Mum in agony for 20 years

WITH every move she makes, Debra Lynch is reminded of a foreign object deep inside her.

She says it has cost her sanity, her independence and possibly her leg.

The Burleigh Waters resident was one of 18,000 Queensland women informed last week that a pelvic mesh may have been implanted during surgery at public hospitals.

The mass notification by Queensland Health comes as the Federal Court ordered pelvic mesh supplier Johnson & Johnson to pay $2.6 million to three women with faulty mesh implants. Like the thousands of others, Ms Lynch has until April 9 to register for an ongoing class action against the manufacturer. Ms Lynch, who has been searching for proof of the implant since a hysterectomy and bladder repair operation in 1998, said she felt vindicated and that she wasn’t “losing her mind”.

The mother of six – including two sets of twins – says that for the past 20 years she has been in agonising pain.

She says she has been diagnosed with multiple auto-immune diseases, namely

Scleroderma diffuse variant, causing poor circulation which ultimately claimed her right leg. Before the procedure was confirmed to her last week, Ms Lynch had fought to prove the mesh was the cause of her concerns, but ran into dead ends because Queen Elizabeth II Hospital, where she was treated, said her records had been destroyed.

She wonders if she would have been told if she was not chasing the information.

“There are so many other women who may have slipped through the cracks like me.

“I had a period where I was in pain for 24 hours a day,” she said. “I felt like I was being torn apart on the inside.

“Doctors could find no reason for it. I had my own family thinking it was in my own head. It wasn’t until I heard about the mesh causing problems that I started asking questions.

“I wanted proof of what they put in me but I was told again and again that my records had been destroyed – until I heard back this week.”

While links between autoimmune disease and the implants are still being researched, pelvic mesh patients have a higher than average rate of diseases and often do not have a family history.

“I wonder how many other women may not know that this is the cause of their pain,” Ms Lynch said. “This is garbage falling apart inside of you. My life has become one medical appointment after another.”

Queensland Health said it had taken a deliberate, proactive approach to ensure women receiving correspondence regarding a class action in the Federal Court had received a separate letter with clinical information relevant to them.

“These women have been advised of the possible complications of pelvic mesh, where assessment and treatment can be sought, and how to access their medical records if required,” a spokesman said.

IT WASN’T UNTIL I HEARD ABOUT THE MESH CAUSING PROBLEMS THAT I STARTED ASKING QUESTIONS

DEBRA LYNCH