Carina, who was injured in childbirth, did not receive help in time: "Will never forgive care"

A compilation that Assignment review has done together with local news shows that Norrbotten has been among the worst places to live in Sweden in terms of waiting times for visits or surgery in specialist care between 2016 and 2020.

- The long wait for help has meant that you end up in a situation where it is not even worthwhile to get out of bed, says Carina Ekman. 

Carina Ekman suffered a severe rupture in the abdomen, when she gave birth to her son at Sunderby Hospital in Norrbotten in 2008. An injury that changed her life completely.  

- For many years I was told that the problem was in my head.

I will never forgive the care for that betrayal, she says. 

Unsuccessful operation: "Peeed and pooped on me" 

Carina says that it was only eight years after the birth that she learned how seriously she was injured in the abdomen, something she believes has led to many years of suffering unnecessarily.

In the end, she had an operation - but it failed.  

- Before the operation, I had problems with pain, prolapse, an abscess and pinching.

But after the operation, I became totally incontinent and peed and pooped on myself, she says. 

The failed procedure was reported to the patient insurance and Carina received compensation for delayed diagnosis and treatment as well as for additional injuries after surgery. 

Experience it as an abuse 

- I was right, but I still did not feel well because I felt as if I had been involved in an abuse, says Carina. 

Now she needs surgery again.

But when she sought help in the summer of 2021, the waiting time began to tick again.

From the time she received a referral in June, it took over seven months before she could see a specialist.  

Once she got there, she was in so much pain that the doctor judged that Carina could not be operated on.  

There are elections soon, what would you like to send to the regional politicians who have the ultimate responsibility? 

- There must be a change now, not in three or five years, but today it will happen, says Carina Ekman. 

In the video, she talks about how the betrayal of care still torments her today.