July 5th, I had emergency surgery to remove an ectopic pregnancy. I've included the photos from the surgery because I think they are interesting and I'd like to keep them. If it makes you squeamish to see (literally) blood and guts, maybe you might want to skip this post. Also, I'm planning on going into details that might be too much information for you or that may bore you. Consider yourself warned.:)
Here's the story from the beginning. At the end of May, I ran out of birth control pills. We know we want one more child in our family and decided to start trying. Two weeks later, I decided that the timing wasn't right - that we should wait another year. Well, my period hadn't started so I decided to take a pregnancy test. It came back negative but I left it sitting out and a few hours later it had turned positive which freaked me out a bit. Two days later I took another one and it was positive. I was apprehensive but excited.
A few days later I left for girls camp. I had a great time at girls camp and was so excited to be there. The second night I was there though, just as I was heading to bed after a crazy busy day, I discovered that I was spotting and cramping a little bit. I talked to Angie, the camp director and a doula, and felt a bit more reassured. The next morning it was the same and after breakfast I felt really weird - kind of faint and dizzy. I mentioned this to the Stake YW President and the fact that I was pregnant. Was this a miscarriage? She insisted I lay down, call Spencer, and head home. I was so sad. I found a ride down to Spanish Fork where Spencer met me and we called my OB/GYN. She had me go in that afternoon and have my blood drawn and tested for HCG levels and progesterone levels. They came back on the low side and said that I should come in again two days later (on Saturday) to have them checked again and compared. They warned me of symptoms to be aware of like sharp cramping and lots of bleeding. By Thursday evening I felt fine. I was tired but mostly I was just really, really sad that I was missing girls camp! Friday I moped a bit and then found a ride back up just for the evening. I was really glad I did. It lifted my spirits a ton.
I went in Saturday to have my blood drawn again and the test results were OK. The HCG levels went up but not as much as they'd like. The next Tuesday I talked with the nurse at my OB's office and she said they'd like to do an early ultrasound but with the holiday it might be hard to get me in so they scheduled one for Monday, July 7th. The next night, Wednesday (the 2nd), my stomach started to hurt a lot. I figured (and was partly right) that I had a ton of gas. But Thursday and Friday I just didn't feel well. My stomach hurt like crazy and was completely bloated.
Friday night as we were getting everyone in bed really late after fireworks, I started having sharp pains in the left side of my lower stomach area. I actually thought to myself, "maybe I should go to the doctors." But I didn't. Everyone was finally in bed. I was so tired. I could make it until the morning. I should have gone in. About 4 am the next morning I woke up to excruciating pain on my left side. I went to the bathroom and I was also bleeding - not a ton but a decent amount. I woke up Spencer and told him we needed to go to the emergency room. He called a neighbor and she thankfully answered! She came over within 10 minutes and we took off. He also called his mom who came as soon as she could to take over.
We rushed to the IMC and they got me in. I remember thinking as I was bent over, hobbling down the hallway that I couldn't wait for the pain to stop and if I could just go a little farther it would. They got me all settled, got an iv in, and gave me that first dose of sweet, sweet morphine! That stuff feels so weird at first and then it just seeps down your spine in a wave of awesome relief. Can you tell I liked it? They drew all sorts of blood for a ton of tests, did a catheter to get a urine sample and an hour or so later sent in a tech to do an ultrasound. They couldn't see anything from the outside so they had to do an internal one. That was fine while they checked out the right side but as soon as she turned it to the left, it hurt like crazy! She wouldn't tell us what she saw but we could tell she saw something. That was actually comforting because it meant they could do something to fix the pain. I was so thirsty at this point but because of the possible need for surgery, I couldn't have anything. :( I did sneak a drink while in the bathroom though!
A bit later the doctor came in and confirmed my initial thought that I had an ectopic pregnancy. This means that the fertilized egg had implanted in my fallopian tube instead of my uterus where it is supposed to go. The sack around the egg had ruptured and my fallopian tube had as well. She contacted my OB's office and the OB on call, Dr. Sarah Jane Pieper, came in with a resident, Spencer. They said I needed surgery to remove the fallopian tube as soon as possible. I started to cry at this point. Why? I think mostly because I was scared of going under anesthesia. I've watched too much Grey's Anatomy! Spencer started to really struggle too. We said a prayer together and the resident Spencer and my Spencer gave me a blessing before surgery. This helped me feel a lot more peaceful. Spencer got my mom to come relieve his mom at our house and he contacted both of my parents, who I was able to talk to. Hearing their reassuring voices and words helped me so much as well. I love them so much. I also got a second iv put in (after 2 painful tries!) to help the doctors during the surgery.
