Summary: An English woman with stress incontinence opted for a transvaginal mesh surgery but it turned her vagina into a dangerous zone that almost severed a penis off.
Any woman can contest to the fact that pregnancy and childbirth will change their body. One 50-year-old woman from Brighton decided to correct some of the effects of having a child with surgery. Theresa Bartram was dealing with stress incontinence and lack of confidence in sexual intimacy.
For seven years, Bartram dealt with this problem by not having sex until she was told about an operation that could lift her prolapsed bladder to stop the leaking by using a plastic mesh sling, or transvaginal tape (TVT).
Bartram said the surgery had worked wonders until two years later. In 2009, while engaging in intercourse with her partner, she claims her vaginal almost sliced off his penis. She said, “It was like it had grown teeth. His willy was bright red and spouting blood. There was a big red stain spreading between us on the sheets. After that he was scared of my lady garden and approached it as if it was a Venus flytrap and he was a bluebottle.”
The couple avoided sex because they were too afraid to try it out again. Bartram talked to her doctor but was assured everything was fine. After six months, Bartram and her partner broke up. She had lost all confidence in the bedroom again. She took to exercising and dieting, dropping from a size 20 to a size 14.
One morning, she woke up with a bloated stomach, vicious stomach pains, diarrhea, and vomiting. Her general health had been declining for while so she visited her doctor, who diagnosed her with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and depression.
For the next several years, Bartram was convinced her health problems were from the mesh. She saw 25 other doctors without any conclusive direction. The only thing that was done was to remove her gallbladder.
Eight years since she had the surgery, Bartram’s vagina began leaking green puss and emitting a foul smell. Now the doctors properly examined her, advising her to have the mesh removed immediately. Medical professionals discovered that the mesh had eroded through the belly button side of her vaginal wall, causing an abscess to grow, become infected, and turn septic.
Bartram had the mesh removed in November of 2015 in what turned out to be a complicated surgery. The mesh had bound itself to her pelvis cartilage by shrinking and then turning hard. She explained, “It felt like razor-sharp teeth, hence why it had ripped a chunk from my boyfriend’s willy.”
Doctors explained that the mesh had been placed too low, causing the injury to her partner’s manhood and her other painful complications. She is now completely incontinent and has no feeling in her vagina. She said, “It made my vagina deadly and forced me into a life of celibacy. It could have killed me. I’m pleased the mesh is gone but it had left my body and my vagina a total mess. I wear padding all the time and sleep on incontinence sheets.”
The procedure has been banned in Scotland. Women and men around the world are calling for the ban on the procedure completely.
Do you think the problem is the doctor or the procedure? Tell us in the comments below.
To learn more about surgeries gone wrong, read these articles:
- Woman Pleads Guilty to Botched Penis Enlargement Surgery
- 12 Lessons Learned from Celebrity Cosmetic Surgery Nightmares
- South Dakota Woman Wins $3.35 mln Jury Award over J&J’s Vaginal Mesh
Photo: kfor.com