What I was hoping was going to be a day filled with positive news, ended up being one with not so great news. Although, in the end, I am blessed that things worked out the way they did.
Yesterday morning I went to the clinic to have my HCG levels drawn again, and then I ran some errands - Target, Walgreen's, picked up lunch. I was a little fatigued, but other than that I was feeling pretty good. I was so confident that my numbers were going to be good, that I had planned on attending a work function that evening.
While waiting for the results of the blood work, I began to prep for work. However, at about 2 PM I went to the restroom and Holy Pain, Batman! Since being diagnosed with the ectopic, I've always had some pain while using the restroom (sorry, TMI again), but this time was way, way worse. The pain was not letting up and felt like cramping mixed with extreme pressure in my pelvic area. I took some Tylenol and called my husband to tell him he needed to come home right away. The pain was not letting up at this point. I called my doctor's office to see if the results had come back yet, thinking that if my levels had gone down, the pain may just be a normal part of the methotrexate process. Unfortunately, the results had not come back. I told the nurse that if the pain got worse or didn't let up, I would call them back.
My husband and I decided to head down to the Medical Center as a precaution. I had to drop off some things for work that way, and if my HCG levels had not dropped, I would have to go to the hospital anyway. If we headed that way early, we could beat traffic. On the way there, the pain started to lift, but I was still feeling not quite right. We got to the hospital about 3:30 PM and decided to hang out in the cafeteria. I debated whether to go to the ER or to head back home as I was feeling somewhat better. 4 PM rolled around and still no news. I called the nurse back to check, but she said they still hadn't received the results. I decided to go to the ER at that point. I was still feeling quite a bit of pressure and tenderness upon pressing on my abdomen, and everything I read online said that if you feel pelvic/rectal pressure to call your physician. I figured better safe than sorry. Boy, was I glad I went.
After getting settled into a room at the ER, my hubby had to go back home to get our son from daycare. Normally, my mother-in-law will pick Z up if we are in a bind, but wouldn't you know, my father-in-law was admitted to the hospital that day. So, while I was alone in the ER, they send me to ultrasound. I knew something was wrong when I asked the sonographer how things were looking. Of course she said, "you will have to wait for the radiologist to review the pictures and talk to you". Plus, the tenderness was so bad when she was moving the wand. After about 20 minutes, the radiologist came back and told me what I already knew. There was blood in my abdominal cavity. Not a good sign. I asked him if he thought my tube had ruptured, and he said with the amount of blood he saw that, yes, he did think it had ruptured. I knew what was coming after that - surgery.
I was wheeled back to the ER, where the on-call OB came to talk to me. She told me that she didn't quite believe I had ruptured like the radiologist had thought. She even mentioned that if she had initially seen me before I was sent to ultrasound by the ER doctor, she would have never ordered an ultrasound. She would have reviewed my HCG levels (which came back as being down, good sign I guess) and my H&H (which was around 10) and sent me home based on the fact that my vitals were stable. Well, I count myself lucky that I saw the ER doc first and she pushed for an ultrasound. The on-call doctor then proceeded to say that since the ultrasound did show blood in the cavity, that they can't ignore it (even though it might reabsorb in its own time) especially from a medical malpractice standpoint. Geez, thanks lady! So the wheels were put into motion. My husband, son, and my parents all made it to the ER before I was wheeled back to surgery. I was scared and nervous. This was my first ever surgery. But, I was glad that I would finally be done with this whole experience and I could move forward. I told everyone I loved them and I would see them after surgery.
Apparently, surgery went well. The surgeon who performed the surgery made rounds this morning and came in to talk to me. He said that luckily the tube hadn't yet ruptured, but that it had been leaking for at least a couple of days, if not a whole week. He said he removed about a liter and half of blood from my pelvic cavity. "Wow", I thought, as I compared that to a bottle and a half of the liter sodas. He couldn't believe that I was able to tolerate all of that blood in my belly up until yesterday. He proceeded to tell me that he did remove my entire right fallopian tube. It was malformed which is why I ended up with an ectopic pregnancy in the first place. He also told me I had extensive scarring and adhesions on my colon from endometriosis (which was the first time this had been discovered). He cleaned everything up the best he could. He mentioned that even if I had not had the surgery last night, I would have eventually had to have that tube removed. Plus, my chances of having another ectopic would have been greatly increased if that tube was left in place.
So, looking back over this whole experience, the one thing I've learned is to listen to your body and your gut instinct. I knew from early on that this was an ectopic pregnancy which was ultimately confirmed. I also knew that my body was telling me something yesterday afternoon. I'm glad I didn't ignore the signs because if I had, who knows, things may have been much worse - my tube may have actually ruptured instead of just leaking. To look at the pictures from surgery, I'm amazed that the tube actually did not rupture. It definitely looked like it was on the verge of doing so. So, if you are going through an ectopic pregnancy, and happen upon this post, please, please listen to the signals your body is giving you. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it is better to be safe than sorry.
I am home recovering now. I count my blessings that I can now move forward without as much worry and anxiety. I'm on vicodin for pain and Folgard for anemia (my H&H ended up dropping to 7). The pain has subsided some and I should be back to normal in a few days. I'm looking forward to March when we will get the all clear to try to conceive again. All of the physicians told me that my fertility has greatly increased since my damaged tube is now out of the picture. I pray to God they are right. I'm not getting any younger and would love nothing more than to have one more child. I truly believe that God helped me through this experience and there was a reason for my ectopic pregnancy and surgery. It was to help remove the barriers that was preventing us from conceiving for so many years. I firmly believe the saying is true, "the Lord works in mysterious ways".
Sorry this was so long. I had lots to tell. :) I'm off to pop a vicodin and get a good night's rest.
