Doubly Traumatized: Pelvic Mesh & the Sexual Abuse Survivor. Dual Trauma Two things happened this past week that make it imperative to write about the connection between two traumas: sexual abuse and pelvic mesh injury.
First, Melynda, a dually-traumatized woman wrote a tearful story of her trip to get a transvaginal ultrasound: I arrive at my scheduled time, make my way to radiology and wait for someone to take me back to the room. My pain is an 8-9 at this point and I am starting to shake because, goddammintalltohell, I am so exhausted of having strangers fiddling with my lady parts, I can’t even sit down and relax. (Remember also I am a survivor of child sexual abuse/incest and rape when I was 17 and have had all the wretched trauma of mesh, too). Two days later, Buzzfeed published a document written to an arrogant rapist. I … went to pull down my underwear, and felt nothing. Freedom is for women, too. You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice… I am no stranger to suffering. Page 1. Mesh Patient’s Bill of Rights. Mesh Patient’s Bill of Rights 1) I have the right to considerate and respectful treatment in recognition of my individuality and personal preferences. 2) I have the right to be treated with dignity. 3) I have the right to quality care and treatment that is fair and free from discrimination.
Did a Salesman Oogle Your Pelvic Mesh Surgery? – Salesmen in the OR. You may be surprised to learn just how your doctor purchased the pelvic sling he put in your body.
Truth is, he didn’t have to lift a finger. His sales rep brought it to him. Moreover, there is a good chance your salesman watched your doctor put it in you and, he may even have “scrubbed in” and performed part of your surgery. It is no accident that your surgeon “forgot” to mention the manufacturer’s rep might be in your surgery. Manufacturers are well aware that the practice is very controversial and don’t want you to know. “(S)ome companies want nothing to do with a story about sales rep in the operating room. Mesh injured women began realizing that manufacturers invading their surgeries, not when they were asked to sign a consent for an observer to be there while their genitals were being operated on, but afterward when they found evidence by reading their own charts.
Jack-knife position for vaginal surgery. Yancy felt she was invalidated every step of the way after her implant. My Ilioinguinal Is Making Me Ill – Ilioinguinal-Iliohypogastric Nerve Pain. Pain in the groin means you never sit down the same way again.
One study found 22% of pelvic surgery nerve injuries were in the ilioinguinal-iliohypogastric nerves. Women say they feel burning, tingling, pain and numbness on their upper thighs. Your ilioinguinal nerve branches off your L1-2 nerve roots, which is near your lower back. It branches down through your second and third abdominal muscles and communicates with your iliohypogastric nerve, whose main function is to regulate your diaphragm (the muscle that helps you breathe) and the areas around it. Your ilioinguinal nerve moves further down, eventually branching out into the upper part of your thigh muscles. Did a Salesman Oogle Your Pelvic Mesh Surgery? – Salesmen in the OR. Handling a Trip To The Emergency Room With Mesh Trouble.
Once upon a time, a more experienced emergency room nurse told me that doctors are bad with headache and backache patients because they can’t see the pain like they can see a broken arm or a heart attack.
It is infinitely more rewarding for an ER doctor to put a cast on an arm or order the best medication to stop a heart attack in it’s tracks than to give a shot to a pain sufferer who will softly murmur a thank you, wrap herself in her blanket, and walk out the door with her head down and her husband carrying her discharge papers and her purse. Just remember— when you are about fantasizing recreating Shirley MacLaine’s hospital scene, and screaming “GIVE HER THE SHOT!” At the nurse, she is probably fantasizing about reenacting Jerry Maguire’s quitting scene. Here are my thoughts to help you have a successful ER visit. I found another blogger, unnamed, who addressed the topic, “ER visits” for chronic pain sufferers. A Nurse's Perspective On Pelvic Mesh.
You’re On My Last Nerve, Doc! – Neuromuscular Mesh Trouble. If you’ve ever had your leg got to sleep on you, you know what neural pain and numbness feels like.
There are so many nerves in the pelvis and legs that I could write a 10,000 word blog and still miss some of them. Neuromuscular pain complications after pelvic surgery are complicated and distressing, to say the least. It is a topic that we plan to cover frequently in the future. For today, our will focus will be on nerve injuries caused by mesh surgery, whether it was from putting the mesh in, making revisions, or taking it out. Post operative nerve injury affects about 2 percent of pelvic surgery patients. Nerve pain that does not get better within 6 months of surgery changes your life in the most miserable way. While you are having pelvic surgery, your nerves are in danger for several reasons.
Some patients have more than one nerve injury. We will explore each of the nerve injuries on our list in upcoming blog posts at meshtroubles.com.