Chamber and committees

Gillian Watt submission of 29 July 2021

PE1865/KKK - Suspend all surgical mesh and fixation devices

How I have ended up with mesh? I had suffered recurrent UTIs since I was last pregnant. I had problems while pregnant & ended up needing bladder/kidney surgery during and after the pregnancy.

From then on, I suffered UTIs. This was bothersome, but I still managed to live a full life, raising a family, graduating from university & working in my chosen profession as well as having an active social life.

Approximately fifteen years later, I ended up requiring a full hysterectomy & the consultant told me they would fix my bladder at the same time. This I was delighted about; however, I was not fully informed of the risks if I had been I would never have proceeded with the surgery.

After the hysterectomy & mesh implant, when the catheter was removed, I noticed I could not empty my bladder properly. I told my surgeon & he had a shocked look on his face & put it down to a part of my recovery from surgery & he let me go home like that. The following sixteen months were one of the hardest times of my life. The aftercare was so bad that I booked a private consultation & it was discovered the mesh had been fitted so tight it was obstructing my bladder. When they finally got the camera in the bladder they took biopsies as it was red raw inside from the months of the acidic urine not being able to empty from my bladder due to the obstruction. The aftercare was appalling from consultants, they were rude and dismissive apart from the private doctor.

The issues that have come from the mesh implant have been in every area of my life. If you were to look at the wheel of life, every single area of it has been sadly affected. I had a wonderful career that I never got back to, my relationship with my family changed, I could not be the person I had been. My social, physical health, family, spiritual, financial, educational growth etc had all changed. My family now pushed me about in a wheelchair. I live a limited life full of pain, mobility problems, financial strain & sadly cannot be the active person I would have been.

Not forgetting all the corrective surgeries, I have endured, traumatic on myself & my family to go through this, it is not over yet. I also been diagnosed with three auto immune conditions since the mesh implant.

One of the saddest parts was to learn that the principals & beliefs I grew up with, that the NHS would fix me if I needed it, were absolutely smashed apart. I did not feel supported or listened to from the consultants, one after another really used their power in their position to make me feel like a nuisance, I felt threated by one’s attitude & was terrified about going under the knife with her. Others have been rude and dismissive. I have been lied to, told mesh all out only to be told now only a third removed by same surgeon who “thought” (her words not mine) that she got it all but now realises there is much more still in there. I don’t believe that this is a mistake; she just didn’t bargain on women going to America for surgery & finding out they have much more in that they were originally told.

I feel the submission is important to the petition as it shows that mesh injured are treated appallingly when problems arise. I hope by sharing my journey that it helps stop all mesh implant’s & although too late for me I hope by raising this it saves others from the devastating impact mesh implants have on a person & the rippling effect it has on all areas of their life. I hope it is banned and our future generations are saved this horrible hand mesh injured have been dealt.

I have campaigned alongside Elaine & Olive since the beginning of the petition PE1517 Scottish Mesh Survivors “Hear Our Voice” and basically feel many wonderful things have been achieved over the eight years we have campaigned; however, I feel very strongly that all other mesh should be recognised for the dangers they also cause.