This is my story
In February of 2017 I had an ectopic pregnancy and nearly died due to internal bleeding.
Here is how it all began:
I had my period as usual on the 27th day of my cycle. The bleeding was as usual, the usual amount of blood, the usual length and the usual pain. It was all normal.
Two days later I had excruciating pain in my lower abdomen. It was so bad that I had to leave work. It felt like having a knife inside me and as soon as I moved it felt like it cut deeper into my insides. I decided to work from home for a while after taking pain killers that sadly didn’t work. I sneezed and felt a gush of blood in my trousers. I ran to the loo and found out that I was bleeding heavily. This is when I decided to go to the A&E.
Once I got to the hospital I explained to the receptionist what my symptoms were and she asked me to take a seat.
I waited for three hours. When I finally was seen the doctor asked me to describe my symptoms. And these were my symptoms: excruciating pain in my lower abdomen as if I had a knife inside me, heavy bleeding, pain when using my muscles to urinate (not the actual urination but clenching the muscles).
He asked me if I was pregnant and I answered this with a “No, I just told you I had my period last week.” He then decided to take a pregnancy test. Two minutes later he came back and confirmed it was negative (This was at 4 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy). He told me it was an irregular period and that there was no need to worry and he sent me home.
I got home and felt defeated. I didn’t think he took me seriously at all. I was still in so much pain. That weekend I was in agony. I screamed due to the pain and the bleeding was still heavy.
I decided to go to the hospital again on Monday morning. This time I decided my fiance should come with me so that they will take me seriously.
When we got to the hospital I was seen by a female doctor. She asked me the same questions as the other doctor and I answered all of them again. She decided to take another pregnancy test and was gone for about 15 minutes. She came back and told me in a cold voice: “The test is positive so you’re having a miscarriage. You can go home and rest now.” We were shocked by how she treated us. I questioned why she would send us home when I was bleeding so much and was in so much pain. She then said in a rather annoyed voice: “Well, if it makes you feel better I can book an appointment at the Early Pregnancy Unit and they might do a scan or they might just tell you to go home and rest too.” I felt stupid to say that I wanted a scan and was close to saying that I will just go home but I decided that I wanted to be seen. We left the hospital and I called my mum to tell her that I was having a miscarriage.
The EPU (Early Pregnancy Unit) called me just 5 minutes later and told me to come for a scan later that day.
When we got to the EPU we were seen straight away. The scan was done and the face of the person doing the test hardened and then she told us that we were in fact pregnant but that the pregnancy was in my left fallopian tube. I knew immediately what it meant. She kindly explained it to us and she told us that we needed to have a blood test done straight away. After the blood test we were seen by a doctor who explained to us that this pregnancy will not go to full term. She explained to us the three treatments for an ectopic pregnancy; expectant management, medical management or surgical management. She made sure to repeat that this pregnancy will never go to full term. The doctor told me we had to wait for the blood results before they can tell me what treatment I will get. We had to stay at the hospital while we waited for the results. They explained to us that I might need emergency surgery straight away to remove the tube and the pregnancy incase the hormone levels were too high.
After what seemed like days we got the ‘good news’. My hormones levels were at 87 and they recommended the expectant management which meant that we would wait and see and hopefully the pregnancy would end in a miscarriage. I had to come back for blood tests every other day. My hcg went up from 87 to 104 and then to 137 and a week later it was at 220. Meanwhile I was still in pain and still bleeding heavily. The doctors then decided to give me the medical treatment which meant that I was not allowed to be in the sun or eat greens until my hormone levels reached 0. I had to have a blood test three days after receiving methotrexate (hcg 257) and I was told it was normal to go up the first couple of days. Seven days after the treatment I had another test and the hcg was 250. The doctors were a little concerned but gave my body an extra four days. The next blood test was at hcg 167 and the EPU was happy with this result. By this point I was still experiencing pain however since I got the methotrexate the pain was less and I was able to work again. However the day after the positive news of my hormone levels dropping I started to bleed even more. I thought this was the end of the pregnancy and that it was normal. Then the pain started and I was not able to sit any more. I was very uncomfortable. This was on a Friday and I thought it was just the end of the pregnancy. All weekend I was in agony. Sunday evening I was so tired and we were about to go to the hospital but decided against it as it was late and we’d be waiting until the morning to have a scan anyway.
So Monday morning I called the EPU and they asked me to come in for a blood test. Once I was there I explained the increase of blood and the pain returning. The doctor decided to do a scan and she saw that I was bleeding internally. She told me that I will need emergency surgery straight away and that they will have to remove my left fallopian tube.
I called my fiance who came to the hospital straight away. After having four doctors convince me to have the surgery I finally gave in but only if they left my fallopian tube behind and just took the pregnancy. The doctors promised to do their best to safe the fallopian tube. So I ended up needing surgery at 10 weeks of pregnancy.
We are now trying for another baby but so far it hasn’t happened. And I feel very upset about it. I am worried that I will have another ectopic or miscarriage (as my sister had 15 miscarriages, 2 ectopics and one death birth). I am surrounded by friends who are having their second child while we are still trying for our first (and we have been trying for longer than some of them).
I am now starting the EPT1000 Challenge to give me something good to focus on. 