Questions 4 days post op

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1

Hi,

I found out last Monday that I was pregnant after experiencing some pain and very light, red spotting. I went to A&E and was told to return on Thursday for an internal ultrasound. I must have only been around 3-4 weeks pregnant.

I went back on Thursday after having no more pain, discomfort or bleeding. I was scanned and told that they could see something in my right Fallopian tube and that I would need surgery to remove the tube. I was devastated as thought that everything would be okay as I felt normal.

I had to wait until later that day to have the surgery as I had eaten that morning. When I came round from the operation, I was told that they didn’t need to remove the right tube in the end but they did remove what they thought was a blood clot. I’m just wondering if anyone has had the same thing happen to them? Could it be the blood clot in my tube that prevented the embryo from moving into the correct place?

I’m home now and feel like I am physically recovering well, although I have had no bleeding at all. Is this normal? Is this because my body still thinks that it is pregnant?

I’m just wondering if anyone has had any similar experiences. As I’ve said, physically I am feeling better every day, but mentally I am all over the place. I have a follow-up appointment on Friday so I can ask all these questions then, but would love some reassurance in the meantime.

Thanks x

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Dear Steph,

I am so sorry to hear of your loss,

Unfortunately I am not medically trained so cannot give you specific advice on your queries.

If there was a blood clot in the way then this could certainly prevent the pregnancy from taking its natural course.

Fertilisation usually takes place in the Fallopian tube and if there is a blockage the egg can not travel down into the uterus to be implanted.

We generally start to bleed as a result of falling hCG levels, so you may see some bleeding in the next week.or so. This isn’t classes as a period. Periods will often restart somewhere between 2 and 10 weeks after surgery.

I am glad you have a follow up appointment on Friday. My tip would be to write down any questions you have so you don’t forget to ask them.

For now be kind to yourself and allow time to grieve, to heal both physically and emotionally.

Sending much love,

Karen x

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Thank you for your kind words and advice, Karen xx

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Did they mention removing the pregnancy too? For mine they did the same procedure at about the same week in my pregnancy and were able to save the tube by removing the pregnancy that had attached to the tube. They analyzed what they removed and described it as pre-fetal tissue as well as blood clots that had formed from the damage to the tube (the fertilized egg tries to implant in the tube by breaking through the tissue and attempting to connect like it would in the uterus but obviously the tube isn’t made for that so it gets damaged and bleeds). If you hadn’t had lots of bleeding coming out it’s possible it just all clotted around the fertilized egg in the tube. I think it’s likely that the clot was a result of the ectopic pregnancy and not the cause.

As for how you feel, I only bled for three days about a week after the surgery and haven’t bled since (I’m at about 3 weeks post op) they told me my hcg levels are almost to zero and to expect a full period about two weeks after hcg reaches zero - so since you had your operation at about the same point in pregnancy as me I would guess it would be similar for you.

Any pain or feeling like there’s swelling? I feel like I can still point exactly where they worked on inside me bc it still feels swollen.

Emotionally I couldn’t really deal with what had happened until about two weeks after because it was such a shock (we didn’t even know I was pregnant bc I had just had a normal period a week before the pain and bleeding brought me to the ER where they told me I was pregnant and it would have to be removed). I spent a lot of time distracting myself with TV (honestly felt like if I thought about it I’d cry too hard and it would tear a stitch or something) until I was ready to take it all in and process. Reading these posts really helped knowing I wasn’t alone. Take it easy and don’t pressure yourself to get it together any earlier than you need to. Take as much time as you need to be ready emotionally and physically. A big thing has happened to you and you’re allowed to process it in your own time. For me personally I just in my third week was able to get back to work and started feeling like myself again.

:heart:

Jerica

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Hi Jerica

Thank you so much for your reply and I am so sorry that you have been through this too.

Yes, they said they removed the pregnancy along with the clot. It wasn’t the surgeon that came to speak to me about it afterwards. It was a nurse who wasn’t there at the op, so I sort of feel like she was just giving me as much information as she could but couldn’t really explain why there was the clot. She did say that they would analyse what had been removed so I imagine they will go through that with me on Friday. It sounds, from what you have described, like I have had pretty much an identical experience to you.

As for pain, I’ve been fine until the middle of last night when I woke up with some pain on the right side (where they removed the pregnancy/clot). The pain has subsided now but I am going to ring the hospital this morning to check that that’s normal (I imagine they will say that it is!).

I know exactly what you mean about being able to pinpoint exactly where they’ve operated and this fills me with fear. I don’t have any children and I am now petrified that this surgery is only going to bring me more complications in the future. I’m trying my best to stay positive and distract myself with TV!!

Have they given you any advice about how long we’ll feel swollen for or how long it will take for the tube to ‘heal’ inside? Did they say anything about how long to wait to try again?

Again, thanks so much for replying to my post and for the lovely things you have said. Here if you want to chat about anything and sending you lots of positive vibes for your recovery x

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Hi!

The pain is probably normal - the only thing they told me to watch out for are things like fever, infection-like discharge (yellow or nasty smelling), and super heavy bleeding that fills an entire pad in an hour for several hours straight or that has clots bigger than a quarter. Is that what they told you when you called?

As for how long they told me I should be up to work again in two weeks - however for me it took three weeks bc I needed time to get my stamina back. At two weeks post op I would get super exhausted just from taking a shower, so I started small with 15 min walks and after a week I was up to one hour walks. Today is actually my first day back working (I nanny three kids under 2). They generally say you’ll be “in recovery” for up to 6 weeks and to not try again for a baby until after you have had two full periods. My doctor said for a normal miscarriage they say one full period but for our situation we should wait another full cycle to allow the tube to heal and also to let our cycle get back to normal so we can know as soon as possible the next time we are pregnant and go in for an early ultrasound to make sure it’s not another ectopic.

Also, maybe tmi but just in case they didn’t mention this to you, they told me not to put anything in the vagina including tampons for I think 6 weeks to prevent infection so that first period you get even if it’s heavier than normal you can only use pads.