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Patricia Conlon submission of 29 June 2021

PE1865/X - Suspend all surgical mesh and fixation devices

In 2002 I was at an exciting stage in my working life I had just got a new job in lifelong learning working as an Administrator of a Scottish Union Learning Fund project. Something I was very passionate about. My children were 16 so as a single parent I no longer had to worry about childcare and could commit to a job which required travel and times away from home.

I attended my GP with a stress incontinence problem and was referred to Urogynecology dept where a Consultant assured me that my problem was due to a prolapse and would be solved with a simple procedure. He explained that a "tape sling " would be inserted to support my uterus. At no point was I told it was polypropylene or how it would be attached. I am allergic to most metals.

I attended the day of my op and I remember being told it was a quick procedure and I wouldn't be in theatre long. I came around 5 hours later and wondered why had been out so long. Then I noticed blood in my catheter bag. I overheard the nurses saying my bladder had been "nicked" during the op.

From then on my health deteriorated so much that by 2014, at the age of 52, I had to give up work and a comfortable salary as a college lecturer. I developed: Irritable Bowel syndrome; Anxiety; Fibromyalgia; Arthritis; and Recurrent Urinary Infections.

It was only when I joined Scottish Mesh Survivors Facebook Group that I realised that my problems were mesh related.

As time went on my symptoms became more severe with constant pain and I am now more or less housebound often bed ridden. I cannot walk any distance. I cannot stand for more than a couple of minutes. I cannot sit for long periods. I cannot play with my grandchildren, cook ,clean, socialise with friends or walk my dog. I now rely on friends and neighbours as I have no family in the UK and live alone. Neighbours walk my dog. My friend comes in and organises almost every aspect of my life, without him I would not be here. I would almost certainly have taken my own life.

He supports me everyday emotionally and physically and is effectively my unpaid carer, even coming in last thing at night.

I still have 8 years before I can claim my pension I live on disability benefits with no savings. Unable to afford a private removal of my mesh. I would plead that this mesh should never be used again because I would never wish anyone to be living their life like this. I use the word living but it is merely existing, certainly not what I imagined I would be like.

Please do not allow another surgeon put this toxicity into anyone else's body.