Bladder Stories

I was a healthy and happy mum of two teenagers but had a niggling problem of suffering life’s little leaks when I exercised.

It wasn’t the end of the world but when I heard about a simple little 20 minute day case operation to fix it I jumped at the chance.

I was told it was the gold standard treatment with minimal risks and that I would be healed within a week.

The decision to go under the knife was to change the course of my life. Forever.

Two days after the mesh TVT bladder sling was inserted my nose started dripping. I thought nothing of it, but then leg pains intensified and with each step I became more and more scared.

How on earth had I gone from a superfit mum who did high board diving, boxing, swimming and cycling, to now struggling to potter around the house or walk my dog round the block.

Three weeks after the sling was put in I googled TVT gone wrong and sat shocked at my computer as I saw I was not alone. I was one of thousands of women around the world suffering severe mesh complications.

The pain put me on nerve blockers and tramadol and left me with sleepless nights of regret – if only I could turn back the clock. It was the worst decision of my life.

The leg pains were like intense toothache all down the back, it felt like somebody had punched the base of my feet and at times like my legs and ankles were being lashed with barbed wire.

I had burning pains in my groin and private parts, severe stomach acid reflux and it hurt to sit for too long.

I thought it was some body friendly sling and had no idea it was polypropylene plastic. With hindsight I should have done my research but I trusted the medical profession to get it right.

So to channel my anger I set up Sling the Mesh Facebook campaign to reach out to other women who had also suffered and whose surgeons were ignoring their pain or blaming it on other issues.

In less than 18 months the group has almost 1,000 members from across the world. All suffering a varying degree of pain, some struggling to walk, others with severe water infections, some self catheterising for life, some have lost sex lives due to burning pains in their vagina or where the mesh has cut through the vaginal walls.

Some are in wheelchairs unable to walk, others shuffle using sticks, and some where legs shake due to nerve damage from the harsh plastic mesh.

Many suffering allergic reactions. Many have depression– they went in to improve the quality of life so they no longer wet themselves – but now their lives have changed beyond recognition. And worse many GPs surgeons or surgeons have no clue how to help them.

For all of us our quality of life has been compromised to some degree – some worse than others.

I had my mesh removed in corrective surgery with Natalia Price in Oxford in October 2015 – seven months after it was first put in.

The pain has pretty much subsided and I am off all the medication which I relied on.

However I will never go back to what I was.

I can now no longer put any impact on my legs – so activities like running or skipping are gone, forever.

I also find if I overstretch my legs in activities like yoga then the leg pain returns.

Kneeling down or doing squats also sets off the leg pain.

Because I am so determined I still go boxing but make sure I don’t bounce on my legs in any way. I swim and go on long dog walks - but every day I am mindful of all of my movements to make sure I do not do anything that could trigger the horrific leg pain.

Every day I either talk to women on the phone or by emails counselling them on how best to fix the problem they now find themselves with.

Every operation has risks – but these are unacceptable risks and ones which none of us are properly informed about. I highly recommend anybody considering a mesh sling fix to thoroughly do your research and know exactly what you could be signing yourself up for.