Please or to access all these features

Miscarriage/pregnancy loss

Find support and share your experiences on our Miscarriage forum. See also legal rights and support after baby loss.

Almost at the end of.........................Please advise or...........

13 replies

Melscorp · 09/02/2009 00:58

In October I visited my GP because of heavy bleeding (Forced by my friend after telling her the blood clots were as big as two joints
on my finger). My GP said she thought it might be a misscarriage, but wasn't sure, so she referred me to the hospital, as urgent. Obviously, they took their time in booking me in for an appointment. I was reduced to tears when the gentleman that did the examination told me that I had definitely had a misscariage and he would write to my doctor and ask that I be sent back to the hospital urgently as I would need to have the remains removed. I was extremely upset. This was the Friday.

The following Tuesday I received a letter stating that I needed to attend a different hospital. I thought it was for the procedure to have the remains removed. I was amazed when I was actually taken to see a consultant. He was extremely negative about the examination I had at the other hospital and insisted that I be seen by their own department for another scan.

The following Monday afternoon I received a phonecall from the dappointment department and was told that I would have to attend the hospital the next day at 3 p.m. because the consultant needed to see me on Thursday. I asked if the appointments could not be on the same day as my husband would have to take time off to be with my little girl, who was under two and it would be a bit difficult. I was informed that was the only available appointment.

The lady who examined was extremely nice, she said she could see a mass in my womb and my lining was abnormnally thick, but she couldn't tell me anymore. I would have to see my doctor. I was at least grateful that she had tried to explain it to me.

On the Thursday I saw a different consultant who explained that they had found a mass, butr didn't know what it was. They would have to perform a laproscopy and see what they find and take a biopsy of the mass and the linen of my womb. They would also go and see if there were any adhesions and try and remove that, as he suspected I had endometriosis. He also mentioned that if the camera damaged me or there was excessive bleeding they would have to take what ever steps that were necessary. I made a point of informing him that we only had a daughter aand I wanted to try to have another child, so only if it was imperative was I to have a hysterectomy.

Well, my operation was scheduled for the 19th January 2009. I was extremely nervous, but I knew it had to be done.

On the morning of the operation we saw a different consultant ( Number 3). I made a point of telling him that we wanted more children, so I did not want a hysterectomy.

Later on that day I remember being woken up and the first thing I said was "Did I have a hysterectomy?". I remember the nurse laughing and saying, "No, but we did more than we expected. We drilled your ovaries and the fibroid was bigger than the size of an orange or grapefruit as we thought. The doctor will be down to tell you more."

A young doctor finally appeared. He just said, "We did what we were supposed to do and more. We drilled your ovaries, removed the fibroid, which was bigger than we thought and we did microwave ablation....."

Last Monday I decided to surf the net on microwave ablation and was SHOCKED to see it said "Not recommended for women who wish to have children as .............." I immediately became upset, but decided to pull myself together. My husband returned from his walk with my two year old and when I told him he said he would make an appointment to see his GP (as he thinks he is the bees knees). I saw his GP on Thursday morning and when I told him what I had read, he said, "I would sue them if they have done that procedure as they had NO RIGHT!!!". When he saw my eyes were brimming over he told me not to stress until he got my notes from the hospital.

You see ever since I found out they didn't do a hysterectomy I have been sailing. I was in pain, but it didn't matter. Now, I feel as if I have had my heart RIPPED out yet again. I was so DISTRAUGHT when I had the miscarriage and from then onwards it has been an emotional rollercoaster.

I don't know what will be next.

Part of me STILL hopes that the doctor got his terminoloy wrong or mixed me up with another patient!!!!!

(I initially wrote on another board, but someone suggested that I write it here instead)

OP posts:
pecanpie · 09/02/2009 09:17

I don't know what to say, but I am so, so sorry and upset that this has happened to you.

bitchyfanny · 09/02/2009 09:18

hello melscorp. hope you get more answers on here.

OracleInaCoracle · 09/02/2009 09:27

omg, that sounds awful. have you contacted the hospital PALS, or called your consultant? im shocked that you were treated like this!

Melscorp · 09/02/2009 19:27

Thank you pecanpie, bitchyfanny and lissielou.

I tried to contact the consultant last week and his secretary said she would look into it and contact me this week after they have retrieved my file.

Sorry to sound daft, , but what does "PAL" stand for?

OP posts:
Habbibu · 09/02/2009 19:43

Patient Advice and Liaison Services. I am so sorry you've had to go through all this.

BBBee · 09/02/2009 19:49

I am sorry this happened to you. It sounds like a nightmare - I am not just using that phrase - it really does.

The GP was being supportive but he was responding to something you have read on the internet - I think you need to hold judgement (however hard that is) until you get face to face with a specialist and find out about your fertility.

It sounds like you have had a particulalry poor treatment at the hands of the hospital and if you are going to sue or seek redress or whatever, fine. But for now you need to focus on gathering the facts from the medics.

Good luck.

ZigZagZog · 09/02/2009 19:56

This sounds dreadful, from the beginning to the end. What a horrible experience to go through. If I were you, I would request a copy of your hospital notes ASAP - sorry to say this but doctors will say/do anything to cover themselves so you need to get to the bottom of what has happened sooner rather than later. In fact, if this had happened to me, I would short-circuit the waiting and go to the hospital in person and demand to see my notes and refuse to leave until they'd been handed over. I hope you get some definite answers soon and that things are not as bad as you've been led to believe. Good luck to you.

thisisyesterday · 09/02/2009 20:07

have you seen the NICE site? they have pdf's on the use of microwave ablation and make no menti0on of it being unsuitable for women who want to go on to have children.

in fact, it is cited as one of the best ways of combatting heavy periods as it has a lower recovery time and doesn't have to be performed under GA either. and of course is preferable to a hysterectomy.

so, it really might not be as bad as you think! they may have genuinely been doing the absolute best for you that they could given the circumstances.
I know it's pointless to say don't worry, but wait and see what happens.

BBBee · 09/02/2009 20:30

a specialist (who I trust implicitly) warned me against googling as there is so much nonsense and scare mongering out there. I really hope this is the case and 'thisisyesterady' is right and you just read somethin innaccurate.

best wishes.

Zaftig · 09/02/2009 20:31

thisisyesterday I've just googled it to and read this.

It mentions in the article that you shouldn't have this done if you want to get pregnant.

So so sorry Melscorp. I really hope the dr was mistaken and this didn't happen to you.

BBBee · 09/02/2009 22:39

i read that - it seems to imply not to have it if you want to get pregnant at that time, but does not imply that you cannot get pregnant ever again.

pinkypanther · 09/02/2009 23:11

Melscorp - I am so sorry this has happened to you.

I think as a very first step you need to speak to your GP again once he has got your notes (presumably your discharge summary from the hospital) and see if he can either explain to you properly what has been done, or get you an appointment at the outpatient clinic at the hospital where this was done, so they can explain it to you.

It sounds to me like there are some serious issues here with the way you have been treated (you should not have had a procedure done which you have not consented to) and I think you may (in due course, if you are ready and if you want to) need to get some (legal) advice about it.

Best of luck xxx

Melscorp · 11/02/2009 15:22

I am so grateful to all of you for taking time out of your schedules to write to me. You don't know how much I appreciate it.

I am due to see my husband's GP on the 19th and am hoping he would have received my notes by then.

I must admit, I haven't had much luck with hospitals. I had a horrendous time when I had my daughter and now with this operation. My friends and family members were shocked that I actually walked out of the ward and hospital without any assistance or wheelchair. I just hope things start turning around soon.

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page