Patient too shocked to complain of surgery

Carolyn DeWaegeneire was "shattered" and in a state of shock for years after a
doctor cut out her genitals, unable to complain about the unauthorised surgery, a
jury has heard.
Told that she would be in hospital for about three days for a "simple" procedure in
August 2002, the then 58-year-old woke from her anaesthetic in pain with stitches
that felt "like barbed wire".
The doctor who performed the surgery, and cannot be named for legal reasons, is
standing trial before a jury at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court after
pleading not guilty to charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm on Ms DeWaegeneire
and excising her clitoris.
Court orders also prevent publication of the location or region where the alleged
offences occurred.
Giving evidence on Wednesday, the mother-of-two, who was widowed in 2001, recalled
giving consent to the doctor only for the removal of a small piece of skin on her
vulva, identified to be a form of pre-cancer.
"If I had known that my clitoris was going to be cut off there is no way I would
have walked through that hospital door," Ms DeWaegeneire said of the procedure,
which left her in a NSW hospital on painkillers for six days.
Ms DeWaegeneire said in evidence the doctor told her of his intention when she was
"helpless", about to pass-out from anaesthesia on the operating table.
"His face came close to mine and for my ears only he said `I'm going to take your
clitoris too' with which I slid under the anaesthetic," Ms DeWaegeneire said.
Crown prosecutor Margaret Cunneen SC asked: "Did you have the opportunity to respond?"
"I was gone," Ms DeWaegeneire replied.
Ms Cunneen: "Had the accused ever told you that he intended to take your clitoris?"
Ms DeWaegeneire: "If that had been mentioned you would not have seen me for dust".
She said when she woke from surgery "I knew what had happened and I was shattered".
The doctor's barrister, John Stratton SC, told the jury his client "honestly
believed what he was doing was necessary for the treatment of his patient".
He said the comments allegedly made before surgery were not correct and that
evidence would show none of the other four people in the small theatre heard those
words.
"He was not trying to mutilate or harm Ms DeWaegeneire, he was trying to save her
life," Mr Stratton said.
He questioned why Ms DeWaegeneire didn't raise any queries about the surgery until
two years after it occurred.
"I had lost my husband, I had now lost my anatomy, I was in shock, I could not
replace what was gone," she said.
Asked what is left of her genital region, Ms DeWaegeneire replied "nothing".
"I've been told I could have reconstructive surgery but I said `no way is anyone
coming near me again'," she said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Ms Cunneen told the jury of seven men and five women they
would hear evidence from a theatre nurse who questioned the doctor's actions at the
time.
The nurse allegedly told police she asked the doctor: "That's fairly radical
surgery. Why are you taking so much?'"
He allegedly replied: "If I don't take it all the cancer will spread."
Nurse: "You would not be taking my clitoris no matter what."
Doctor: "Her husband's dead so it doesn't matter anyway."
The jury trial before Judge Greg Woods continues on Thursday. It is expected to take
three weeks.