Oct 05, 2025
There was only one thing I could write about this week, after my 5-hour visit to A&E on Thursday. The awful treatment of women in our health system, and the mess of the NHS.
My health is my wealth; this should be the same for everyone. If we are ill, we cannot work, look after our families, or look after ourselves. I choose to prioritise my physical and mental health above others, even my children. OMG, did she actually say that? Yes, put your own oxygen mask on first.
History of My Issues
Back in January 2025, I started bleeding heavily. Every period cycle, I would bleed for three weeks out of four, sometimes a gush of blood, sometimes a trickle, but always blood. I am 48, I have been in peri-menopause since I was 44, I take oestrogen HRT and had the coil fitted for progesterone in 2021, when I was 44, to stop excessive bleeding! I also have a blood disorder, ITP, where I have low platelets (normally around 100)
In March, I had a routine smear. I explained my issue, and the nurse obviously referred me for an ultrasound and to the gynaecologist at my local hospital, the Lister in Stevenage.
Things happen, priorities evolve in life, Jan to July was a stressful time with my children, and I was on a health body journey (losing 17 kg in weight), and I let it slip that I hadn’t received an appointment for the ultrasound or gynaecologist, I forgot.
I saw a GP in July at Knebworth surgery, just before my holiday, and showed her my blood diary; I was still bleeding most of the time. She wasn’t the woman’s health specialist, I was dismissed, but given a prescription, progesterone to take three times a day to stop the bleeding, ONLY whilst I was on holiday.
In August, after my holiday, I finally had an appointment at the Lister. I thought it was an ultrasound, but it was just an appointment with a gynaecologist Mr Ezzat; he was a maternity specialist, not a peri-menopause expert. He asked a lot of questions and did an exam and did a hysteroscopy, without notice or pain relief, which involves scraping a section of your womb lining off to see if cancer is present. I bled heavily after that. I remember his words at the end of the appointment – some women just bleed for 10 years in peri-menopause.
YES, HE ACTUALLY SAID THIS.
30th Sept – 2nd Oct 2025- Bleeding Heavily
Fast forward to 30th Sept, investigating my ultrasound is firmly on my to-do list. I am bleeding heavily, the toilet is full of blood, kind of heavy. Changing a tampon every hour, kind of heavy. I did the GP triage thing, filled in a form, but was dismissed. On 1st Oct, I went physically into my Knebworth GP surgery ready for a battle. The receptionist, an older lady, was very caring. We connected over bleeding issues. She went into the IT systems and gave me all the dates/requests/names of doctors whom I’d seen. She armed me with information and told me it was firmly the hospital’s responsibility. An ultrasound has been requested in March and again in August; she could even see it in ICE as urgent. Yet no ultrasound appointments.
I was straight on the phone to the Lister Hospital, after a 10-minute wait, just to talk to a call centre person. I spoke to Toby, poor Toby, a young man, listening to me telling him all about my bleeding, no appointments and lack of care. He was compassionate and assured me he would do the necessary admin to get me an urgent appointment. I said to Toby, ‘ You have 24 hours to get me this appointment, if I hear nothing, I’m going to A&E.’ He said, ‘That sounds like a good idea.’
We get to Thursday, 2nd Oct at A&E in the Lister at 8:40 am. It was quiet, I knew it would be. EVERY single person I spoke to in that department, from triage to security (there was a lot of security) to porters, to receptionists, to nurses, to cleaners, to doctors, every single person was understanding and compassionate. And just to add in mostly non-English immigrants, what on earth would happen if we didn’t have immigrants working in our hospitals??!!
I was seen quickly, maybe it was the colour of my folder, blue, and I was a bleeding urgent case? Bloods were taken straight away and results were back in less than an hour. The lovely A&E doctor tried to reassure me, had a feel of my tummy and sent me off to the Woodlands, emergency gynaecology wing. I was so calm that my blood pressure was 124/84. Nearly perfect! (120/80).
The gynaecologist doctor was amazing, I have to call her out, Dr Hagar Zeltser. A woman in her 30s who got me, and what I’d been through this year. She was like an investigative detective, but with a caring personality. She processed information as quickly as me (which is fast!), and went through all my records and results. And did an internal and external exam.
