
It had wound itself around inside her “like a violin string”, pulling at her insides.
After four weeks, she’s still showing no signs of improvement and it’s feared the mesh will never be able to be fully removed as tissue has attached to it.
She said: “I can’t even put my bum on a chair. I have to sit at an angle. I can’t even contemplate spending time with my husband.
“Sometimes when I move I feel like I’m being cut. I’m in excruciating pain, I can do nothing.”
Brave Lesley-Anne spoke out to try and encourage other women to come forward in a bid to have the practice banned in Ireland.
She said: “I understand why people won’t talk about it. It’s very hard to talk about things like intimacy with your husband.
“But if I can stop just one person from going through this, then it’s worth it. It’s terribly sad to see so many women whose lives have been destroyed.”
https://www.thesun.ie/news/1765735/irish-woman-left-in-excruciating-pain-after-vaginal-mesh-inserted-to-stop-bladder-leaking-after-giving-birth-cuts-her-insides/
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