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Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

Normal to see a consultant after ERPC?

10 replies

rascalrae · 04/07/2014 12:38

Hi ladies,
I had an ERPC nearly 3 weeks ago after a missed miscarriage at 9w. This was my first pregnancy. I've had a call today to invite me to see a consultant to talk through my test results after they sent my tissue to pathology. I wasn't expecting this, and whilst it would be good to know if there is a reason for the miscarriage, I'm feeling really scared about mire bad news. I was finally starting to feel a bit stronger & now I'm worried this might set me back. I don't know whether to take my DH, it could be a routine appt where they tell me they found nothing, or it could be something scary.

Has anyone else had follow up appts after their 1st miscarriage? Is this the norm? I hadn't read many people having this kind of follow-up.

Thanks

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JBrd · 04/07/2014 13:03

I think that you are very lucky to be offered this appointment, and the fact that they did the testing on your first mc! Did you go private? Usually, they won't do any testing until you have had your 3rd mc in a row.

Are you planning to try again? If yes, I'd go and lap up every bit of information they give you, as it could increase chances for a good outcome next time and not to have to go through the heartbreak again.

Take your DH, this affects him as much as it does you, and you'll have support. Did they run any tests on you or your DH, eg karyotyping, hormone levels etc?

I understand that it is scary, but personally, I think that the more information you can get, the better.
I remember being almost disappointed when they found nothing to be wrong with either me or DH, when they did the tests after our 3rd mc (it was a spontaneous mutation that no one could have done anything about). Having something specific that (ideally) can be treated to have a better outcome next time would have been my preferred result (sounds crazy, I know!). Or even just to know about underlying issues that can affect a pregnancy would help.
Instead, we were sent off to try again with a 'Good luck', and we had yet another mc Sad I can't help thinking that if they had started testing after my first one, they might have found an explanation by now why I keep miscarrying...

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rascalrae · 04/07/2014 16:27

Thanks for your reply JBrd. I'm so sorry you've had such an awful time. Are you getting help now?

I didn't mean to sound unappreciative, any information they can give me will be helpful, I just wasn't expecting to hear anything and definitely not to speak to a consultant. I haven't gone private, it is NHS, and they haven't tested me or DH, just sent tissue removed during the ERPC to pathology. I think I will take DH in case they do tell me something unexpected.

It does seem ridiculous that they don't try and gather more information at an earlier stage. It could potentially save a lot of physical & emotional trauma, not to mention £ for the NHS from the various scans, appts & procedures.

Wishing you all the best x

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squizita · 11/07/2014 14:34

Jbird my hospital test the remains after all ERPCs. It's not recurrent miscarriage testing rather something different- but it is very important: one of the main things they test for is partial molar pregnancy which has a (very slight) cancer risk, so rightly so! It should be done as routine: although it won't explain multiple losses of course.
In the majority of cases it means that that particular loss was a baby who could not have survived and a one-off. But equally, if they find a healthy embryo was lost it suggests it could be a clotting issue or something.

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rascalrae · 11/07/2014 16:08

As it turns out, this is exactly what happened to me squizita. Tests showed I had a partial molar, so to answer my own original question, no it's not routine to see a consultant. It was incredibly upsetting news but at least I have a reason for the miscarriage.

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JBrd · 14/07/2014 16:03

squiz Wow, that again goes to show how little the health care in this country is streamlined! Why do they test all mcs in one hospital, but not another?! Makes me really angry - they could be saving themselves a lot of money and many women incredible heart ache if testing was done sooner.
My hospital is adamant that they only start investigations when you've had 3mcs in a row, which I find excruciating.

rascal I can imagine that this news must have been very upsetting! But, as you say, you have a reason that your mc has happened, which in itself can be helpful to know. I hope that it might help you to find some closure and possibly some hope for future pregnancies (if this is what you are planning!). Be kind to yourself, it's a tough one to have to deal with.

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squizita · 14/07/2014 16:18

Jbird the test after ERPC is not recurrent MC testing though and nothing to do with it. I had to wait for 3 for that.
It is a specific safety check for molars and partial molars as they carry a slight risk of cancer. Nothing to do with recurrent MC and not a cause for them - in fact very rare indeed.

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squizita · 14/07/2014 16:20

Rascal are you at Charing X or has your HCG gone down? FX you're not on the PITA weekly blood test routine, ugh that was a summer of looking like a junkie bruised arm hell and worry: mostly it goes down pretty fast though, luckily.

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rascalrae · 16/07/2014 13:11

I'm up north squizita so registered with the Sheffield unit. How awful that you had to have weekly blood tests. Are you still having to do it? For now I'm just sending urine samples every 2 weeks but too soon to know whether my HCG is going down. FX it goes down quickly, I can't cope with any more bad news!

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squizita · 16/07/2014 16:59

Thankfully I had them for about 8 weeks and then a few weeks of wee...
The good news is I'm currently pregnant again and all is well! Phew. This time last year I'd never have predicted that!!

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rascalrae · 16/07/2014 18:12

Congratulations, that's wonderful news. Although there are loads of scenarios where things could be worse, I've had some pretty dark days getting my head around the fact that I lost my baby & that I'll have to wait 6 months to try again. It's a real boost to think people do get beyond all the monitoring of molar pregnancies and can move on with their lives. Best wishes with the pregnancy x

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