Ectopic Pregnancy: My Story Update

So it’s been a long while since I shared my story of going through multiple ectopic pregnancies. A lot has happened and all are very positive in some sense, after having many blood tests and scans they couldn’t find anything seriously wrong with any of my reproductive organs. I continued to take ovulation tests and progesterone test to make sure my cycles were doing what they should be and they were. Life itself got very busy with work, kids and holiday plans. I was very much at this point wanting to start to try again but at the back of my mind I was still super worried an ectopic pregnancy would happen again so I decided it would be a good idea to book an appointment with a gynaecology consultant. 

I am very lucky to have the ability to use private healthcare and knowing I would be waiting a minimum of three months just to see someone in the NHS, I did feel this would be my best option. After speaking to the consultant it was recommended that I had a procedure called a laparoscopy and dye, I won’t go into details as you all have the ability to google or have had one yourself as it is a common procedure. The dye will be used to see if there are any blockages from any scarring from the last two ectopics, if all was fine they will do no more but if they find anything wrong they will correct it.

I went away and considered all the risk factors and costings, but at the end of they day to put my mind at ease this was the best thing to do. My surgery was scheduled for September 2024 bit of a rubbish timing as its the first term back at work but I wasn’t going to be off any longer than two weeks. I had my pre assessment appointment where bloods and my ECG was done, I found out that my blood pressure is slightly elevated which I won’t lie is probably stress and surprisingly I had an athletic heart, I got my blood tests a few days before the surgery. 

My surgery appointment came round so quickly, trying to get everything sorted at work before I left was a bit manic. Surgery day arrived and I was up and out the house by 6am ready for my 6:30 check in (sounds like I am going to a hotel). I was taken to my private room, it was all very lovely and I now understand why so many people who can go private do. I was told which two buttons to press, one for a nurse and the other for catering, I was then told to relax and wait for all the necessary professionals to come see me. So I got comfy and whacked on Waterloo Road on BBC Iplayer, eventually my consultant arrive around 7:30/8am and said I was second on her list so will be in around 9:30/10am I think at this point it dawned on me that I was going under general anaesthetic which I have never had before. I was given my very fashionable gown and compression stockings to put on.

Before I knew it and several Waterloo Road episodes later I was escorted to theatre, where they made me believe the anaesthetic they were giving me was a gin and tonic. It was a strange sensation, pretty quickly I wasn’t able to keep my eyes open but was still able to hear what was going on, it reminded me of when I got black out drunk in Prague and my friends had to help me to bed. From that point I just remember waking up in recovery ward with a very lovely nurse to help me. For me the shakes were so bad, the chattering teeth that I couldn’t control was awful it took a good 20 minutes for it to stop. I felt well after this and I worked out I was only under for about an hour for surgery I stayed in recovery for around 45 minutes, I was then wheeled back to my room and given my lunch that i had preordered before my surgery which was so lovely. Another annoying pain as the result of aesthetic is the floating gas, I was warned about this from colleagues who had been through similar and they were not wrong the shoulder pain ow. I was given peppermint tea to help and some oramorph, they kept  a close eye on me and again I just chilled out while waiting for my consultant.

Eventually she arrived to inform be of what she had done, it was sad to hear that not only was my fallopian tube removed, there was also a small mass found behind uterus which was sent for analysis. For me is was the worst outcome I was so hoping that they found everything was normal, I felt quiet emotional and did the only thing I knew might help, google the stats of how many women get pregnant with only one tube, the percentages were not great so it didn’t make me feel much better.

By around 4pm I was able to go home so my partner John collected me, luckily we only lived a 5 minute drive away. He tucked me up into bed and made sure all my pain medication was up to date. The following morning despite not being able to drive I felt great, not sure if it was the oramorph or the Starbucks but I was able to support my step son on the footy sidelines. It swiftly dawned on me at around lunchtime that I should have stayed in bed and that I should really take it slowly with my recovery. I was off for two weeks and my recovery went very well, I had a follow up consultant meeting where I was shown and explained the problems they came across like I said earlier my right fallopian tube was removed this was because it showed signs of inflammation so an egg would not be able flow down it as normal, they also explain that the mass they found was not cancerous and just classified blood which could of come from either of the previous ectopic. Both ovaries and my uterus were in great condition and she saw no reason why I couldn’t go onto have a healthy pregnancy in the future. I did ask about how long this could potentially take as its well documented that the right ovary is more dominant over the left and there for I would be waiting a while for my left to produce an egg if at all, she unfortunately agreed but also informed me there is a 10-20% chance that the left tube could grab the egg from the right side but this still didn’t fill me with hope. 

I left knowing that this journey may take longer than expected and the feeling of knowing your body was going to struggle to do the one thing it was truly built for was heartbreaking. So if you know anyone who has any form of fertility struggles check in on them they may seem to be continuing on with life as normal but deep down heartbreak arrives at least once a month for some.