Smear victim: it must never happen again

By FRANCESCA MOLD

Andrea Winmill had her life mapped out.

At 26, she had a comfortable life working as an administrator and was about to start a family with her husband, John.

Then she received the shattering news that she had cancer growing at least 5mm deep into her cervix.

Not only would there be no children, but there were doubts whether she would have her health or even her life.

Ms Winmill had had regular smears since the age of 16 after seeing advertisements which promised "never fear, have a smear."

In 1992, her slide was read by Gisborne pathologist Dr Michael Bottrill, who reported it was normal. In the next five years, she had four smears read by pathologists in other laboratories, who also described them as "normal."

The disease steadily growing in her cervix was not found until last year, and she had a radical hysterectomy at National Women's Hospital this year.

"I could not believe that after having regular smears the outcome was that I was to be robbed of my right to have children, and in the worst-case scenario even my life," she told Saturday's special sitting of the Gisborne inquiry into misread smear tests. Ms Winmill said her battle against cancer was made more traumatic by a health system which she believes treated her with callous disregard.

She waited weeks after diagnosis for National Women's to contact her with a date for surgery, only to find she had mistakenly been dropped off the list.

"I found it very frustrating that I had to chase the doctors to get an operation and deal with the fact that I had been diagnosed with cancer."

Ms Winmill said she did not want revenge, nor did she hate anyone for what had happened.

"Dr Bottrill made a mistake, but it is not just him that I blame. The health authorities paid him but failed to check that he was doing a good job ... I want an assurance this will never happen again."

Hicks Bay resident Eleanor Vertongen, previously known as Jane, has had regular smears. The 33-year-old is expecting her fifth child, but has been told the pregnancy will be complicated because a portion of her cervix was removed during a cone biopsy operation.

She talked on Saturday about how she felt being identified as one of Dr Bottrill's "victims" and described women queuing at Gisborne Hospital after the concerns became public.

"It was like a lineup for a picture theatre. The nurse would come in and tell another woman that she was next for an operation. I felt like a guinea pig.

"I know what I have been through is not as bad as a lot of other women ... Some Maori women I know have not done anything about their results ... These women put a blanket over their heads and wait to die."