Woman’s life a ‘shambles’ after bladder punctured
"It actually got to the stage where I just wanted to die." Lavinia Reid
Lavinia Reid’s life hasn’t been the same since her bladder was accidentally punctured during a hysterectomy.
At her lowest point since the operation at Nelson Hospital in 2013, Reid said she considered ending her life.
In the last four years she has struggled to work, suffered from depression and poor health and continues to need treatment to correct the medical mishap.
‘‘It has never been right since; my whole life has been a shambles,’’ she said. ‘‘It actually got to the stage where I just wanted to die.’’
Reid, who now lives in Palmerston North, said she wanted to share her story to encourage others to speak out after reading an article about other medical mishaps in New Zealand.
‘‘I’m one of the lucky ones, I’m here to tell my story.’’
She doesn’t feel Nelson Marlborough Health (NMH) took responsibility after the operation and she filed a complaint.
NMH said it would not discuss complaints publicly while they were under investigation either internally or externally.
Reid also filed a complaint with the Health and Disability Commissioner.
Despite the operation occurring almost five years ago, Reid still travels to Christchurch to see a urologist for treatment to correct the mishap.
She has botox injections in her bladder several times a year to help deal with the incontinence.
Information provided by ACC showed more than $11,000 had been spent to date on corrective surgery and treatment for Reid.
She has more than 600 pages of hospital records which detail the accidental incision made in her bladder during the surgery and subsequent complications.
Reid said she knew something wasn’t right when she left hospital after the operation with a catheter bag that would often leak.
She said she was treated rudely by staff, told the catheter wasn’t leaking when it was, and that things were in her mind.
‘‘It felt like I wasn’t getting heard or believed.
‘‘Here I am using five or six pads a day for this incontinence.’’
Reid, who is of Maori descent, said she asked if she could keep her uterus after the operation so she could bury it in accordance with her cultural beliefs.
‘‘I got promised it was going to be sitting right next to me after the operation. I got promised a lot of things that didn’t happen.’’
Reid had suffered health complications from a young age. She was diagnosed with a hip condition when she was 7, which resulted in five hip replacements.
After her last hip replacement she started to experience heavy vaginal bleeding. It was then doctors recommended a hysterectomy.
For the next year she was in and out of the emergency department, her bladder continued to leak and she had numerous infections.
Unable to work, she became depressed but Reid said she simply had to get better. Without her health she couldn’t generate an income and she needed to get back to work.
In 2016, she moved back to Palmerston North to be closer to her grandchildren. This was the ‘‘best thing I could have ever done’’.
‘‘I have gone through lots of life, my life story tells a lot, but I have also gone through things that can help other people as well.’’