Time to live, speaks out after controversial treatment left her too weak for chemo
Michele contacted Scottish Mesh Survivors for support. Daughter Lauren said: “Mum was going downhill, she was in so much pain. “She kept going for tests, but nothing seemed to explain her condition. “Holes appeared in her abdomen where mesh was coming through her skin.
“The doctors would snip them off, but the mesh kept working its way through. “At times mum was treated very badly by the NHS, accused of making up her pain to get medication.
“Either doctors didn’t know what they were looking at or they didn’t understand what was going on. We eventually managed to get a meeting with a consultant three years ago.
“He assured us mesh was inert and it didn’t react once inside the body despite what the injured patients were saying.”
Michele added: “All along, I don’t feel I’ve been told the whole truth. I feel betrayed and angry.”
And then, a year ago, the final terrible news was delivered when she was told she had the rare cancer.
After a consultation with a pain specialist last June, Michele was referred to a gynaecologist who admitted her to hospital for a scan.
Five days later, to her horror, she was diagnosed with cancer.
Michele said: “It’s so rare, most doctors have never treated anyone with it.” Radiotherapy treatment began immediately, but there was no hope of chemo. She said: “I feel cheated that I couldn’t have the chemotherapy as my body was too weak.
“It’s too late for me now and I won’t live to prove whether or not mesh and the cancer are linked.
“But what I do know is that my chances of living a little longer may have been greater if I’d had the chemo.”
Dr Tracey Gillies, medical director at NHS Lothian, said:“my sympathies are with the patient and their family. However we are not at liberty to discuss the care of individual patients.” Now, all Michele has left is her voice.
She said: “I hope what happened to me is a warning to others to make them question everything about what is being put inside their bodies.
“If I can prevent one other person having to go through this, it will give me some peace. The world is waking up to the danger of plastic in our oceans, but surgeons are still putting it in our bodies.”
Michele’s last days will be spent in the hospice. Her daughter Lauren is constantly by her bedside and family and friends help keep Michele’s spirits up. Lauren said: “Mum has been my inspiration throughout. I am constantly amazed by her strength and her determination to do the best for others.
“Despite all she is going through, telling her story so others can think long and hard before saying yes to mesh, has kept her going. “
Michele said she is heartbroken she hasn’t been able to join campaigners in Parliament because of her pain.
She said: “But telling my story will be my legacy. I am at peace with that.”
In spite of her great suffering, Michele’s greatest concern is for her daughter and her 81-year-old father.
She said: “It’s so painful seeing them going through all this with me.
“The hardest part is knowing I won’t be here to see Lauren living her life to the full, or comforting my dad in his last days. “Lauren makes me so proud. One of the best days of my life was when she graduated from the University of Glasgow after studying Scottish literature.
“It’s unbearable knowing I don’t have much time left with her. And it’s hard to tell your father that you are dying. No father should ever have to hear that from their child.
“I’ve only have weeks left, so every day is precious now. I’m being well cared for at St Columba’s where everybody is kind.
“But of course I’m angry. I’m dying before my time and I can’t help asking if mesh murdered me?”
Michele speaks out from the hospice where she is being cared for