Anna’s
Questionnaire (version 9) (For
more Questionnaires please click here)
Background
Our admin ….. 0001
Age at hysterectomy? ….. 27 (1972)
Questionaire completed ..... April 2003 last updated May 2003
How arrived with us ..... word of mouth
Address .... North of England
Children ….. male natural conception uninformed
elective c-section.
Religion ..... Brought up Catholic
Marital status before ….. married
Relationship changed? ….. no
Ethnic group ….. white English
What academic level did you hold prior to hysterectomy .....
BSc (Hons)
Did you / do you smoke ….. no
Mother survived ….. yes (of a fashion)
Baby survived ….. yes
Job or career before / after ….. before Specialised Administrator / after homemaker
(due to circumstances unable to return to work as planned)
Before
Pregnancy
What was your menstrual cycle like before you became
pregnant? ..... when I was not on the pill it as ever 21 days for about
8 days
Did you have any, diseases, std's etc, that may have afftected your
fertility? ..... no
Pregnancy
Was it 'normal' ….. yes but lots of
catarrh that sometimes made me wretch / sick
Whist expecting did you develop any conditions? ..... No
Where was the birth wanted/planned home or hospital …..
planned for home birth
If a planned home birth why a change of plan ….. told
would murder our baby if we did so.
If c/s, planned or elective, why ….. as above
Hospital …… North of England
Doctor/s ….. unknown, hospital refuses to disclose, conflicting
information from hospital
Previous 'childbirth' vaginal, c/s etc ….. no
Did you want to / plan to breast feed ….. yes
Have you breast fed before, for how long ….. n/a
Labour and birth
Not applicable
Before operation
If planned c/s how long was the consultation? (should
be no less than an hour) .…. about 10 – 15 minutes if that,
told c/s are safe.
Were any risks including hysterectomy given to you? …..
definitely NOT
Was sterilisation talked about / planned / agreed to? …..
n/a
Were you asked if you would consent to a blood transfusion?
….. yes and consent refused
If after arrival of baby were you given any transfusion? …..
no
What were the circumstances for you to be taken (back) in?
….. Loss of blood
If taken (back) in were you told it was for a hysterectomy or warned
it may result in hysterectomy? ….. no, told it was not a possibility
when I bought up the subject
Were you asked if you suffered from depression? ….. NO
Were you asked if you had ever been abused? ….. NO
If you were abused in the past has this come to mind more than before
the operation .....n/a
During
operation
Hysterectomy date ….. 1998
Were you conscious or under general anaesthetic? ..... general
anaesthetic
What did they try before undertaking the hysterectomy …..
allegedly, manual contraction (some say this causes more damage), drugs, suturing.
Medical evidence does not concur with this.
How much blood transfused before / during hysterectomy …..
before NONE, after guesstimate 4, paperwork not accurate. Not even independent
people can work out how much!
Consent specifically given for hysterectomy? ….. NO,
consent refused
Minutes from death, if applicable ….. guesstimate about
12 hours
Did you go into cardiac arrest ….. NO
Was your husband told they were going to do it before they did it? …..
No
After hysterectomy
How did you learn of your hysterectomy …..
A doctor told me uterus only
Reason for hysterectomy ….. due to tying of blood vessels
etc I would not have been able to carry a pregnancy so so what ws the point
in keping it? …plus other excuses that there is no medical evidence for!
How much blood were you transfused after hysterectomy? …..
unknown, not even independent people can work that out from the notes
Type of hysterectomy, sub/total? If total were you told straight away
that it had been done and were you given a reason for this? …..
total, just told they had to remove it. Midwife accidentally told me cervix
had been stolen. Asked a doctor he said ‘because’
Do you still have both ovaries? If not were you told straight away that
it had been done and were you given a reason for this? ….. still
have both
Was your vagina pleated? If so were you told straight away that it had
been done and were you given a reason for this? ….. Yes. Had
to find out myself. Hospital still not admits it.
What incision scars have you? ..... bikini line
If more than one do you know what was for caesarian and what was for hysterectomy?
..... same
Intensive care/ how long? ….. No
On recovery/ward care? ….. 36 hours ish
Infections post hysterectomy, either in hospital or shortly after
….. No
How was pain managed? ….. Morphine. However I also had
pain that felt like need to go to the toilet. Had to wait over 2 hours before
I was given something for that. They tried without any consent or knowledge
of my husband or myself to sedate me. Nothing once off the morphine. I do not
believe they managed abdominal pain well. Really bad pain for breast feeding,
(after morphine finished) cracked nipples, bleeding. Had co-codamol but I don’t
think it made any difference. Was crying when feeding, wanted to scream.
When expected to fend for self and baby? ….. 36 hours
once on the ward. Not in a fit state to do it.
