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Hope Pagano
Mesh News Desk, March 17, 2016 ~ Her name is Hope Pagano and you may have read her profile (here) on the pages of Mesh Medical Device News Desk.
Hope, the mother of six and wife to Steven, mentioned to her doctor she had a little incontinence. His treatment plan was to implant an Ethicon/ Johnson & Johnson TVT-Abbrevo sling.
Besides pain and chronic infections, following her May 13, 2011 surgery, Hope developed new symptoms.
Within three weeks she had fever, muscle fatigue, muscle aches, headaches, sensitivity to light and sound and brain fog. Within eight months she was diagnosed through double stranded DNA (ds-DNA) and an ANA test revealed full blown Lupus.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that means the body is attacking itself in some form. Essentially it is fighting off a foreign invader. See more from the Lupus Foundation of America here.
Hope Pagano wants others, who have also developed autoimmune issues following their implant, to add their names to this registry.
"There is strength in numbers," she says. "Only with proof in numbers will this be taken seriously."
Your Mesh News Desk editor has noted about half of those she speaks to have also complained of autoimmune complaints following their mesh implant. Also too are those complaints coming forward following a hernia implant. Also below the original story on Hope are 54 comments, many complaining of similar symptoms post-mesh.
However, these reports are considered anecdotal and not taken seriously by science. Hard data is taken seriously. A registry is a way to start.
Hope suggests you add your name (below), your email, the symptoms, how soon they developed after implant (not before) and the type of mesh you have. She also notes that the women implanted with the Essure birth control (here) are also reporting the emergence of autoimmune issues following the birth control device being implanted in their fallopian tubes.
For those of you who want to remain anonymous, use another name but include the other important information.
There are no plans on how to use this data other than to see how many of you emerge so a pattern can be seen, the first step in taking a complaint seriously.
Thank you for your participation!
PS- Be Sure to add your voice to Mesh Problems (Facebook) questionnaire as well.!
Thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/meshproblems/permalink/1194606963903579/?qa_ref=qd
Jane Akre
Editor, Mesh News Desk
janeakre@meshnewsdesk.com
