Woman’s life a ‘shambles’ after botched surgery
Lavinia Reid knew something was not right when her catheter would not stop leaking while she recovered from a hysterectomy.
She learnt after the operation at Nelson Hospital in 2013 that her bladder had been accidentally punctured during the surgery.
At her lowest point since then, 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 blunder.
‘‘It has never been right since, my whole life has been a shambles. It actually got to the stage where I just wanted to die. ‘‘
Reid said she had found strength since the surgery and 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 for the medical mishap and she filed a complaint with it following the operation.
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. She applied to ACC for a treatment injury soon after the botched operation which was granted and the organisation took over her care.
Despite the operation occurring almost five years ago, Reid still travels to Christchurch to see a urologist for treatment to correct the surgery. She has botox injections in her bladder several times a year to help with incontinence.
Information provided by ACC showed more than $11,000 had been spent to date on corrective surgery and treatment for Reid.
ACC statistics showed between July 2015 and June 2016 there were 144 active claims for puncture injuries in a place of medical treatment. The total cost of those claims was $101,793.
Reid has more than 600 pages of hospital records which detail the accidental incision made in her bladder during the surgery and its subsequent complications.
She said she knew something wasn’t right when she left hospital after the operation with a catheter bag that would often leak.
Reid said she was treated rudely by staff, told the catheter wasn’t leaking when it was, and that problems were all 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.
‘‘The severity of keeping my uterus and taking it home to be buried, that was massive, that was one thing that I made sure was going to happen. 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 has suffered health complications from a young age. She was diagnosed with a hip condition when she was seven which resulted in five hip replacements. After her last hip replacement she started to experience heavy vaginal bleeding, and 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 which she said was the ‘‘best thing I could have ever done’’. – Fairfax NZ