How were you treated by the staff? ….. generally very
badly, one was considerate but I only saw her twice. I was even told by one
midwife that I had it easier than a woman who had had a c/s as I did not have
a utrus trying to heal!!!
Did they care for you well? ….. No
Did they care for your child/ren well? ….. No
If you were crying were you given compassion? ….. No,
they could not understand why I would be crying
Were you told that you should be grateful you had a partner/husband
(many women in here do not)? ….. Yes, however I said, no they
have a uterus, am I going to get a uterus before they get a partner if they
want one, they did not reply to that!
If you had your ovaries were you told you could still have children
with surrogacy? ….. YES
Were you told to adopt ? ….. Yes, however I said due
to personal experience that that was NOT an option
If you were very unhappy were you told to change your attitude or you
may well loose your partner / husband? ….. NO
Did a counsellor see you? ….. Yes, she was there to tell
me the pro’s of hysterectomy. Never did. Tried to compare loosing her
husband after 20 years with what I was experiencing. I asked how many children
she had. Three. I told her I would prefer to have that than what I have.
Did the physiotherapist see you/ Were you given exercises to make your
uterus contract? ….. First physio horrible just going though
the motions and Yes. Second more compassionate tried to help to cough.
How long was your hospital stay? ….. 6/7 days
Were you encouraged to stay as long as you needed or not? …..
Yes but I couldn’t stand it, hated it, never unpacked. Needed to control
the medication that I could have, and some quiet.
Were you told how often this happened? ….. told 1 –
2 women per hospital per year – I was horrified at this. They believed
that number to be considered rare.
Were you given any information about how long your ovaries would 'last'?
….. not at all, when questioned later said no difference. I asked for
that evidence as I had other, never arrived.
(After) Leaving hospital
Were you given information on family planning?
….. Yes, once by hospital and then the health visitor was going though
her literature saying about a family plannng leaflet, bringing it to my attention,
showing it to me and saying 'you wont be needing that!'
How much help did you at home and for how long? ….. none,
husband at work, no family, friends too far away
How were you treated by your GP? ….. badly, ‘you
should be grateful to be alive, get on with it’
How were you treated by your midwife? ….. badly, not
interested and when asked for notes said not known if allowed them but wrote
in my notes that she said how to obtain them
How were you treated by your Health Visitor? ….. badly,
just wanted me to go on anti-depressants and see a psychiatrist. Kept insisting
on visiting and then upsetting me and making it harder on days when I was coping.
When refused visits created other problems. I was asked ‘does your husband
masturbate and come in front of you?’ Also constantly questioned on whether
I was going to sue.
If you wanted to go though a process of more children were you helped?
….. NO not helped, but hindered as much as possible (several years on
we still are hinderd)
Did you breast feed for as long as you wished. If so for how long? …..
yes, Health visitor tried to stop me after 4 months. Also discouraged by GP’s
from 8 months. Unfortunately he decided to give up at 3 3/4. I am really upset.
Amongst other things I had hoped he would continue until his brother/s and or
sister/s arrived so that I would not have to re-lactate.
Consequences
Your well being ...
Did you bond with your baby or do you feel the operation
caused problems? ..... I have bonded with our chid however I do feel
our relationship is different than it would have been
Do you feel like a survivor or victim?….. victim
Do you feel as though you have been raped? ..... yes, in my
opinion gang raped and mutilated.
Do you still feel like a woman? ….. Not at all. I also
resent forms that give the option of male or female. As far as I am concerned
I am not one of these.
Do you feel there is anyone to blame or fate? ….. Lots
of people to blame. Especially as more mutilation than necessary was done.
Are you grateful to be alive? ….. nope especially as
I was never anywhere near death
If only caesarian (s) do you feel robbed of giving birth? ...
YES!!! and robbed of a homebirth
Do you tell others what has happened? If not do you have a reason? …..
yes, as I want them to make an informed decision. I do not want this to happen
to thers unless it is the right thing for them. As it is so secrative if the
victims dont speak out who will? I do what I can to inform others as I do not
wish their pain or their children not comming into the world on my conscience.
Any legal action taken? Sucessful? ..... Medical negligence
not able to proceed with due to the lies in the notes. Can not proceed with
assault as it is their word against ours. Not impressed with the barristers
opinion as it had SO many incorrect comments (she was asked to look over the
case with regards to assault and wrote entirely about medical neglidence!) however
we do not have the money for another.
Do you know, have you met the doctor that did the operation? Was the
doctor a consultant? ….. No not allowed would not even reply
to any questions. If he did the op (which there is NO evidence for) he was a
consultant, if he did not do the op then it was not.
Has the doctor gone over your notes with you? ….. Never,
hospital have refused this
Have you obtained your notes? Were there any problems? …..
