When Forest Glen woman, Catherine Hicks had unexplained heavy menstrual bleeding and low iron levels, doctors booked her in for a test to confirm the bleeding was causing her anaemia.
If she had this issue 12 months ago, her only option would have been to go under general anaesthetic to be examined.
This would have wiped her out for 14 hours, meaning a day off work and having to find someone to drive her home.
But now, she is one of more than 200 women who have had a hysteroscopy instead.
The Wishlist funded equipment was introduced to the Nambour General Hospital a year ago.
It allows health staff to look inside the uterus with local anaesthetic, making it much easier to diagnose and treat gynaecological conditions.
Sunshine Coast Health Obstetrics and Gynaecology Senior Registrar Dr Adeline Foo said access to equipment benefits patients and health staff.
“It has streamlined the whole process, there’s a continuity of care, patients are exposed to less risk from anaesthesia and the procedure, and less impact on their life trying to fit in this appointment,” Dr Foo said.
“I think it has made a significant difference and talking to women at the clinic, the overall response from women has been very overwhelming.
“By having the hysteroscopy, it takes up less resources because the procedure is much faster than the alternative, and allows us to do more tests for these women.”
Catherine’s appointment was at 8:20am and she was walking out of the hospital by 9:45am.
“It was a lot more convenient to do it as an outpatient, as I didn’t have to worry about the general anaesthetic,” Catherine said.
“They have access to great equipment in Nambour, so that made things a bit quicker and easier which was great.
“The Nambour General Hospital is nice and close, so it was certainly handy and convenient and worked well for me.”
Catherine also highlighted the incredible work of the local health staff who supported her throughout her hysteroscopy.
“I particularly wanted to say that the whole team were very good, they gave me a call beforehand to say this is what to expect, what I need to bring, that was all explained really well to me before I even got there,” Catherine said.
To help Wishlist continue to fund vital medical equipment like this, you can here. https://www.wishlist.org.au/donate
