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Ethicon Media Monitoring 5/13/2019
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Mesh victim facing awful surgery asks for action not more warm words
May 12, 2019 | The Sunday Post
By Marion Scott
A mesh victim who hopes an American surgeon can save her from an awful operation yesterday said she was disappointed that Nicola Sturgeon could only offer her more words and no action. -
Mesh operation has ruined Co Down man's life
May 13, 2019 | Belfast Live
By Jilly Beattie
Damian Murtagh says an operation to relieve him of pain and give him back his dignity, has ruined his life. -
Man's life 'in pieces' after mesh surgery for hernia left him in 'indescribable pain'
May 13, 2019 | Mirror.co.uk
By Jilly Beattie and Matthew Dresch
A floorer says his 'life is in pieces' after an operation to fix his hernia left him in 'indescribable pain'.
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Mesh victim facing awful surgery asks for action not more warm words
May 12, 2019 | The Sunday Post
By Marion Scott
A mesh victim who hopes an American surgeon can save her from an awful operation yesterday said she was disappointed that Nicola Sturgeon could only offer her more words and no action.
Claire Daisley is due to have her bowel and bladder removed in eight weeks – but has asked health bosses to send her to the United States where a specialist surgeon believes he could remove her mesh and save her organs.
Last week, we revealed her personal appeal to Health Secretary Jeane Freeman before, on Thursday, MSP Neil Findlay urged the First Minister to personally intervene during First Minister’s Questions.
In her reply, Ms Sturgeon said she could not intervene in individual cases but would ask Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to investigate.
However, a Scottish Government spokesman later said: “Clearly, Ms Daisley’s case, which has been brought to the parliament’s attention, is very complex.
“Although we recognise the importance of not intervening in the clinical management of individual patients, we will look at the case of Ms Daisley and we are committed to ensuring she receives the information and psychological support she needs.”
Yesterday, Claire, 49, from Greenock, said: “It just feels like more words, just like the words mesh victims have been hearing for years now.
“I no longer have the time to listen to more words and promises, wait for more committees to complete more reports.
“In less than two months, I am going to lose my bowel and bladder. There is a surgeon in America who says he might be able to help me.
“The government says it’s complex but it’s not. It is simple. Just let him come here or let me go there. Just help me.
“We met with the Health Secretary. She drew up yet another committee full of medical officers and government officials when what we want and need is practical help. We don’t have time for more prevaricating. We’ve been talking for almost six years about this crisis.”
Pioneering US surgeon Dr Dionysios Veronikis has offered to carry out a full mesh removal op on Claire, using his unique technique, in the hope that this might mean she does not need to have her organs taken out.
That op would cost around £12,000. Missouri-based Dr Veronikis offered to come to Scotland to help ease the crisis after reading about the plight of mesh women here. Women from all over the world travel to see the specialist, and in March, Irish lawyer Mary McLaughlin travelled to meet the Scottish Health Secretary to show her how she can finally walk again after years of mesh pain.
Mary said: “It was just days after my surgery with Dr Veronikis, but I wanted to show Jeane Freeman just what help he could give Scottish women so they wouldn’t have to live the rest of their lives in pain.
“It was a hugely emotional moment when one-by-one, Scottish mesh survivors told the Health Secretary ‘I want to be Mary.’ They all deserve to have that chance.”
Mr Findlay said: “Health Secretary Jeane Freeman finally met some of them last month, and despite that, she is still delaying getting them the expert help they have asked for.
“It is time the First Minister met them so she can see just how urgent this situation is.
“We have already had women dying here in Scotland, and every week I hear from more women who are struggling with life-changing injuries that they do not believe are being adequately treated here in Scotland.
“They need the mesh removed, fully and safely, and they want Dr Veronikis to do it, not the surgeons who implanted them in the first place.”
The MSP believes Scotland’s mesh removal service should be halted for a full evaluation of surgeon skills and outcomes.
He said: “How can these surgeons, who had been writing to patients advising them that the removal of mesh implants was impossible, suddenly do removals? And are they doing full removals, or partials. Are they showing patients exactly what has been removed and how much?”
https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/mesh-victim-facing-awful-surgery-asks-for-action-not-more-warm-wordsno-first-minister-i-dont-need-information-and-psychological-support-all-i-need-is-your-help/
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Mesh operation has ruined Co Down man's life
May 13, 2019 | Belfast Live
By Jilly Beattie
Damian Murtagh says an operation to relieve him of pain and give him back his dignity, has ruined his life.
At 44, the Co Down man is living with the mental stress and physical horrors of mesh surgery that has gone wrong.
Now he is urging the medical world to stop using mesh surgery on hernias.
Damien from Warrenpoint, said: “I had a pelvic hernia and it was getting so bad that I was no long able to cycle because it was very obvious and looked terrible. It wasn’t painful at that stage but it was awkward.
“I was frightened of surgery and I suppose I left it later than some people but when I went to see the surgeon he explained it could all be fixed with a simple mesh insertion which would close over the spot there the hernia was and keep everything in place.
“I’d no knowledge about anything medical and I trusted that my situation would be solved and took a deep breath and went in for the operation.
“Initially it was great, the hernia was gone, I was starting to heal and I was getting my life back. Working in flooring, I needed to be fit and healthy and I got back to work quite quickly.”
But Damian’s hopes of a hernia-free life were exchanged for devastation when he realised the surgery had actually added to his problems.
And today instead of living a fulfilled, happy and busy life, Damian says he is a shadow of his former self.
