Marilynne Toole went into Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for routine bladder surgery in April but endured a “nightmare” after surgical gauze was left inside her for 75 days.
“I’m sharing this because I want people to know what the hell can happen to you,” said Toole, 66. “It’s been six months of my life and it’s been an absolute nightmare.”
The mother of three grown children went for day surgery on April 28. Six weeks later, she complained to her urologist of a horrible odour emanating from her body. It was not followed up or investigated. About two months later, she developed a urinary tract infection and was given antibiotics.
It wasn’t until early July — when the gauze literally fell out of Toole’s body — that the medical profession began to listen, she said.
“It’s been an absolute horror story. I have felt like I was violated,” Toole said Thursday. “I had this invasive thing in me 75 days and no one would listen to me. I felt victimized.”
Island Health said it has been in contact with Toole since August.
“We deeply regret that this patient had a poor care experience and we sincerely apologize to her,” said a statement from the health authority.
Such incidents are rare, Island Health said, adding that the health-care system is human-run and humans make mistakes.
“We have met with clinical staff involved in her care in the surgical program” and reviewed pre- and post-operating room procedures, said Island Health.
Surgeons are required to follow checklists, for example conducting a sponge count before and after surgery.
Toole said Island Health’s apology is too little, too late.
She said she got a call from an operating room nurse, but felt her explanation rang hollow. “She was passing the buck.”
Toole said her urologist has done everything possible for her since and feels his apologies and efforts to make things right are sincere and meaningful.
However, her husband, Graham, has insisted she see another urologist in Victoria for a checkup next week.
Toole discovered the gauze while visiting Ontario in July. Days into the trip, she was at her cousin’s house and went to the washroom.
“I feel this thing … so started to pull on it,” Toole said. “I thought: ‘Am I going to be pulling out my bladder? What am I pulling out of me?’ ”
The smell was enough to make her cousin’s daughter vomit.
“As soon as I saw it, I knew what it was.”
Island Health said the four-by-four-inch piece of gauze had been placed, not sewn, inside Toole — “left behind in an external body canal during post-surgical care.”
Using airtight Ziploc bags, Toole tried to double bag the gauze in Ziploc bags so she could take it to her doctor in Nanaimo. The stench could not be contained, so she took a photograph instead.
While in Ontario, she went to hospital with another urinary tract infection. Toole said the physician didn’t mince words, telling her: “I can’t believe you came in on two legs and didn’t come in in a body bag. You should be septic having this in you this long.”
Since then, Toole has had several more urinary tract infections and rounds of antibiotics. Weekly hospital visits were required to increase her iron levels. “My body was trying to fight the infections,” she said.
Toole tears up over the mental anguish she suffered — she didn’t want to go out in public and thought people were staring because of the stench. She was weak and housebound.
She partly blames herself for not better advocating for herself.
Having someone finally acknowledge her pain, “it was like all this weight was lifted off my chest,” she said.
