It has taken me a while to decide whether or not to share this. I’ve decided that maybe I can find someone going through something similar to learn from. Just a warning, this will contain some TMI and a few mini-rants here and there.
I found out I was pregnant on Sept 3rd. It had taken almost 3 1/2 years to get pregnant again. Everything was going fine. Saw my Dr. on Sept 8th. I was 8 weeks, almost 9 at that point. He ordered an ultrasound for me, because I miscarried 4 years ago at 10 weeks without warning. Nothing was ever investigate for that one, because “It’s something that happens…” blah blah blah.
So, on Saturday Sept. 13th I go to the ER with some spotting. Exactly what happened last time. I was told by the ER doc that it looked like the bleeding was coming from my cervix and that everything looks okay. Go to my ultrasound and follow up with my Dr.
My fiance and I had reservations and felt that a miscarriage was on the way. We prepared for the worst and hoped for the best. Thursday, Sept 18th rolls around, we go for the ultrasound and the tech isn’t allowed to tell us what’s going on, but asks if anyone has ever mentioned fibroids to me. I tell her that 3 or 4 women in my family have uterine fibroids and I wouldn’t be surprised. She also asks me 5 times if I’m certain on my dates. I tell her we were on vacation for my last period and I am positive. She tells me that she doesn’t see a gestational sac and she’s not sure what that means. Could be I was only a few weeks, or I’ve miscarried, OR that it’s ectopic. Ugh.
Friday morning I get a call at WORK from my Dr. telling me to go to the ER, that he thinks I’m having an ectopic pregnancy. I get to the ER in a panic, scared out of my mind and alone at 11:15 AM. I wait for my fiance to get there. Wait and wait and wait. The nurse at Triage decides to use me as a pin cushion and finally gets some blood out of me. 3 tries later. My fiance gets there at 12:45 PM, and at probably about 2:00 PM I’m seen by a Gyn. So, he reads the ultrasound report, does a pelvic and finds a polyp on my cervix. The ER Dr. I had seen the week before didn’t say anything about it. All of a sudden I feel and hear a snip and he gives the polyp to the nurse and tells her to send it to pathology. A week later I still haven’t heard what it was. He could have at least TOLD me he was going to cut off this thing that is ATTACHED!! Frickin OW!
So he gets the results of my blood test and my BHCG level is 7897. A little lower than expected, but I could have ovulated later than I thought…blah blah blah. He says that since I’m not having any pain or bleeding at that point, and that my uterus still looks and feels pregnant, to go home and come back Sunday for more blood tests to check my levels. The level, he tells me, should DOUBLE in 48 hours. 7 hours later, we’re FINALLY home. Frustrated, exhausted and STARVING.
Everything is fine Saturday, no pain or bleeding. Sunday morning we get up early and go back to the ER. They take my blood and we wait…and wait and wait. I see 2 Dr’s who actually say they have no idea what is going on. Finally get to see yet another ER GYN and have to start the process all over again. I tell her the WHOLE story and she examines me. Now I’m tender and starting to have some bleeding. 6 hours later the possibility of an ectopic is STILL not ruled out. My BHCG is only 8010. She schedules me for an ultrasound the next morning. 6 hours later, we’re back at home.
Monday morning I go to the ultrasound and have a wonderful tech who tells me everything that she sees. She sees MULTIPLE fibroids and no sac. She says my tubes look find and my ovaries are in good shape, save a small 1/2 cm fibroid on my right ovary. BACK down to the ER to have my ultrasound read. I finally get a good Dr. who is very understanding. She’s 40 and very pregnant with her first baby and tells me that after 15 years of infertility and fibroids, I’ve got lots of good years ahead of me. Did I mention that I started bleeding heavily Monday morning? Well, this Dr. tells me that I’m having a my period. Um, okay. Diagnosis? Missed abortion (fancy word for miscarriage without noticing the fetus being expelled) which likely happened weeks before. She said I likely wouldn’t have even noticed. She gives me a little more info and 7 hours later, I’m back at home.
This week I’ve been bedridden, going through a painful miscarriage. I saw my family Dr. who actually explained that the reason my BHCG level was still so high was because it is the placental tissue and endometrium that causes the levels to go up, not the fetus. I’d asked that question a dozen times and never got an answer.
I have a GYN appointment on Monday to find out what we’re going to do about the fibroids.
I appreciate the health care we have here in Canada and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be an ER doctor. But, why on earth did I have to explain what was going on to no less than 5 Doctors??? Why do they even bother to document what is going on when someone is there? Why couldn’t they have looked at the computer and seen what I had explained to them? How am I supposed to know what the Dr. on Friday thought when I barely saw him?
This was a VERY frustrating experience. Hopefully we’ll get this solved so we can have a baby. In total I spend over 20 hours in the ER this past week. 17 of those 20 hours were just waiting to be seen.
