Urgent surgery needed to regain quality of life

My name is Alika, and I am the mother of three beautiful children, the youngest being just 3½ months old.

In February, I gave birth via emergency C-section at a public hospital. Soon after the surgery, I developed what appears to be an incisional hernia on the left side of my C-section. Although I am still not entirely sure what caused it, the condition has progressively worsened over the past few months.

Since giving birth, I have returned to the state hospital six times seeking help. Each time, I have been sent home with pain medication and little to no further investigation. I was told that because of the volume of surgeries on their waiting lists, a hernia is not considered urgent unless it becomes an emergency. I was informed that I could be placed on a waiting list, but that the wait could be a year or more.

The frightening part is that no scans or imaging were done to properly assess the severity of the hernia. I eventually had to pay out of pocket to consult a private doctor simply to be taken seriously. After examining me, I was told that due to the size...