Pretoria - Stress, frustration and the uncertainty of not knowing what her real condition is, has troubled Pretoria East mother Mary Niyibizi throughout the five weeks she has been at Kalafong Hospital in Atteridgeville.
Her problems started when a strong chemical spilt onto her buttocks and was used inside her private parts during a procedure at the hospital in the middle of last month.
A visit by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu two weeks after the incident did not improve the situation, despite the launch of a high-profile team to investigate the incident and treatment plan.
“The wounds on my backside are still very painful, deep and raw,” the mother of two teenage boys said on Thursday.
She told the Pretoria News that the sight of them when they were dressed every third day did not make medical staff happy at all. However, her major concern was the damage done to the internal areas of her private parts, which have had an unpleasant discharge since the day she was hurt.
A doctor examining her this week told her that the damage was bad: “She told me she was not happy with what she found inside me and now I’m worried more about the long-term impact of it all,” she said.
Niyibizi had been to the hospital on a Tuesday for a procedure which would have lasted between 15 and 30 minutes in theatre. It was a follow-up to a pap smear done at the clinic near her West View home. The procedure had just started when a liquid slid down her thighs onto the bed, causing a burning sensation on her buttocks.
She told medical staff about the pain and was assured that it would be over soon.
Niyibizi was whisked off to the emergency room and admitted when, after the procedure, staff discovered that the skin had burnt off her buttocks and her flesh was exposed. A doctor told her concentrated acid had been used and it was an oversight from the pharmacy.
No other explanation was given.
Two weeks later, Mahlangu visited her in hospital, and said the wounds were superficial and had been the result of a bad reaction to the chemical. Six other patients had been treated with the same chemical just before she had, the MEC said, saying the incident could have been handled better if an explanation had been given to the patient at the time.
Mahlangu had then announced an investigation into the events, to have been led by Professor Setheme Mosehle of the Sefako Makgatho University in Pretoria.
But on Thursday, Niyibizi said she was frustrated by the slow pace of things, particularly the healing process. “I have only had one visit from the external investigation team, and even that was no more than five minutes long,” she said.
Health department spokesman Steve Mabona on Thursday said they couldn’t divulge information on the treatment and healing process of their patient.
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Pretoria News