Scary Words

Phrases like “scarring” and “possible uterine adhesion” and “hysteroscopy” are very scary when you’ve never heard them before, and the only explanation you get is from your own online research. Sometimes I think professionals in the medical field get so desensitized to their own terminology that it doesn’t occur to them that big phrases like the ones above can freak the hell out of a layperson. Like me.

The results of the test that was performed at our screening at the IVF clinic (during which they pumped my uterus full of saline solution so they could do an internal ultrasound) showed that I have a band of scar tissue at the top, front, left sector of my uterus; where Wiggle-Worm’s placenta was attached. I shared with them (because the big hospital neglected to) that the obstetrician who delivered Wiggle Worm went in and manually scraped the placenta out, and that’s likely what caused it. (In retrospect, this rather disturbs me, as they really didn’t wait at all to see if it would detach on its own so I could push it out myself.)

I was informed via email that this was the case, and that the doctor wanted me to get a hysteroscopy because he was concerned that there might be some adhesion. No statements of reassurance; no explanations, no nothing. So of course I went looking for definitions, indications, etc. on the interwebs.

About.com gives this information on uterine adhesions:

“Intrauterine adhesions can be asymptomatic and of no clinical significance. Symptoms associated with clinically significant intrauterine adhesions include:

- Infertility
- Menstrual irregularities (hypomenorrhea, amenorrhea)
- Cyclic pelvic pain
-Recurrent pregnancy loss.

Infertility is the most common reason patients present for evaluation: 43 percent of women with intrauterine adhesions have some degree of infertility. Menstrual irregularities are also a common presentation; however, the extent of adhesions seen on hysteroscopy does not correlate well with degree of menstrual irregularity and nearly 40 percent of patients with adhesions documented on hysteroscopy report no menstrual irregularities.”

WebMD gives the following information regarding hysteroscopy:

“Hysteroscopy is a diagnostic and surgical procedure that makes examining the inside of the uterus possible without making an abdominal cut (incision). During hysteroscopy, a lighted viewing instrument called a hysteroscope is inserted through the vagina and cervix and into the uterus. Treatment can also be done through the hysteroscope during the same procedure.
Hysteroscopy usually takes 30 to 45 minutes and is done as an outpatient procedure. General anesthesia is usually used, although local or spinal anesthesia can be used instead. You should not eat or drink for at least 4 to 8 hours before having the test. A gynecologist or surgeon performs the procedure.”


Okay, so my brain read “infertility” and “recurrent pregnancy loss” and “general anesthesia” and kinda sorta flipped out. I have never had anything but PERFECT reproductive health. I’ve had surgical procedures and an IUD and nothing ever messed with my bits, but now I have scarring on the inside of my uterus that could prevent me from ever having kids again, and the doctors want to put me out so they can inspect my womb with cameras, and on top of all that, The Agency wants me to try to get this paid through my insurance and I’m just supposed to smile and hop about without a care in the world?! I don’t think so!

So I emailed the woman from the IVF clinic who initially informed me about all this, and told her that I was flipping out; that I’d been near tears for almost two days over the whole thing, and I thought it was really insensitive of The Agency to make me do all the legwork in light of what I had just been told, and please, PLEASE tell me if I was overreacting, because I was having a really hard time holding it together.

I should point out that it’s not easy to make me cry, as a rule. I tend to take things as they come and deal with them. I holler sometimes. I worry occasionally. But I rarely actually cry. Just to give you a little perspective on the nature of my assumptions here.

Within half an hour of emailing the lady at the clinic, she had called me personally. She told me that sometimes it’s easy for them to just breeze through stuff like this without realizing the kind of effect it can have on people who don’t do fertility medicine as a profession. She told me that the doctor isn’t operating under the impression that there’s anything so significantly wrong with me that it would stop the surrogacy process, let alone prevent me from being able to have children later on. He just wants to make sure he knows everything that’s going on, and to be 100% certain that the scar tissue ISN’T going to pose a problem for me or for a baby.

BIG, DEEP SIGH OF RELIEF HERE.

Hubs and I had a phone conference with the social worker at the IVF clinic last night. We realize that it’s part of the process, no matter how many times we’ve done surrogacy, but at the same time, it would have been a lot easier to just fill out a questionnaire or something. Yeesh.