Internal damage from transvaginal surgical mesh has taken nearly everything from Christine Asprey.
“This is what I’m left with - a lot of nerve damage, chronic pain,” she said.
She said she's lost her husband, her job and soon, her home.
“I'm on disability right now and I have to sell my house because I can't afford it.”
For now, she sleeps in the living room because she rents out all of the bedrooms to help cover costs.
News that the first Canadian lawsuits are being settled for women who suffer from mesh implants brings her hope.
Asprey is one of thousands more waiting for their cases to be heard.
Transvaginal mesh can be used after hysterectomies or to treat incontinence and organ prolapse.
Sometimes the plastic shifts or breaks off inside the patient, causing excruciating pain and piercing organs.
“Like a ball of barbed wire cutting me inside. Day in, day out,” said Asprey.
She has since had the mesh removed, but continues suffering from damage caused by the device.
The first 35 women who will be compensated by the makers of their mesh can't name the company or the amount of the legal settlement because of a confidentiality clause.
While compensation will help women, including Asprey, she said it's no resolution.
Her biggest hope is that it sends a message that could save other women from pain.
“Maybe some of these pharmaceutical companies - if they have to pay enough - maybe they will review it more and stop using mesh,” said Asprey.
The Winnipeg Regional Health Authority said it performs roughly 1,000 surgeries using the mesh each year, the majority for incontinence, which has a one to three per cent chance of complications.
