I woke up from a routine operation to find doctors removed my part of my womb – my hopes have been dashed

A WOMAN who dreamed of becoming a mother had part of her uterus removed by doctors without her knowing, she has revealed.

Zoe Bailey, now 30, was first diagnosed with endometriosis at 23 after 10 years of suffering excruciatingly painful periods that often caused her to ‘pass out’.

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The condition, which affects one in 10 women, occurs when tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other places, such as the ovaries and fallopian tubes.

“One minute I can be fine and the next I’m in excruciating pain and can’t breathe – it just paralyzes me,” she explained.

Zoe from Manchester underwent her first surgery at St Mary’s Hospital in 2015 to remove endometriosis.

However, after the surgery failed to relieve her pain, doctors decided to give her an injection to temporarily disable her ovaries.

It was a huge blow for Zoe, who had been trying to have a baby since she was 21, but she knew she had to put an end to the excruciating pain.

Tragically, in 2019 her symptoms returned and she was taken back to the theater to have more endometriosis removed.

But when she woke up, Zoe found an ostomy bag attached to her, missing part of her intestines, cervix and uterus, meaning she would never be able to carry her own child.

“My world was completely shattered,” she told the Manchester Evening News.

A stoma is an opening in the abdomen that connects to the digestive or urinary system and allows waste from the body to pass into a pouch.

Initially, Zoe was told she would only have to use the bag for six months – but three years later it’s still attached.

To make matters worse, Zoe is still in extreme pain from her endometriosis.

“It’s gotten worse now, so it’s literally all the time, I don’t even have to bleed,” she explained

Zoe had to stop working in a nursing home because she couldn’t do manual labor and had to take regular time off due to the pain.

“I was in a lot of pain at work and couldn’t even move in the evening,” she added.

Zoe now fears she may have to undergo a hysterectomy – which would remove her entire uterus and prevent her from producing her own eggs.

In preparation, the 30-year-old launched a Gofundme page to raise money to freeze her eggs.

Zoe now believes there needs to be more information and awareness about endometriosis – especially among some healthcare professionals.

“I’ve been to the doctors who said I had endometriosis, and they often said, ‘What is it?’

“New doctors who don’t know me just think it’s related to my period, but it’s not,” she said.

“My advice to other women would be, know your body and listen to it — you don’t want periods to be so painful that you pass out,” she explained.

A spokesman for the Manchester University Foundation Trust, which runs St Mary’s, said: “We take Zoe’s claims very seriously. We understand that she contacted PALS about her concerns.

“The PALS team is continuing to investigate the St. Mary’s matter under their standard complaints procedure and will provide feedback to Zoe once the investigation is complete.”