Hi,
I wanted to share my story with you.
Earlier this year I found I was pregnant and my husband and I were so excited as we had been trying to conceive for a while. I had previously had surgery for endometriosis and knew that I had adhesions and scar tissue around my left ovary and fallopian tube, so we were cautiously optimistic. Unfortunately, as soon as I fell pregnant I had an idea that something wasn’t right. I felt dizzy and had no energy and just wanted to curl up and watch TV which is not like me at all. Six weeks into the pregnancy I started to get cramps and bleeding. I was sent straight away to the EPU. I will never forget the initial scans and examination, praying that the scan would be normal and that it was just a little bleeding in early pregnancy. I will never forget looking at that blank screen. After examinations I was told I would have to have hCG blood tests that day and again 48 hours later and due to where we lived, the doctor advised that I stayed in hospital as it would be too risky to go home as it was so far away. It was a really awful experience. After 48 hours and the second blood test the doctors advised me that the pregnancy was not successful but they didn’t know if it was an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage. I had to stay in hospital to be monitored and eventually after a week the doctors decided to perform a laparoscopy.
After the surgery, I was informed that it was an ectopic pregnancy and that it was in my right tube and that a salpingectomy had been performed to remove it. I couldn’t believe it, I had always considered that this was my ‘good side.’ The doctor casually told me that I still had one tube so just wait another couple of months and then try again. Before I left hospital, I managed to talk to another consultant who said that as my left fallopian tube was stuck down with adhesions it may be difficult to conceive naturally. I was sent home to recover, with so many unanswered questions. Luckily I was given the Ectopic Pregnancy Trust booklet before I left hospital and I have found the website so useful over the past months.
After recovery from surgery and visits to a great GP, a hysterosalpinogram was arranged for me to check the patency of the left fallopian tube. The results were that it was not blocked and again we were told that we could try to conceive naturally but from my history of endometriosis and scarring of left fallopian tube, there was concern that we wouldn’t be able to conceive naturally but to keep trying. I am really struggling with this though. I am so scared that if I do manage to fall pregnant that it will be ectopic again and my husband shares my fears.
The consultant also suggested that we be referred to fertility specialist to find out about IVF. We now have a date for our first appointment which we are very excited about. But I keep thinking, what if it doesn’t work? At the moment my head is spinning with everything that has happened. It is approaching what would have been the ‘due date’ and I’ve been feeling very emotional. I’m so angry that it happened and feel like I could burst into tears at any moment. It seems there are babies everywhere and I have been really struggling with this lately. I am also struggling with my endometriosis symptoms too. I used the contraceptive pill for a number of years before we started trying to conceive which controlled my symptoms, so now I am finding I am getting a lot of endometriosis related pain which seems to be getting worse each month.
We are meeting the consultant soon to find out about IVF, and really hope our appointment goes well.
Has anyone else had a similar experience. How did you overcome fears to try again, particularly if your remaining tube is damaged in some way. Or what are your experiences of IVF.
Thanks for reading this, it has taken me a long time to be able to write my story xx