He explained: “The mesh has hardened and instead of helping keep a hernia in place, parts of my insides have grown around and through the mesh leaving nerves damaged and exposed. The pain I’m in indescribable. I cannot concentrate, I cannot work a full day, I cannot even have a full relationship - my life is in pieces and there is really nothing anyone can do without trying to go in and take out the mesh.
“But I’ve been advised it would be like trying to take hair out of a clump of chewing gum without breaking the hair or damaging the gum.
“There is no way I’d have had the surgery if I’d thought there was risk of this happening. I’ve joined support groups on social media to try to cope with the situation and while most of the people suffering are women who’ve had vaginal mesh, a lot of sufferers are men.
“The problem is that people are embarrassed to talk about the issue but as patients, so many of us have been left in agony, with no hope of that changing and many people suffering from repeated infections, skin problems, auto-immune problems, emotional distress and depression as a result of the whole problem.
“Yet there are surgeons who are still opting to use the mesh in surgery with the promise of a quick cure for the problem - although for people like me, it created an even bigger issue that is not easily remedied.
“I would be very fearful of having more surgery and worried that things could get even worse although to be honest I think I’m at a limit to the amount of pain I can carry on taking.
“I’m only 44 years old. I look like an old man. I feel like a wreck. I try to be cheerful and get on with my life but I’m a mess.
“This entire situation has ruined my life. I would like to have settled down and found someone to marry and maybe have a couple of children and teach them to fish. But that’s just a pipe dream to me now because I cannot function properly physically or emotionally and my energy levels are terrible. I feel like an old man. I look like an old man. I don't think anyone would believe I'm only 44 but I put a lot of that down to the pain and stress.
“Sleep is a real problem too because there is not position I can get myself into that eases the pain.
“The scandal of the use of mesh is that it is still being used and more and more people are risking turning their lives to hell the way mine has. This has to stop.
“I would urge anyone, any man and any woman, to think very seriously about accepting mesh surgery as the only way to deal with their issue.
“It might work but there is just no guarantee and if the risk if living the way I have to live, then I can tell you it’s just not worth it.”
https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/belfast-news/mesh-operation-ruined-co-down-16264367
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Man's life 'in pieces' after mesh surgery for hernia left him in 'indescribable pain'
May 13, 2019 | Mirror.co.uk
By Jilly Beattie and Matthew Dresch
A floorer says his 'life is in pieces' after an operation to fix his hernia left him in 'indescribable pain'.
Damian Murtagh, from County Down, Northern Ireland, claims the mesh surgery failed to stop his hernia from growing.
Instead, the 44-year-old says he now suffers from agonising pain, due to exposed nerves, and wants doctors to stop using mesh surgery to tackle hernias.
Damien told Belfast Live : “I had a pelvic hernia and it was getting so bad that I was no long able to cycle because it was very obvious and looked terrible. It wasn’t painful at that stage but it was awkward.
“I was frightened of surgery and I suppose I left it later than some people but when I went to see the surgeon he explained it could all be fixed with a simple mesh insertion which would close over the spot there the hernia was and keep everything in place.
“I’d no knowledge about anything medical and I trusted that my situation would be solved and took a deep breath and went in for the operation.
“Initially it was great, the hernia was gone, I was starting to heal and I was getting my life back. Working in flooring, I needed to be fit and healthy and I got back to work quite quickly.”
But Damian’s hopes of a hernia-free life were left in tatters when he realised the surgery had actually added to his problems.
And today instead of living a fulfilled, happy and busy life, Damian says he is a shadow of his former self.
He explained: “The mesh has hardened and instead of helping keep a hernia in place, parts of my insides have grown around and through the mesh leaving nerves damaged and exposed. The pain I’m in indescribable. I cannot concentrate, I cannot work a full day, I cannot even have a full relationship - my life is in pieces and there is really nothing anyone can do without trying to go in and take out the mesh.
“But I’ve been advised it would be like trying to take hair out of a clump of chewing gum without breaking the hair or damaging the gum.
“There is no way I’d have had the surgery if I’d thought there was risk of this happening. I’ve joined support groups on social media to try to cope with the situation and while most of the people suffering are women who’ve had vaginal mesh, a lot of sufferers are men.
“The problem is that people are embarrassed to talk about the issue but as patients, so many of us have been left in agony, with no hope of that changing and many people suffering from repeated infections, skin problems, auto-immune problems, emotional distress and depression as a result of the whole problem.
“Yet there are surgeons who are still opting to use the mesh in surgery with the promise of a quick cure for the problem - although for people like me, it created an even bigger issue that is not easily remedied.
“I would be very fearful of having more surgery and worried that things could get even worse although to be honest I think I’m at a limit to the amount of pain I can carry on taking."
Damian said he looks like an old man - and feels like a wreck - as a result of the surgery.
He added: “This entire situation has ruined my life. I would like to have settled down and found someone to marry and maybe have a couple of children and teach them to fish.
"But that’s just a pipe dream to me now because I cannot function properly physically or emotionally and my energy levels are terrible. I don't think anyone would believe I'm only 44 but I put a lot of that down to the pain and stress.
“Sleep is a real problem too because there is not position I can get myself into that eases the pain.
“The scandal of the use of mesh is that it is still being used and more and more people are risking turning their lives to hell the way mine has. This has to stop.
“I would urge anyone, any man and any woman, to think very seriously about accepting mesh surgery as the only way to deal with their issue.
“It might work but there is just no guarantee and if the risk if living the way I have to live, then I can tell you it’s just not worth it.”
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mans-life-in-pieces-after-15513368
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