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A mother who had mesh implant surgery to treat incontinence following the birth of her second child has said complications have left her in such pain she cannot sleep with her husband.
Cat Lee, 43, says it was so bad she worried about the pressure it put on her husband.
‘My poor husband, Gordon, was more like my carer. As for sex, it was strictly out of bounds because of the pain,’ she told the Mirror.
‘I even suggested he could sleep with someone else. Luckily, he refused, saying it was me he loved.’
The surgery was meant to fix an incontinence problem Cat had which began during her pregnancy with her son, Charlie, that only got worse after he was born.
It was so bad that she even wet herself at work.
‘I’d wet myself and it had soaked right through the pad I’d been wearing.
‘I was only 33, but I felt like a granny. I even had to ask a colleague to buy me some new tights, although I was too embarrassed to tell her why.’
The surgery was meant to repair the cause of the problem – a minor prolapse that doctors said was affecting her bladder control.
Even though she had known her husband for 22 years, they couple decided to finally tie the knot.
Waiting until after her surgery to celebrate their honeymoon, it was meant to be the start of a better life.
However after waking from the surgery she experienced intense pain, and even though she took painkillers and hoped it would go away, it didn’t.
Cat has suffered with the pain from her surgery for year.
‘I couldn’t even sit down because of the pain.’
She had surgery to remove the mesh, however she says the pain persists even though most of it has gone.
‘Ten years on, I’m convinced that the so-called ‘simple’ vaginal mesh surgery has ruined my life,’ she says, especially in reference to little Charlie.
‘I can’t play with him like other mums and I don’t feel like much of a wife either.’
Cat says she is telling her story to raise awareness of the dangers of vaginal mesh implants.
‘I don’t want another child like Charlie seeing their mum go through this.’
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