She tried to reassure me that she couldn’t feel anything or see anything suspicious. And she said, ‘Lynn, you’re not overweight, so I’d be able to feel anything. ’ I loved her at that point. She checked my bloods, surprisingly fine despite the loss of blood, platelets were low, no surprise there. She checked my cancer test, no cancer, I guess they would have told me if that test was positive. My last ultrasound was in 2022, and they found a few cysts, but they were tiny, less than 5mm. She could not understand why I was bleeding. I was booked in for an ultrasound 6 days later.
I was sent off to the pharmacy, the busiest place in any hospital. Honestly, those poor people who run that department. The wait time for my tranexamic acid was 1 hour 15 mins, so I got some magazines and sushi and chilled out with a podcast.
Three days later, I am still bleeding, the drugs don’t work, but it’s only three more days until my ultrasound, and we will work out what is happening. The next battle will be if I need an operation to remove whatever (likely fibroid, cyst, or polyp) is causing the bleeding; it’s going to be a journey.
ANGER
I am so angry that I had to resort to A&E for this issue. Of course, it’s not the place for tests, but I was excessively bleeding, which, let’s face it, is life-threatening. I did this little Instagram reel before my A&E visit, which has gone slightly viral..400k views by 25th Oct. A lot of people are having similar issues.
SAD
I feel so sad that the NHS is in such a mess; the systems and the infrastructure are broken. Departments don’t or can’t talk to each other. The app doesn’t work properly. The NHS needs reform, a significant overhaul. My lovely doctor said, obviously, the NHS is under-resourced, but they are focused on fighting short-term fires and not investing in long-term solutions to stop those fires. Fires will always pop up, unless you sort out the irrigation systems. Just ask those LA firefighters.
DISGUST
Yes, I am disgusted that everything is in such a mess after MANY years of neglect. Both Labour and the Tories have messed up our most precious resource. But those 14 years of Tory rule have REALLY messed everything up. I am disgusted that Keir Starmer hasn’t made it his top priority to sort out the NHS. OUR HEALTH IS OUR WEALTH!!!
Happy
The only glimmer is those staff, what a team, what incredible people, trying to do their best with a broken system. I spoke to maybe 30 staff in the five hours I was at the Lister hospital, and every person was wonderful, caring, underpaid and brave.
Next Steps
I tagged my local Stevenage MP, Kevin Bonavia, on my viral Instagram post. He messaged me that same day. He is going to raise my issues with Lister management. We are meeting for a coffee in two weeks in Westminster, I happen to be there for a Motherless Mothers meeting, and our diaries matched like magic. Wes Streeting and Keir Starmer were also tagged, so I know their teams are aware and will hopefully have read the hundreds of comments on Facebook and Instagram. I will use my own experience to make a change with the government; women’s health MUST be prioritised. We are the main carers for children, the elderly, the sick and yet our own health isn’t a top priority. This is not good enough.
I will, of course, keep you updated, and you’ll likely see me talking about this in the press.
24th Oct, 2025 Update!
How is it only 3 weeks after I wrote this original piece?
The original Instagram reel has now been viewed 400,000 times. Check it out! The comments on Facebook, nearly 1000 of them, are insightful. Mostly supportive of me and women sharing similar stories. As the days progressed, I realised there was a pattern: many women are bleeding and have requested ultrasounds via their GPs, but they have also been lost in the system. Or there were months and months of waiting lists. There has to be IT or infrastructure issue within the North and East Herts NHS Trust, and or other trusts. Both of my appointment requests were in the ICE system, but I was never told about any appointments.
Ultrasound 8th Oct
On Wednesday, 8th Oct, I had my ultrasound appointment at The Woodlands emergency gynaecology department of the Lister hospital. Ironic that Josh’s 16th birthday was the next day, and I had delivered him, an 11 lb baby, 16 years before, nearly to the day, just a few metres away from that clinic.
I spent around an hour having the internal ultrasound done. The doctor was, it turns out, the top gynaecology consultant, the big boss woman, as the registrar doctor called her, for Hertfordshire. The big guns had been brought in.
She did a full investigation of my uterus, cervix, ovaries, and fallopian tubes. I told her I suspected my coil had slipped and was causing the bleeding, and she agreed it was worth changing that to see if it had any effect on stopping the bleeding. She noted my ovaries were tiny, and said that menopause could be soon! But also, the walls of my uterus were very thick, one cm, hence explains the bleeding.
