Sun May 07, 2006
Ectopic Pregnancy: What is it and How is it treated?
An ectopic pregnancy, or tubal pregnancy, is a pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants on any tissue other than the endometrial lining of the uterus. 95% of ectopic pregnancies occur in the fallopian tube, while the other 5% occurs in the abdomen, an ovary, or in the cervix. Ectopic pregnancy occurs in 1-2% of all pregnancy. I was lucky enough to be part of that 1-2%.
As personal as this information will be, I'm writing this in hopes that it may educate those in detecting and treating ectopic pregnancy. It can happen to you and it's important to be aware of the symptoms.
The throbbing came on suddenly. I was overcome with pain on the left side of my stomach. It was overwhelming and localized to that one side. The bleeding started shortly after which was odd since I had just had my period over a week before. My husband knew right away that something was wrong and urged me to let him take me to the emergency room. I figured it was just a cyst and that we were overreacting, but as the pain worsened, I realized going to the hospital was the right thing to do. The pain was so bad, I was throwing up and it radiated around to my back.
I didn't have a temperature, but my stomach was so tender that I screamed when the doctor examined me. I was given four to five doses of Morphine, none of which helped. I was finally able to tolerate the Pelvic Exam after being given Demerol. The doctor mentioned that I had a Beta Hcg of 525, which meant I was pregnant. "That's not possible," I said, startled. "I just had my period a little while ago. It doesn't make any sense!" He than felt my uterus and remarked that it was unusually soft but that he felt something firm to the left of it. Through u/s it was shown that I did not have an embryo in my uterus. The ER doctor consulted with the on-call OBGYN and they decided to wait it out and see if my Beta Hcg would go down. I was admitted and given continuous pain medication throughout the night.
My 4:30 am Beta HCG number was 300-ish, so it was concluded that the pregnancy was not viable. The OBGYN decided that the best possible thing to do was go in through surgery and remove the pregnancy and possibly my left fallopian tube. With some ectopic pregnancies, methotrexate can be used to dissolve the fetus over a couple weeks time, but in my case, the pregnancy was causing so much pain and discomfort, the doctor didn't want to risk the tube bursting and me hemorrhaging to death. I would be having a D & C, laparoscopic surgery with possible laporectomy (tube removal). They found that the embryo had implanted in my left fallopian tube, so they freeze-sectioned that tube area, and removed it.
I left the hospital with my wounds stapled and my heart hurting. Although my life was saved, I lost a baby that I didn't even know I was carrying and part of my fallopian tube. I had staples in my belly button, in my side, and an incision in my pelvic area. I want to grieve but I haven't even gotten used the idea that I was even pregnant. I should be grateful for escaping with my life but I can't help being angry, disappointed and saddened. These feelings are fairly normal for women with ectopic pregnancies as many also don't realize they are pregnant until they are visiting an emergency room.
Article by Elana of FutureFashionista.com.
