‘I felt like I was going to die’
‘‘I was sick of being so tired all the time with the low iron, and now I am in agony every day.’’
A routine procedure to have an IUD fitted led to serious health complications
A simple procedure to insert an intra uterine device left a South Canterbury mother considering the contents of her will after her cervix was perforated, and a subsequent hysterectomy became infected, leading to 18 months of significant health issues .
Jerlynda deLacey, 39, said she was left with an open wound for five months after a second surgery was needed to clear the infection from the hysterectomy, and she says that infection would have been caught earlier if she had not been turned away from the emergency department at Timaru Hospital.
Intra uterine devices, or IUDs as they are more commonly known, are widely used by women for contraception, and in many cases, hormonal IUDs are suggested for women suffering from heavy and painful periods.
‘‘I spent five months in bed due to the pain after the hysterectomy,’’ deLacey said.
‘‘I sat there for five months gross and oozy with an open wound.’’
The issues began for the Timaru mother-of-three when, suffering from low iron and painful periods, she decided to have an IUD fitted for the second time in late 2020 after it was suggested it would help with her health issues.
The IUD was incorrectly inserted and perforated her cervix – something which was only discovered about four months later through a scan, she said.
That perforation left her with ‘‘horrific’’ pain and ‘‘bad and continuous’’ bleeding – and deLacey then chose to have a hysterectomy, under the guidance of health professionals, something she described as ‘‘the last resort’’ to resolve her health issues.
‘‘I felt like my periods were three times worse than anyone else, I would be left bedridden,’’ deLacey said.
‘‘And I was sick of being so tired all the time with the low iron, and now I am in agony every day.’’
DeLacey has been working with the Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service to lodge a complaint against Timaru Hospital for the treatment she received following the hysterectomy. The Timaru Herald has sighted an email from the service which says the complaint is being put to the Health and Disability Commission.
The South Canterbury District Health Board has been approached for comment, with a spokesperson saying ‘‘the South Canterbury District
Health Board don’t comment on individual patients due to privacy.
‘‘However, we would encourage the patient to make a complaint so that her concerns can be investigated,’’ the spokesperson said.
DeLacey’s hysterectomy was scheduled for May 1, 2021, but due to a nurse’s strike, it was performed five days later.
‘‘It was scary, to have to come to terms with the idea of a hysterectomy, I was still in my late 30s, I mean I have had my kids, but it still took a lot of hyping myself up to get it done,’’ she said.
Following the surgery she stayed with a friend for what was intended to be a ‘‘week or so’’, but due to her unexpected needs, she ended up staying for six weeks.
Only four days out of hospital, deLacey went back to complain of pain and said she told medical staff she thought the incision area was infected.
She said the first time she went back, an emergency department nurse told her the the puss seeping through her bandages was water.
‘‘I didn’t even see a doctor, and they didn’t even swab it, she just told me I shouldn’t have showered, and I hadn’t,’’ she said.
‘‘The infection ended up turning into a staph infection and staph infections can be fatal.
‘‘I knew wrong.’’
For a month her friend would clean her wound, ‘‘because it was opening up, and it was a mess’’, she said.
DeLacey also said she was never told she was entitled to visits from a district nurse.
The staph infection progressed into cellulitis, and on June 11, 2021, deLacey went back under the knife for emergency surgery to have the cellulitis removed. something was
‘‘I felt like I was going to die,’’ she said.
‘‘I thought I was going to have to do a will, because I thought I was going to die.’’
DeLacey said she had been constantly bleeding and in pain for the past 18 months.
‘‘I remember going over it with my parents and talking to them, and I was so sick of the low iron and being tired all the time, I was so drained, and I was terrified.’’
The experience has also taken a toll on her mental health, as she gets ‘‘anxious’’ and ‘‘panicky’’ when she has to go near the hospital and is not able to get out of bed to do the basics like going to the bathroom and showering without ‘‘extreme’’ pain, she said.
‘‘I want to see someone take responsibility, I could have died,’’ she said.
Around the time she had the IUD installed, the solo mother was looking at going back to work as all her children were old enough to look after themselves after school.
‘‘I was looking forward to getting back to work, but I wasn’t able to because I was in so much pain after I had the hysterectomy,’’ she said.
Now deLacey’s sons have to drive her to appointments, push the grocery trolley, vacuum the floor and do general house chores.
‘‘I lost my dignity and my independence.’’