By 9 am they had me wheeled up to the OR and Spencer was sent to a waiting room. I waited in the hallway while the room was prepared and discussed the ansestheia with the doctor. That helped too - knowing exactly what to expect. I also meet the nurse who would be helping me and discovered we were birthday buddies - she's just 7 years older. They wheeled me in and transferred me to a skinny operating table where they kind of bundled my arms around my body. The anaesthesiologist put oxygen over my mouth and nose and had me breathe in a bunch. Then he put medicine in my two IVs, and the next thing I knew, I was asleep.
I woke up 2 hours later in a different, quiet room. It was really weird
waking up. It was hard to wake up. I felt really heavy and disoriented
and dizzy. And thirsty! There was a nurse with me who fed me ice every
couple of minutes when I'd ask for it. She asked if I wanted to hold the
cup but I didn't feel like I could even lift my hands up. After a few
minutes or maybe more? It was really hard to tell - they brought me out
of the recovery room and up to a room on the 10th floor of the big
tower. The view of the mountains was awesome. Spencer met me up there
and I was so glad to see him! He sent messages to friends and family.
And I slept. And slept. The nurses kept suggesting I might feel better
recovering at home but all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt tired and
nauseous. Finally at 5:30, I checked out, and just before leaving, finally
puked out everything in my belly. I finally felt well enough to ride in
the car after that. I got home about 6 pm.
The surgery went well. The doctor told Spencer that I had begun to bleed internally. The blood had pooled around my liver and uterus. The fallopian tube, which is normally the size of a pinkie finger, had swelled to the size of a bratwurst. They made three incisions. One was in my belly button for a camera, which they used to see what they were doing and to take the photos you'll see at the end of this post. The other two were on each side of my belly and each surgeon worked from one of the holes to clear the blood and remove the fallopian tube laproscopically. They said my fertility will not be affected at all by this. However, I have to notify them as soon as I am pregnant again, as my risk of having another ectopic pregnancy has gone up now.
Ashley was out of town and was freaking out a little bit. She had called the Relief Society President in my ward and they arranged meals to be brought in. My mom stayed for a bit and got me settled at home. Tyler came over as well and gave me a killer back rub. My shoulder ached like crazy as well. Apparently this is a side effect of surgery. I was well taken care of. I had a nice comfy bed, plenty of people to take care of me and my family, and a host of pain killers.
Since then it's been a bit of an experience recovering. Every day I sleep a little less and gain a little more strength. I was told not to lift anything 20 pounds or more for two weeks, which means I can't pick up my kiddos. I also can't take a bath or go swimming for that long. I had a "period" as well, as my body realized it was no longer pregnant. I am fine emotionally. I read that 90% of all ectopic pregnancies were never viable pregnancies - there was usually never a heartbeat. This makes me feel better and less like I've lost a child. It's been hard to not be as useful or productive as I'd like, though it's been a good opportunity to allow others to serve me. My mom has been amazing. She's come every morning while Spencer teaches summer school to help with the kids. I am truly blessed.
Here are the surgery pics with my novice explanation below:
Welcome to my body! I feel like Ms. Frizzle on The Magic School Bus! I believe the bottom of the photo is the front of my body.
I believe this is the blood pooled around my liver. Perhaps the white stuff is my intestines?
More blood, obviously.
I think they are getting closer to my uterus.
I believe this is the top of my uterus covered in blood.
This is my favorite picture. I think it's so cool. I'm pretty positive the organ in the middle is my uterus with the fallopian tubes coming off the sides. You can see you the left tube (on the right of the screen) looks a bit sad.
They've zoomed in over on the left fallopian tube here. It's a big hot mess.
More of the tube. This is not healthy! The silver thing is an instrument they were using.
Pretty sure this is the fallopian tube before they removed it.
Removing it?
Not sure on this one. But aren't these cool? OK, maybe it's just me. I'm so glad this experience is over, that it went well, and that I am here to tell about it, even if it's just to my future self. I am so grateful to live in a place and time where this is just a scary experience. A dangerous, crazy one, but one that I can live through. Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he put me here and now.