YES, AND yes
Do you believe they are an accurate portrayal of what happened?
….. No, as no mention of refusal for hyster or blood transfusion.
Did you have all your questions answered? If so was this straightaway
or did you have to go though some form of complaints procedure? Successful?
….. No, nothing successful
If applicable were the police contacted? Successful? …..
Yes. To date will not deal with it due to geography, as it was done in a hospital.
Will not deal with the circumcision as I was not a 5 year old tied down on a
bathroom floor. As recommended by othr police we tried again but the same excuses.
Have you suffered post traumatic stress disorder? ..... Yes
Have you suffered a change in depression? ..... None before
and I think I have avoided it since. Chocolate, I get down but I think that
helped. (will be linking in an article where people who were depressed were
given anti-depressentss, sugar and placebo tablets. The ones that worked best
were the sugar tablets so ...)
Do you now suffer from anxiety? ..... no
Do you suffer from sleeplessness? ..... I did for the first
2 1/2 years. Now in phases. Sufferng now from being very tired. GP says she
has heard of this happening after such things.
Do you have nightmares or have you had, that you feel are associated
with this? ..... Oh yes, different ones, from little one being taken
(from the bedroom) to still being on my degree course and worried I just cant
completel the work. I had completed my degree several years before so...
Physical ...
Has / did your menopause start early? …..
Yes about 6 weeks after with memory loss and now other symptoms including hot
flushes. (there was a programme on the BBC, there is a sort
of plaque in the arteries and when they operate and clamp then and/or cut them,
bits of the plaque come off and go into the blood. These then become lodged
in the brain and cause memory problems. The programme was covering heart bypass
operations however it is the same concept. My husband saw this programme and
so it explained a lot to him.)
Do you now have or a change in IBS? ….. Yes, attacks were 3 –
5 hours now 3 – 5 days one was 16 days!
Do you now have incontinence, if so when did it start? …..
Yes after a couple of weeks. Now minor always and need the toilet more frequent.
Do you have movement in your abdomen like a baby moving? (a couple of
us guess it is just the bowel doing its job)? ….. YES
Do you now suffer from a shortness of breath? ….. yes,
several times a day or week can be sitting there and cant breath in as much
as normal. No panic or anything, just restrictive.
Can you still stretch properly? ….. No. If I do I get
so far and then due to the pain just curl up. If it is going to happen usually
first thing in the morning when off balance about how my body now is. If later
in the day just go as far as I know my body can.
Has you libido changed (as it altered your sex life)? …..
Yes. Due to vagina too thin and too short excruciating pain. Other aspects do
not work as nothing is connected to anything. I know the nerve paths though
as the pain travels down them! So since we can no longer conceive a child or
have any pleasure only pain, what is the point?
- if yes is this positive or negative? ..... VERY negative
- is penetration possible, if so is it painful? ..... no, when tried
excruciating
- if applicable are you still able to achieve orgasm, is it the same
quality? ..... no, no orgasm since it was done, and not for lack of
trying lots of differnt things!
- do your erogenous zones still as sensitive? ..... nope, most
dead, occasionally a tinggle if i am lucky. I can feel the path that they would
have taken then a sharp pain where they end.
Do you now have problems (pain / incontinence) coughing and sneezing?
….. Yes and always have to curl up to cough or sneeze otherwise I regret
it.
Do you have abdominal pain? ….. yes just things I call
hyster pains. Now things also ‘knot’ easily in abdomen and chest.
Do you now have a problem with weight gain? ….. YES,
I had to practically stave myself to get rid of the pregnancy weight, that just
would not go away. Since then I can not eat as I did prior to pregnancy. If
I have 3 healthy meals a day I put on weight VERY quickly. I have to limit it
to two little meals a day and no fun or treats. If I do My abomn just balloons
like I was at 4 or 5 months expecting!!! Before I could eat ANYTHING and no
weight gain.
Do you now have a different figure? ….. Yes. I used to
have a perfectly flat stomach and a size 5 figure, I will never have that again
as every thing flops in the abdomen area.
Do you suffer more headaches? ….. yes
Do you now suffer from rashes? ..... Yes a form of eczema
Do you now suffermore from pains like trapped nurves or something twisted
inside if you turn the wrong way? ..... Yes, a lot more in the chest
area, used toonly be in shoulders or tops of legs
If you sffer from cold sores do they now scar? ..... Yes, never used
to regadless of how bad they were
Have you had any tidy up operation/s? comments? ….. NO
– don’t think I could let them anywhere near me.
Hospitals reaction ...
Do you know, have you met the doctor that did the operation?