She again checked the hysterotomy results from August and was happy that no cancer was present. And recommended that I go ahead with the coil removal and replacement booked for a week later. I then had a follow-up with the lovely doctor from the previous week, Dr Hagar Zeltser, who again went through everything and explained the results clearly.
We discussed my insomnia, and concluded it wasn’t caused by the high amount of progesterone I was taking to stop the bleeding. Just carry on with it, and try not to worry and reduce stress levels with yoga, exercise, good food and water.
Thursday 16th October -Trauma Story
I had an appointment at the GP surgery in Knebworth with my favourite women’s health GP, Dr. Njire to have my coil (four years old) removed early and replaced as the easiest proposed solution to stop the bleeding. Thank goodness I drove, although being by myself wasn’t the best, but what do you do as a single mum?
I was at the GP surgery for an hour, and let me tell you, they heard my screams from reception. Ladies who have been through this, having a coil fitted is never a pleasant pain-free experience, but this was another level. I prepared with paracetamol and had a healthy lunch, and they used pain relief gel on my cervix before anything happened. Removing my existing coil was fine, uncomfortable, but okay. But the insertion of the first coil, the pain was intense, like 10cm dilated labour pain, the most painful contraction. I was crying and screaming in agony. As was my body, which rejected the coil, and it was pushed out. At this point, I was bleeding a lot.
The GP and her colleague, two GPs, rested me for a few minutes, let me lie there, and asked if I wanted to try again, or wait for another appointment, I said f@@@ it, just go for it again. Which was even more painful, but my body accepted the second coil attempt. More screaming and crying, but it was done. I recovered, and my GP gave me all the drugs to cope with the pain, bleeding and cramps what would follow.
To all women having a coil fitted, it’s NEVER this painful, absolutely it hurts, and this is why doctors now give the gel pin relief, a new thing as women were expected to just put up with the pain before. It was different for me because of my low platelet blood issues, body complications and the removal and twice insertion. It left me with a tiny bit of PTSD, and my resulting sleep following the procedure has been very broken. Health anxiety is a real thing, and I am struggling to understand why the procedure was so painful. In addition, my GP noted that whilst she was inserting the coil, my uterus had collapsed, and it’s no wonder that I have been bleeding all year.
Friday 24th Oct – GP Appointment
I booked an appointment with Dr Njire at Knebworth Surgery to check in on my pain levels and insomnia. Eight days on from the coil replacement, I’m still in pain and cramping. I am taking Buscopan and co-codamol for the pain. It was more of a reassurance appointment as I got very upset. Lack of sleep is an awful thing, but add on being a single mum, running a company, going to meetings in the Houses of Parliament, stressing about money, medical anxiety, well, it’s all too much.
I have been booked in for another ultrasound to check that everything is okay following the coil insertion, which I need to expedite, as my local NHS Trust have seen my Instagram reels and have offered to help. I did initially request a private scan, but it was £450! Plus I need to see a gynaecologist soon. I have an appointment in early Dec, but I am doing a Right to Choose request, so I get access to the private system and get an appointment earlier.
If the bleeding and pain doesn’t stop, we need to look at surgical options. This is either an ablation (removing the thickness from the walls of my uterus) or just having it all removed, a hysterectomy. And you know what, I’m fine with that. I’ve done my research, and provided it can happen keyhole and extraction via the vagina, it’s not horrendous. The recovery is one to two weeks. Then my periods stop, and no more issues. I am 48, and I definitely do not need my uterus! There is no way I want more children.
My mum had a hysterectomy when she was around 48, and had the same bleeding issues as me. So logically, I follow the same pattern.
Thursday 23rd Oct – MP Breakfast
I did indeed meet Kevin Bonavia, my MP for Stevenage and the surrounding villages for breakfast in Portcullis House in Westminster this week. We absolutely talked about this issue, and part of the next steps was for me to share this article with him, so he has the full details of the broken process for the entire year.
His intervention has meant that I am now getting urgent appointments and the care I needed. And also that the NHS Trust are now following my case closely.
But this has highlighted a massive issue in the IT systems, of appointments disappearing, being cancelled, even though they are urgent and potentially life-saving. Is this an issue just in North/East Herts NHS Trust, or wider? This will be followed through, and I will be the poster girl for the issue and keep on campaigning until Wes Streeting resolves it.
