I was on holidays for a few days last week and was blessed with the best weather we’ve had since August.

This time last year I had been advised to stay away from working in the garden because of osteoporosis in my spine.

It was a terrible penance to look out at everything growing like mad and not be able to lift as much as a trowel.

In the hope of salvaging some of the nice plants in the herbaceous border, we covered it with plenty of mulch and it worked as great protection when I wasn’t in a position to weed.

Thankfully, things are much better this year and I’m able to do some work both in the yard and garden.

While I was off the CervicalCheck scandal hit the headlines. I had a terrible sense of déjà vu and couldn’t believe we were back in this territory again.

Had nobody learned anything from the many scandals that apply to women’s health in particular?

I didn’t want to listen as politicians blamed each other and anyone else in sight for the fiasco that had and will continue to cost women their lives.

We now know that 17 women have died after incorrect smear test results.

I didn’t want to listen as once again senior staff at the HSE answered questions in what, to an ordinary person, looked like a totally detached manner. As if they weren’t really in charge.

I was utterly appalled when I heard one say he didn’t accept full responsibility for the scandal, because he “didn’t personally make that cock up”.

I remember when after a long labour with our twins the last thing I wanted was another injection. So when a nurse approached me with a syringe I wanted to know what it was for.

I was basically told to stay quiet and take what was good for me. There was no effort to communicate what the injection was for.

My blood group is O negative and the injection was for Anti D and it was very important that I received it.

However, it would have been nice if this was explained to me. As it turned out I would learn all about Anti D and its implication when the national blood bank was hit by scandal a few years later.Luckily, my pregnancies were in ‘good’ years.

Going for a mammogram or a smear test isn’t easy. I know I’ve stared long and hard at the invitation to summon up the courage to make an appointment.

The sense of relief when the all-clear arrives makes it so worthwhile.

I cannot imagine what it must be like when a woman discovers that she has been given the wrong result and incredibly this information has been kept from her.

If it wasn’t for Vicky Phelan’s courage we wouldn’t know about any of this.

She is a real hero for standing up to a system which demanded her silence. A system with deep pockets and plenty of time and resources to drive any of us to the wall.

Time is something Vicky doesn’t have and incredibly she is prepared to give much of that precious time to get to the truth for her daughter, Amelia, and the women of Ireland. She deserves every bit of our support and our deepest gratitude.

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