Was the doctor a consultant? .....I do not know who did the operation,
and independent people can not tell me who it was. We are guessing it was done
by a doctor and then the consultant turned up to speak to my husband. I have
never knowing seen or met the consltant. He will not answer any questions and
the hospital has refused to allow me to have a meeting with him or anyone else
Was an internal review undertaken to see hat happened and if mistakes coul be
learnt from? (Anna was told this was standard practice with such an outcome)
..... Even though several medical people said this would have been done it was
not. They did not know why it happened however 'we did not see the need' for
an internal review!
Did you think about having your organ (s) returned to you? Any results? …..
yes, took nearly a year, they had to create new procedures to do so
(they said).
Have you obtained your notes? Were there any problems? ..... yes and
some. charge me a ridiculous amount
Do you beleive they are an accutate portrayal of what happened?
..... not at all. No mention that I refused consent for hyster or blood transfusion,
and considering independent people can not give answers ...
Has the doctor gone over your notes with you? ..... NO!
Did you have all your questions answered? If so was this straight away
or did you have to go though some form of complaints procedure? Sucessful?
..... No and no
If you wish to meet or speak to the peole involved in your 'care' are
you able to? ..... No hospital refused
Have you gone back to the hospital if so was this helpful for you? .....
Only to collect notes. Whenever I go near the motorway exit for the area I am
really uncomfortable.
With hindsight would you have done anything different? …..
Oh yes, see account.
Miscellaneous
When did it HIT you? ..... straightaway. However
when I dicovered they had also stolen my crvix I knew that none of it never
needed to be done.
Did you plan to be an organ donor before the hysterectomy? Are you still? Or
vice versa. ….. YES and now will NOT do it. Not after what has
been done. They had no respect for me living I will not be further violated.
I do not want a post mortem if I die either. Have to look into that.
Has it effected family life, if so how? ..... hummm I dont really
know how to out into words. Part of it is very restricting. As I still find
it hard to go into places that there will be expctant mothers or new babies
if its a bad day then I wont be going out so hubby gets to take our little one
out. When we have planned to go out in advance I have to mentally prepare myself
for it as I know hubby and litte one would be disappointed if its a bad day.
Due to the fact Iwont bow down and thank the doctors for mutialtion the bad
apples have put hurdles in our way and at times stopped our path for surrogacy.
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BAD APPLES. It took me 2 1/2 years to find a good GP!
So if this has never happened I would be carrying our third child. Our only
child woudl not be only. He woudl ahve at least one younger sibling to play
with. I feel for him. The bad apples are making things more difficult for this
family in such a bad time. They claim to be thinking of further children. they
do not care about our child or their future. They only care about continuing
to have power and control over us. We have been threatened on more than one
occasion, stop informing and helping others or forget having more children!
How has your husband / partner dealth with this? ..... badly
at first, but once he saw the lies from the hospital he knew something was not
right. Like most he wanted to believe they must have been allowed to do it and
it was all necessary. He now knows differently.
How has this changed the quality of your life? ..... effectively
ended it. All my dreams have been stolen. They never considered me the victim
and have no regard for the consequences of their actions. They just decided
what they wanted to do, effectively a gang of strangers stole my organs and
mutilated me. They now try to dictate to me how I should deal with it!
What are your overall views? ..... Hard to
say the situation is something out of a horror, ancient and barbaric time. After
speaking to many people that work in hospitals especailly in maternity and gynachology,
do women have rights over their bodies? I know there are good apples, but there
are far too many bad apples. Why will the good apples not get rid of the bad
apples. And why is there so little protection for women?
With hindsight would you have done anything differently? ..... STAYED
AT HOME. Possibly employed an independent midwife. We were worried about the
cost of an independent midewife. We now understand the cost of this would have
been about £2,500, the cost of ONE IVF treatment cycle! If
I had known about post pregancy hysterectomy, it would have been all over my
notes that it was not to be done under any circumstances. For me I would have
come out of this a woman, alive or dead, but complete and whole. I had the right
to die a woman not a 'thing'.
Advice for others ….. decide if a hyster is for you if not ,
PUT IT ON YOUR NOTES. Find out what drugs they give if any problems or not.
Research and make sure you have someone there that will go into theatre with
you. IT IS YOUR LEGAL RIGHT, to act as your advocate. Find out all the scenarios.
Find out if they do the operations that will save your uterus, mine know of
them but will NOT use them.
Any other thoughts or comments? ….. X
More children wanted/hoped for? If so how many?
….. 3 - 5
Surrogacy ….. Trying
Eggs retrieved - embryos ….. 27 eggs retrieved, less
than 50% fertilisation rate though
Embryos implanted ….. NO
Result ….. NO
Adoption ….. Not for me. Never has been
never will be. Husband would have considered it.
* Anna's account
* Anna's breastfeeding account
* Anna's surrogacy
* Anna's discovery of vaginal damage